Dharma Bums

Rating:
Summary: Good history
Review: Kerouac's most interesting work especially if you're interested in the beginnings of American Buddhism. Chronicles a time where the author and Gary Synder traveled together. Not great literature, but interesting from a historical perspective.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Kerouac
Review: Although this isn't the greatest book written by Kerouac, it is easily my favorite he has written. There are many weak moments and contradictions by the characters (Kerouac) but the passion in the pages is hard to deny. He really means everything he writes and believes he is trying to become a better person. All told, it is a fun, romantic trip; this is something that is lacking in today's cynicism.

Rating:
Summary: Kerouac's words transplant his feelings into us.
Review: In "On the Road," there were several points during which Kerouac's unusual way of wording things inspired a certain feeling of contentment or sorrow in me, but in "The Dharma Bums" I really lived those feelings. His descriptions of the scenes and events in this book really capture the moment and preserve it for we unfortunate people who weren't there. I found "The Dharma Bums" much more enjoyable reading than "On the Road;" it doesn't go on pointlessly in quite the same way. There's a clearer focus, on the religious, introspective side of Kerouac's attitudes, and the storyline lets us know exactly what it was like to be a Dharma bum.

Rating:
Summary: A better travel companion than On The Road
Review: Dharma Bums is On The Road realized. As is most of Karouac's books, D.B. is about longing for the search. It actualy has little to do with Zen and the such but represents a thought common to all souls. Beautiful nievity and un-understood wisdom. For anyone on a path of couriosity and truth. For more on Zen try looking up Robert Pirsig.

Rating:
Summary: Important book, but ultimately rambling and pointless.
Review: This is an incoherent book by the self-absorbed author/voice of beat. Ironically, in attempting to die to self the beatnik ultimately implodes into isolation. How ego-driven can one be but to ignore reality in the name of embracing it? You cannot separate the spritual thin ice in which Kerouc lives from his novels.

Rating:
Summary: the appropriate title "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"
Review: this book is one of my favorite kerouac novels. with each new reading i find something more insightful than the time before.the book has a mixture of catholic and zen buddhist terms and ideas all expounded by a hobo boddhisattva named ray smith. smith finds friendship with a find assortment of zen lunatics most notably the protaganist japhy ryder, who becomes a buddhist icon of sorts to smith. the first reading of the book one is impressed with the holy wander smith . but with subsequent readings i found that kerouac really intended to make smith more of a buddhist bumbler and those he encountered actually his wise teachers. percieving the novel in this light makes one appreciate kerouac's genius as a novelist. but to really appreciate what kerouac speaks of in the novel one should also read kerouac's desolation angels and some of the dharma. these two books will further enlighten the reader on the power of kerouac the spiritual writer.

Rating:
Summary: Beatifully written; Kerouac changed my life with this one
Review: The Dharma Bums is one of the best books I have ever read on Zen Buddhism and traditional Buddhism. While following the guidelines of an interesting and fun story, Kerouac teaches the many fundamental principles of Buddhism. A+ book. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A must read.
Review: Jack brilliantly follows his heart and captures the attention of his reader. In Dharma Bums, his wanderings to Desolation Peak invite us all to share in his spirit of freedom and joyous revolt. This book, along with others, has a special place within me. Dharma Bums takes me away from myself. Jack was one cool cat.

Rating:
Summary: A book that changed my view of being on the outside!!
Review: Dharma Bums represents Jack Kerouac's best work (better even than On The Road). For anybody who has ever wondered what it's like to be truly on the outside, this is the book. I've read it four times, named my snake after Jaffy, and will alway recomend it to whomeever needs a good read

Rating:
Summary: Jack's most beautiful novel!
Review: One can talk about the importance of On the Road to the American mythos, of the deep, struggling pain and depression of Big Sur, or of the rambling cant of San Francisco Blues; but, simply put, this Jack's most beautiful, elegant, eloquent novel. The book that's the closest to his poet's soul. Read all his other works first and then compare -- you'll see what I mean.