I am currently re-reading The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac. My re-reading is a misnomer as I “read” it when I was 17 in 1969 and there was no way I would have understood or appreciated any of the abstruse Buddhist schools/teachers/thoughts that run through it. Even all the famous Beat cameos that appear, from Ginsberg, Gary Snyder (actually a major character), Neal Cassady, Alan Watts, etc. did not have an impact until years later, in hindsight, as back then I was not able to de-code their disguises. But I was on a Benzedrine high from On The Road, so I forgive my young self. Now, as an older witness, I can linger over the passages that reveal characters luxuriating in mindfulness -- a word never used then and now a mindless buzz word; namaste motherfucker. All this to say that I concur with your claim that to re-read classics from a mature distance is well worth the effort. For me, a revelation both shocking and comforting: I did manage to learn a thing or two. Apologies for not commenting on Bartleby, but that’s my take.
I'll be posting quite a lot on rereading classics because I think it is so important, both in understanding literature and understanding how you, the reader, has change over the years. Both reviews of books I've reread and ruminations on rereading in general will eventually be addressed.
Dharma Bums was always my favorite Kerouac book. Did I tell ever you I got to have dinner with Gary Snyder in Northern California near Nevada City where he lives? A retired captain friend of mine is a good friend and neighbor. I'll eventually have an essay on this posted.
Aside from the verso publishing information page of the first edition of Dharma Bums, you know you have a first edition if you read "Gary" in several spots instead of "Japhy."
Finally, if you are currently rereading Dharma Bums, I cannot recommend the book below enough. The best biography and study of Beats that I've ever read. Poets on the Peaks. Perhaps you can get a copy in Lisbon?
I am currently re-reading The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac. My re-reading is a misnomer as I “read” it when I was 17 in 1969 and there was no way I would have understood or appreciated any of the abstruse Buddhist schools/teachers/thoughts that run through it. Even all the famous Beat cameos that appear, from Ginsberg, Gary Snyder (actually a major character), Neal Cassady, Alan Watts, etc. did not have an impact until years later, in hindsight, as back then I was not able to de-code their disguises. But I was on a Benzedrine high from On The Road, so I forgive my young self. Now, as an older witness, I can linger over the passages that reveal characters luxuriating in mindfulness -- a word never used then and now a mindless buzz word; namaste motherfucker. All this to say that I concur with your claim that to re-read classics from a mature distance is well worth the effort. For me, a revelation both shocking and comforting: I did manage to learn a thing or two. Apologies for not commenting on Bartleby, but that’s my take.
I'll be posting quite a lot on rereading classics because I think it is so important, both in understanding literature and understanding how you, the reader, has change over the years. Both reviews of books I've reread and ruminations on rereading in general will eventually be addressed.
Dharma Bums was always my favorite Kerouac book. Did I tell ever you I got to have dinner with Gary Snyder in Northern California near Nevada City where he lives? A retired captain friend of mine is a good friend and neighbor. I'll eventually have an essay on this posted.
Aside from the verso publishing information page of the first edition of Dharma Bums, you know you have a first edition if you read "Gary" in several spots instead of "Japhy."
Finally, if you are currently rereading Dharma Bums, I cannot recommend the book below enough. The best biography and study of Beats that I've ever read. Poets on the Peaks. Perhaps you can get a copy in Lisbon?
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4219872536
david
This review is outstanding and so relevant to our current situation. We are all complicit indeed.