I am so in love with this book and Kerouac's crazy, sweet, bodhisattva heart.

“The universe is fully known because it is ignored. Enlightenment comes when you dont care. This is a good tree stump I'm sitting on. You cant even grasp your own pain let alone your eternal reward. I love you because you're me. I love you because there's nothing else to do.”

Kerouac's poetic language is apparent throughout this, but the verses are forced and unnatural compared to his other work and compared to other writings in this genre. A must read for Kerouac fans but largely forgettable.

Like all of Kerouac's Buddhist texts, this is short, sage, and enjoyable. He wrote quite possibly some of the best pop-Buddhism there is.

Absolutely one of my favorite books ever. It is so simple yet so deep. Best read in small doses. Let your mind settle on each statement.

Interesting work

These are spiritual like poems. It has an easy flow to it and a very spiritual meditative essence meanders throughout each poem.

Conventional wisdom has it that Kerouac managed to trot out a couple of decent novels, and one classic (and that only with the help of some shrewd professional editing), before success and a resulting lack of discipline would lead him to lose it all, mooching down well-trodden whiskey-sodden paths. I would contend the opposite. His best books are his last--the ones where his syncretic blending of Buddhist and Catholic registers connect with an intuition of a universe that is only 'a golden eternity'. If the implicit ethics of the work read like a Diamond sutra written by a Spinoza, then the golden eternity itself is like a vision of immanence straight out of Deleuze's last essays. A favourite riff? Number 26.

"All these selfnesses have already vanished. Einstein measured that this present universe is an expanding bubble, and you know what that means."

While looking for the light, you
may suddenly be devoured by the darkness
and find the true light.
*
Roaring dreams take place in a perfectly silent mind.
*
Men are just making imaginary judgments both ways,
*
[...] the words are used to point at the endless nothingness of reality.

«Η γενιά μου», ψιθύρισε, «θυσιάζεται. Υποφέρει. Μόνο μέσα από τα βάσανα κερδίζει κανείς την αγάπη και την πλήρωση. Νομίζω πως μιλάω σωστά. Η γενιά μου, ο κόσμος μου, δεν είναι τίποτα χαμένο».

Ολόκληρο το απόσπασμα εδώ

Not from my favorite Kerouac books, I must admit. And for some weird reason my copy is 150 pages when it shows it's about 50 here.

Kerouac is a master of language. You travel with him. True - you don't always get what he's talking about or you need to reread it many times to finally get a glimpse of what he might have meant, but his poetry/prose is masterful. His poetry doesn't touch me as much as Allen Ginsberg's does, but there's a lot of majestic breath in Kerouac's work nonetheless. Very quotable book, but not a collection that is fully descriptive of him or his general work.

Jack Kerouac's writing is always so interesting. This poetry was a little abstract at times (you are everything and nothing, we are all the golden eternity). But there were some really thoughtful passages... making you think about the world, energy and higher beings, our purpose. One of my favorites:
Wait awhile, close your eyes, let your
breathing stop three seconds or so, listen to
the inside silence in the womb of the world, let
your hands and nerve-ends drop, re-recognize
the bliss you forgot, the emptiness and
essence and ecstasy of every having been and
ever to be the golden eternity. This is
the lesson you forgot.

I also really appreciated the Publisher's Note, explaining how they formatted the ebook so it would still help capture the poetry in the way it was meant to be read. Enjoyable read for National Poetry Month!
Thanks to the publisher for a free copy!

How can a book this short contain all the information you'll ever need?