On The Road Post 1 (Post 3)

3. In 1952 (when people still wrote letters to each other), Allen Ginsberg penned these words to Kerouac about the manuscript of On the Road: "I don't see how it will ever be published, it's so personal, it's so full of sex language, so full of our local mythological references, I don't know if it would make sense to any publisher." What is your reaction to this?

First of all, I think it’s humorous that Ginsberg, of all people, would be the one worrying about the publisher’s opinion of the book’s vulgarity/personal anecdotes. After all, out of all of the beat generation poets, Ginsberg seems to be the one who was the most strongly opposed to censorship, as seen in the notorious “vulgarity” present in Howl (as well as many of his other works) and the court case which ensued. Then again, I suppose that he wasn’t referring to his own opinions on the vulgarity (or lack thereof) in On The Road, but the publisher’s opinion. Nevertheless, I wondered; was Ginsberg as embarrassed by the “sex language” as he stated the publishers would be? It seems a little outlandish, but maybe Ginsberg, despite his apparently liberal ideas regarding sex and the depiction of it in literature, found himself “put off” by Kerouac’s writing. If this is the case, then why was Ginsberg put of by Kerouac’s writing? Like I said, this is all just speculation. After all, Ginsberg probably wasn’t put off by Kerouac’s writing at all.

It’s also ironic that, while Ginsberg said that the book wouldn’t be published, let alone successful, because of its “sex language” and “local mythological references”, On The Road became successful because it included these very elements (in addition to having general literary quality). I suppose that many would find the fact that it became so popular to be surprising. However, when one thinks about it, the fact that such a book became popular during the 1950s isn’t so far-fetched. After all, times were changing, even in the conservative 1950s, and many people were beginning to find themselves fascinated by the taboo “sex language” and “personal” writing. This must be the case. If not, Ginsberg would have been right, and On The Road would not have been the classic that it is today.