My immediate reaction to Ginsberg's concern about the raunchiness of Kerouac's novel is that this concern is not at all surprising. Obviously I have little merit to preach stereotypes about life in the 1950's, but I could expect that the public would be unaccustomed to such raw and personal language. Part of the reason why this book is so beautiful is "Sal" didn't censor his account of this road trip.
Although many people in the 1950's would be unaccustomed to reading bout someone else's raw experiences, I completely disagree with Ginsberg's claim that the story wouldn't be relatable. Human experiences in the '50s weren't any less R-rated than they are now. The shock of this novel would have been in reaction to its honesty, and how clear it was that the author wasn't trying to prove anything by it.
I expect that this story would have actually been graciously accepted by the public, after the initial discomfort with the daring subject matter. This book would have been one-of-a-kind, and probably quite relatable to the readers. During a time when the public kept so quite about the more "dirty" (and real) aspects of life, it was probably a relief to read something that was obviously not censored to please anyone! Books lose honesty and appeal when they are edited to be salable to a larger demographic. Although the text shows only one man's experience, it addresses many of the issues of the times that inevitably come along with being human.
2 comments:
I totally agree with what you are saying. When something is edited over and over again it loses some of its true meaning. It would have had the life sucked out of it. Kerouac was telling the story of a man in the 1950s and if he had censored the story it wouldn’t have been the real 50s.
I agree with both of you. Kerouac's account, explicit content and all, marked the beginning of a rapidly emerging counterculture that wouldn't have been relevant if published at any different time. I think also a really huge part of "On the Road" are the references to jazz. The book was actually written to replicate the flowing improvisation of jazz, and the tirelessness and passion with which the jazz artists play that Sal and Dean visit similarly seem to mirror the tirelessness and passion with which Dean and Sal have for life. This interesting (kind of) theme in the book isn't one that would be as potent in another time period.
Though I'm not sure how openly middle-aged to older people would have accepted this book in the 50's, I agree that daring subject matter has always been interesting, even if we look back on the 50's as this very dull time period.
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