Jack Kerouac - Tristessa

Kerouac was, and still is, loved by those of us who live at the fringes of society. The Beatniks, the hippies, and every other group, or individual, who just never quite fit in with the norm, idolized Kerouac and his way of blending wild adventures with a deep spiritualism. Many a young man was set on the path to adventure by reading On the Road and many explored Buddhism, of a sort, after reading The Dharma Bums (I say young men because that's just how things were back in the old days. Most girls we knew had to be coaxed into a bit of wild adventure, most, not all. Sexist? Sure, but, again, just how things were.)

The problem was, most never read any of his other works. They never realized that Jack, like most of us, moved on. This is a problem with celebrity in America; you are expected to remain frozen in time and folks resent change in their heroes. Jack went on to become a conservative and deeply patriotic, Republican, living his life, when not writing, watching sports on TV and drinking with friends. He must have seemed reclusive to those who had worshiped him but, he had just changed and was uncomfortable being out amongst his former groupies. In addition, he was terminally alcoholic and in a lot of physical and mental pain.

Still he wrote, and as time went by, he dealt very, almost painfully honestly, with his life, his past, and his old friends. Read The Subterraneans for a different view  of his time in the cities with his artist friends.  Try Big Sur for a view of his alcoholism. Visions of Cody takes a hard look at his old buddy Neil Cassidy (Dean Moriarity from On the Road, a figure, thanks to Ken Kesey and Tom Wolfe, much to idolized in the 60s. In his last book, The Vanity of Dulouze, he explains his return to Catholicism after years of touting Buddhism.

Most of all, read Tristessa, a little known novella that is a work of tough honesty that still manages to be absolutely beautiful. In short, it deals with one of  Jack's trips to Mexico, during which he falls for a lovely, young, heroin addicted prostitute. It is, of course, a doomed affair, but, it is a true love affair, told with remarkable tenderness. Ultimately, I suppose, it is about illusion. Jack and the girl each want love, and convince themselves that they have found it, and in a sense, for awhile, they did, illusion or not, the love was real. It couldn't last, but illusions seldom do and Kerouac seems to be saying, 'that's okay. Sometimes, illusions are enough.

Tristessa is a short, quick read, but it will haunt you.