Skygazer
And in the end...
A cautionary tale and what I like about it most was the lack of self pity and the explicit nature of his writing, the language of course is a bit of an obstacle initially, then you get used to it - it's a good read, historical piece, one episode when he describes trying to shake off the physical effects of withdrwing and he is taking about 5-6 baths a day due to the sweating - very clean for those days.:wb:
The only one most often quoted as not a user is William Wordsworth.
Not all of them would have been addicted or even habitual but certainly, in terms of use, it was quite widespread.
Interesting that the Beats are lauded for their experimental, wild lifestyle and edgy literature, when 130 yrs (not being at all accurate there) prior to them, the Romantics were a fast set,
with free love. hard drugs and radical politics all on the menu, makes the Beats look like a bunch of schoolgirls really.
I'll take Mary Shelley's Frankenstein over Jack Kerouac's On the Road every time.
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I was never a fan of Kerouac but, oddly enough, I enjoy listening to him reading (especially with those recordings where his readings are interspersed with jazz - 'American Haikus' was one of these, I think). His way of replicating notes and creating sound effects with his voice is brilliant. I've got a great album called 'Jazz and the Beat Generation' which introduced me to a lot of the jazz musicians that the Beats were into. Of the Beats, my favourite is Burroughs and I don't mind some of Corso. But my ultimate favourite is the Buk - who to me is the strongest of them all - he hated movements, groups, gangs, tribes, nations -- people who hide in their numbers. He was a genuine outsider, a struggling worker who despised the system, and worked hard for his art and what I admire about him the most is that he didn't have any rich family background to fall back on (in the way Burroughs did). He inspires me to believe that going it out on your own is the only way forward for an artist. I like the notion of an artist disappearing into a crowd, working any kind of crappy job and carving out his own niche - drawing out real-life experiences that other struggling people will appreciate and understand, all that while avoiding other artists at all costs. ;-)
This was Skygazer's last post here (according to this forum's software). I wonder what happened to her.
I miss her.
