I'm deeply interested in books about the way life was seen as an every day beatnik/ Hippie. Stories of everyday life. I am deeply interested in this subject but find it hard to get recommendations since I don't know many people who are also interested you know? The counter culture's fascinate me. Stories of inner revoloution just spark my brain in ways unexplainable. I was planning on reading The Hippie Trip but it was checked out of the library, so I chose "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac instead. We went over the Beatniks and Hippies VERY BRIEFLY in my California History Class. I knew evertyhing he talked about though so it was nothing new and fascinating, but still, you know when teachers actually teach you something that interests you, it's always a treat. My teachers said that "On The Road" was a very important piece of art to beatniks. I am at the very beginning of it now and I like it so far, he is just now getting to Iowa. It seems like i'll love it as much as I thought it would. So I have 2 things to ask: 1)what did you think of on the road (please dont spoil it), just what you thought of it. Worth the "hype"? (i'll be sure to post back later and let everyone know of my opinion) 2) any books with similar themes, please! Peace and Love be with you
I love Kerouac. But I like Burroughs a little better. His stuff can be a little brutal and hard to read. Lenny Bruce "How to Talk Dirty and Influence People" is a great one about a hero to the Beat and Hippie movements due to his use of words, freedom of speech and Political commentary. "The Electric Koolaid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe is the first book I read on the subject and does a good job at describing the transition from Beat to Hippie counterculture I suggest reading that one back to back with "One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest," by Ken Kesey. "Be Here Now" by Ram Dass is a good start for the Spiritually inclined. The new one I want to read is "The Harvard Psychadelic Club," it is about Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Huston Smith and I believe Andrew Weill (don't quote me) their experimentation with mind altering substances and the subsequent effects that it had on their work and society in general. Pleasant reading. Peace Out, Rev J
Thanks, finally a response haha. Its funny because looking for books with this theme I read about every one of those books except The Harvard Psychadelic Club. I tried to check out every one of those books but had none of them except "On The Road" And heres something that might get you, and many others excited. There's gonna be a movie coming out either this year or next year about the book The Electric Kool Aid Acid Tests. It better do it justice!
Actually I also forgot to mention "Hells Angels" By Hunter S. Thompson. Although not really about hippies. Some of the incedents in "The Electric Koolaid Acid Test" get reiterated by Thompson from an alternate perspective. As for librarys. Good luck. Alot of times people sign these books out and don't return them. Fortunately alot of these books are out in paperback with is alot cheaper. You can start your own personal Counter Culture library. Used book stores are a great reference, and believe it or not so are yard sales. I have this unique (or not so unique) connection to the Universe that I can have a conversation about a book or subject that somebody puts in a free box on the sidewalk. Peace Out, Rev J
I don't know if this is classified as "hippie," but I fell in love with "Into the Wild," by Jon Krakaur (spelled rite???). I read it a couple months ago, and I've reread it about three times since then.
I am particularly fond of "Trashing". This was actually written by Anita Hoffman, (Abbie's Wife) under the pseudonym of Ann Fettamen.
I liked On The Road okay, I guess. The parts where he was actually hitchhiking around were pretty poignant for me, because I did that and I could relate to a lot of it. Other parts seemed strained and had a sort of jaded feel to them, so that I could not relate. I never really got into the whole punk thing for that reason. It's so "weary of the world" that it seems painful to face the prospect of another day. I never felt that way. I always woke up feeling like the day was a blank canvas and I had a paintbrush in my hand. When I was on the road, I had a generally positive outlook and used to anticipate what every new day would bring. My teenaged angst was apparently underdeveloped. I guess that's why I also had a hard time with Catcher In The Rye.
^^I read a book called "Big Sky Mind, Buddhism and the Beat Generation," and one of the criticisms they had of the beats is that they got a little caught up in the First Noble Truth, "Life is Suffering". I think if you combine that with the fact that Kerouac was a depressive and a heavy drunk you'll kind of see that he wrote how he lived. I actually got to see the original manuscript of "On the Road" at the San Francisco Public Library. They had the about 20 feat of it unrolled under glass. Quite impressive. Peace OUt, Rev J
The method in which he wrote it was the most interesting thing about it, to my way of thinking. It was all sort of "stream of consciousness". Creating a single roll of paper to feed through a typewriter, so he didn't have to risk breaking his train of thought while changing sheets was pure genious. Of course, the story was retooled a number of times before it finally saw publication, but it's still remarkable that he was able to write the original manuscript in that fashion, in about 3 weeks.
My opinion of On The Road can be summed up in one word...excellent! As far as suggesting books to read, the previous posts have already covered pretty much anything I would have suggested except for one thing. The hippie "movement" lived on music and the #1 hippie band was, of course, the Grateful Dead. There is a plethora (love that word) of books about them. My favorites are What a Long Strange Trip by Steven Peters, Dead To the Core by Eric Wybenga and Garcia by The Editors of Rolling Stone. This will also help tie into the Electric Kool Aid Acid Test and the Deads' relationship with the Pranksters. Happy Reading!!! Zen
Also on Zen's trip I'd like to add "Searching for the Sound" by Phil Lesh. You don't get a more authentic view of the Dead than that. I also read a great one called "Deadhead Social Science" which contains excerpts from doctoral theses and other scholarly texts about the Dead and the scene from an academic standpoint. Also "the Greatful Dead and Philosophy is a good one. Peace Out, Rev J
