Thursday, January 29, 1998
‘Dharma’ lacks power to enlighten readers
BOOK: Lesser-known Kerouac collection falls short of previous
work
By Michael Gillette
Daily Bruin Contributor
The unveiling of an unseen work by Jack Kerouac is undoubtedly a
publishing event, and Viking has certainly given "Some of the
Dharma" an attractive presentation. But though this new collection
of Jack Kerouac writings is folio-sized and has a gorgeous jacket,
one shouldn’t dream of recommending it as a coffee table
purchase.
In fact, "Some of the Dharma" is such a specialized set of
writings that it could probably only please the limited audience of
Kerouac readers who are studying to become practicing
Buddhists.
There is no narrative here, and the closest thing to fiction in
the book are Kerouac’s poems, which contain all the attributes
people point to when ridiculing beat poetry. What the book presents
is a collection of notes, observations and instructions presumably
designed by Kerouac to record his own journey to Buddhist faith and
assist the reader on the same path.
The book’s history is related in an introduction by its editor
Jack Stanford. He writes that Kerouac began compiling "Some of the
Dharma" while awaiting the publication of the already completed "On
the Road." At one point he considered the new project, then titled
"Buddha Tells Us," so important that he almost halted any attempts
to print his other more accessible works. His editor and liaison
Malcolm Cowley helped talk him out of this stand.
In 1958 "On the Road" was published to much acclaim. Thirteen
novels followed in the next seven years, making up what Kerouac
called the Duluoz legend, but "Some of the Dharma" remained
unpublished.
Now, however, with the Beat renaissance of the early ’90s having
made Kerouac a household name and with the increase of American
interest in the religions of the east, Viking books has decided
that the late ’90s can make room for the book that the late ’50s
couldn’t.
The problem for potential readers, though, may be Kerouac’s ’50s
view of his subject. Buddhism in these writings is something new,
foreign and exciting.
Kerouac begins by recording its basic tenets from sources he
records in his entries and spends the rest of the 400 pages
meditating on how they apply to his and the readers’ lives.
One feels admiration for the vigor Kerouac employs on the
project, but at the same time one winces at the naivete of his
endless confessions and epiphanies.
Students approaching Buddhism today would likely not feel as
alone as Kerouac did (it’s a subject he speaks about at length).
And their familiarity would likely lead them to want a more
sophisticated book to lead them to enlightenment – and a more
organized one.
For the lay reader, there is little, if any interest here. The
content is almost completely made up of dry, lengthy philosophizing
and meritless poetry. Moreover, the few times Kerouac turns to
personal matters, such as his back and forth musings on the
spiritual worth of his working on the Duluoz legend, have an
unpleasant melodramatic feel.
That having been said, it’s worth mentioning, if only as a side
note, that just as Kerouac was ahead of his time in his spiritual
exploration, he was also a vanguard in the field of adventuresome
typesetting. The reader finds on "Some of the Dharma’s" pages the
same unconventional and not always reader-friendly text
arrangements that grace the pages of magazines like Raygun and
Bikini today.