To be quite frank, I just do not get american literature. The more famous and the more well regarded a piece of work seems to be , the more I sink into a hole of not understanding the big deal of it all (I'm looking at you Catcher in the Rye). Maybe that's the problem, my expectations are too high and when faced with these famous book titles, I dive in with such excitement that I've only set myself up for failure. Or maybe I'm a product of my environment, a daughter of two working class families, I just don't buy the american dream (or anti-dream), I'm just too practical for that nonsense.
That's why I couldn't bring myself to read On the Road but I did watch the film... it only confirmed my suspicions.
I was however surprised (or shocked) at Ginsberg's "Howl". Wow, a big and non apologetic F YOU to America. The format was a refreshing change of pace and certainly a lot of freedom in the language that has been overly controlled in the other texts. A poem with little grammar and no inhibitions allowed Ginsberg to get a lot off his chest, generally about how shit stuff is.
If Ginsberg is angry, then Burrough is an oxymoron.
The Job is combinations and collaboration of Burrough's thoughts on Watergate, corruption, Scientology, despair, time-travel, totalitarian and lots of other subjects but above all its about free thinking. "All knowledge is yours by right." - That's kinda nice.
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