Tristessa
by Jack Kerouac
published
June 1st 1992
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
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binding
Paperback, 96 pages
setting
Mexico
isbn
0140168117
(isbn13: 9780140168112)
description
Tristessa is a novella by Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac set in Mexico City. It is based on his relationship with a Mexican prostitute (the title...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 887)
Read in September, 2007
I would actually rate this book a -1. Hated it. Read to page 20 TWICE (it's a 97 page book) and couldn't understand anything that was going on. Something about roosters. Call me crazy, but I require books with punctuation.
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A graceful, gentle, sadhearted book--less macho than "On the Road," less crank-addled than "The Subterraneans," but probably better than either.
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3 comments
recommends it for:
my 15 year old self
My ratings for several books are based on how I felt about them when I read them. Several books that I loved/"really liked" I don't feel similarly about any longer, to put as simply and as fairly as possible. Kerouac is probably a perfect example of this. I loved reading about the melancholy psychological and geographical wanderings of Mr. Kerouac and his friends when I was 15 years old. It spoke to me in that way that people will describe books like On The Road and Catcher in the Rye ...more
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Read in April, 2007
recommends it for:
Cynical Kerouac Haters
I'll admit I wrote my college entrance essay on "On The Road" and at that time in my life I was, like everyone else, inspired by the wild, wide-eyed, ideas of travel and adventure in America. I've returned to "On The Road" via "Dharma Bums" and "The Subterraneans" and "Desolation Angels" over the years to mixed results. I found instead of an entire philosophy of living that I could (and at one point did) subscribe to, rather sparks and gems of ...more
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Read in June, 2007
A writing professor once told me that I write like Jack Kerouac, which I think is why I bought this and one other Jack Kerouac book at the university book store long, long ago. I had never read his work, and I was curious about it.
Well, I finally got to read him today, and I don't know if I should be happy or not with the comparison my professor made.
The rhythm of the writing is like mine used to be, when I wrote for the professor's class -- very fluid and lyrical, like a subconscious th...more
Well, I finally got to read him today, and I don't know if I should be happy or not with the comparison my professor made.
The rhythm of the writing is like mine used to be, when I wrote for the professor's class -- very fluid and lyrical, like a subconscious th...more
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Read in February, 2007
Despite suspicions (mostly my own) of anti-intellectuallism, I'm persisting with my investigation into books small enough to fit into one's jacket pocket. Clearly a book's worth cannot be measured in mass, but to what extent is it really possible to honor the peak of the sacred (the "novel") in less than, say, 150 pages? And to what extent can the formal consideration of length impact conventions in narrative, character development, etc.? My own pre-existing hypothesis is that a shorte...more
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Read in January, 2001
The back cover of this book contains the following quote from Allen Ginsberg: This entire short novel Tristessa's a narrative meditation studying a hen, a rooster, a dove, a cat, a chihuaha dog, family meat, and a ravishing, ravished junky lady, first in their crowded bedroom, then out to drunken streets, taco stands, & pads at dawn in Mexico City slums.
Sounded pretty damn interesting to me, but it wasn't. It was a short work that felt long, a minor piece of writing barely worthy...more
Sounded pretty damn interesting to me, but it wasn't. It was a short work that felt long, a minor piece of writing barely worthy...more
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Read in January, 2003
If Kerouak weren’t dead, I would spit in his face for writing this piece-of-crap book. Top four problems: 1) Kerouak’s attempts at Spanish are grotesque. I don’t speak Spanish, and even I know he’s got half the words wrong. 2) His idiotic whiteboy quasi-Buddhist philosophy is sprinkled everywhere. 3) He doesn’t bother to explain until the last quarter of the book that one of the characters -- an older dopefiend named Bill, who’s also a brilliant writer -- isn’t actually Burroughs. ...more
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Beautifully written, if you didn't like On the Road, give this a chance.
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Tristessa is another quick read Kerouac book. Chronicles a dirty little jaunt through Mexico involving a quirky little whore (aren't they always) and her various makeshift pets. Dirty, grimey, yet still Kerouac like in it's quaintness. Yes yes, he has the ability to make the mundane interesting, but any Karouac reader already knows that. Read this during my Summer of Kerouac, I think it was like 2002 or something.
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Read in January, 1993
Another great Kerouac novel. This one is slim, about a brief love affair with a black girl in San Francisco. I heard he changed it from New York so it wouldn't be so obvious who it was about. A heartbreaking story, like most of Kerouac's love affairs turned out, because his heart was never really in it, or at least it only burned brightly for a little while then faded when he felt the road calling yet again.
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Read in August, 2008
I read this right after reading "Tuesdays with Morrie". What a contrast! One book about the importance of forming and maintaining relationships and the other about the ultimate drifter who is afraid of being tied down in any way. I really liked them both, but I particularly liked them because I read them one after another.
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.58 (725 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.57 (722 ratings) number of reviews: 48
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quote
"I'll go to the south of Sicily in the winter, and paint memories of Arles – I'll buy a piano and Mozart me that – I'll write long sad tales about people in the legend of my life – This part is my part of the movie, let's hear yours"
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