The Dharma Bums

published	May 27th 1976 by Penguin (Non-Classics)
first published	2006
binding	Paperback
isbn	0140042520 (isbn13: 9780140042528)
pages	244
description	One of the best and most popular of Kerouac's autobiographical novels, The Dharma Bums is based on experiences the writer had during the mid-19...more [close] One of the best and most popular of Kerouac's autobiographical novels, The Dharma Bums is based on experiences the writer had during the mid-1950s while living in California, after he'd become interested in Buddhism's spiritual mode of understanding. One of the book's main characters, Japhy Ryder, is based on the real poet Gary Snyder, who was a close friend and whose interest in Buddhism influenced Kerouac. This book is a must-read for any serious Kerouac fan. [close]
date added	03-21-07 edit book

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 6419)

Leile rated it:

04/06/07

Read in March, 2007

This was really a pleasant surprise. After making my way through "On the Road" and a few other things by Kerouac, I had come to the conclusion that the dude is a hack, and that the other Beats were really on some way better shit. I just couldn't feel that "rambling" ass style that he writes in, even though I acknowledge that it was a conscious decision of his to write that way.

I get it -- he writes the way he travels, making quick decisions and trying to be spontaneous a...more This was really a pleasant surprise. After making my way through "On the Road" and a few other things by Kerouac, I had come to the conclusion that the dude is a hack, and that the other Beats were really on some way better shit. I just couldn't feel that "rambling" ass style that he writes in, even though I acknowledge that it was a conscious decision of his to write that way.

I get it -- he writes the way he travels, making quick decisions and trying to be spontaneous and spiritual. But to me it's kind of just a garbage decision stylistically...personally, I like writers to show a little discipline and take heed to the laws of grammar and punctuation. Plus I think he was just drunk half the time. I write a lot of stuff when I'm drunk too -- it doesn't mean I would try and get it published unless I sat down and edited the fuck out of it, with a clear head one day. Drugs and booze can be good for the creative process, but at some point you've got to sit down and get serious, whittle down your ideas to a respectable form.

Which is what I think Kerouac did here. There is some great writing in "Dharma Bums", and even when he rambles, it flows with the ease and beauty of a rolling freight train, or a babbling brook. Finally, you feel like one of Kerouac's characters have gained something useful and spiritual from the life of being a hobo. Ray Smith, the protagonist, embodies the strengths and faults of a lot of guys I know, myself included sometimes. I only wish I could have been around in the days where the happily homeless poets would congregate in San Francisco, and talk about the kind of shit that these guys do. Sadly, the days where stuff like this happens in America are pretty much long gone, I fear.

I think I will take a second look at some more Kerouac after being pretty durn impressed by this. Namely, "Big Sur" is now on the list. After taking in "The Dharma Bums" and the fantastic introduction which was included in the edition I read, I feel a newfound respect for what Jack K did and the legacy he left behind. He was far from perfect, and a lot of the writing and relationships he left behind make this more than evident. But more than anything I think Kerouac was honest (about everything including his own self-demise, which he foreshadows eerily in parts of this novel). If honesty was his main goal as a writer, in that respect he was definitely a success.

One last thing I found cool about "The Dharma Bums" - a lot of American cultural references are derived from this novel. Not only from the hippies and the neo-hippies, but this is a very influential work in terms of modern artistry. The Anticon Records rappers/poets collective (including Dose One, Why?, and others) referenced this book heavily in a lot of their stuff during the late 90's/early 2000's Experimental Hip Hop Rennaissance. Lines like:

"Fresh bus station water...and it all ends up in tears anyway"

were lifted directly from the text, and put onto all these weird hip hop records I've been listening to for the past decade. I had no idea these were quotes from "Dharma Bums", but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Life and art tend to have circular qualities, indeed.
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Daniel rated it:

06/25/07

So we unpacked our packs and laid things out and smoked and had a good time. Now the mountains were getting that pink tinge, I mean the rocks, they were just solid rock covered with the atoms of dust accumulated there since beginningless time. In fact I was afraid of those jagged monstrosities all around and over our heads.

'They're so silent!' I said.

'Yeah man, you know to me a mountain is a Buddha. Think of the patience, hundreds of thousands of years just sitting there bein perfectly p...more So we unpacked our packs and laid things out and smoked and had a good time. Now the mountains were getting that pink tinge, I mean the rocks, they were just solid rock covered with the atoms of dust accumulated there since beginningless time. In fact I was afraid of those jagged monstrosities all around and over our heads.

'They're so silent!' I said.

'Yeah man, you know to me a mountain is a Buddha. Think of the patience, hundreds of thousands of years just sitting there bein perfectly perfectly silent and like praying for all living creatures in that silence and just waiting for us to stop all our frettin and foolin.' Japhy got out the tea, Chinese tea, and sprinkled some in a tin pot, and had the fire going meanwhile, a small one to begin with, the sun was still on us, and stuck a long stick tight down under a few big rocks and made himself something to hang the teapot on and pretty soon the water was boiling and he poured it out steaming into the tin pot and we had cups of tea with our tin cups. I myself'd gotten the water from the stream, which was cold and pure like snow and the crystal-lidded eyes of heaven. Therefore, the tea was by far the most pure and thirstquenching tea I ever drank in all my life, it made you want to drink more and more, it actually quenched your thirst and of course it swam around hot in your belly.

'Now you understand the Oriental passion for tea,' said Japhy. 'Remember that book I told you about the first sip is joy the second is gladness, the third is serenity, the fourth is madness, the fifth is ecstasy.'

'Just about old buddy.'

The rock we were camped against was a marvel. It was thirty feet high and thirty feet at base, a perfect square almost, and twisted trees arched over it u and peeked down on us. From the base it went outward, forming a concave, so if rain came we'd be partially covered. 'How did this immense sonumbitch ever get here?'

'It probably was left here by the retreating glacier. See over there that field of snow?'

'Yeah.'

'That's the glacier what's left of it. Either that or this rock tumbled here from inconceivable prehistoric mountains we can't understand, or maybe it just landed here when the friggin mountain range itself burst out of the ground in the Jurassic upheaval. Ray when you're up here you're not sittin in a Berkeley tea room. This is the beginning and the end of the world right here. Look at all those patient Buddhas lookin at us saying nothing.' ...less

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Chris rated it:

09/23/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: the frenzied

I am in a Kerouac mood at the moment. The 50th anniversary of On The Road, which is perhaps my favorite book, has made me curious about his other books. When a friend said he liked Dharma Bums better than On The Road, I took him up on it.

It's not the kind of book I would at first glance enjoy. It's about nature, and I need Claritin to go into the yard. It's about finding the inner peace of Buddhism, something that I'm more likely to scoff. But this book caught me at the right time, when I'm ...more

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Sean rated it:

03/29/08

bookshelves: favorites

Read in January, 1977

recommends it for: Adventurous readers everywhere

Not quite the equal of On The Road, but I still can't bear to give it less than 5 stars. This is the other 'must read' on the Kerouac shelf (notice the two must-reads are the ones with punctuation?). Kerouac wrote this one in something like two weeks, working virtually around the clock on amphetamines, and it was never really revised or edited (unlike On the Road, which is clearly better for the editorial assistance, despite what Jack thought), so this is the raw Kerouac in the groove doing what...more

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Brian rated it:

09/16/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: Any Beatnik fan

My first introduction to Kerouac was "On the Road" in Dr. Kaylor's Humanities II class at UNI. I found a kindred spirit whose writing style seemed to be my own (see any of my tucked-away journals of those days)...the rambling, stream-of-conscience style that people either got it or they didn't. That was in 1992. I reread it again in 1994. So it has been a while...

Kerouac isn't for everyone. Most everyday readers might find it to be a breath of fresh air but others will be strugglin...more

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tony rated it:

(review of isbn 0141184884)

04/19/07

recommends it for: everybody

consistently one of my favorite reads. i've bought this book three times now and i still haven't been able to hold on to it. the kerouac estate will forever be the recipient of my hard earned dough.

i have to say, it's one of my top ten. not for its far-reaching insights, kerouac's intimate style, or it's lively presentation of a man who was the embodiment, precursor, exemplification, and antecedent to all those to follow dubbed 'heads' or less acurately 'hippies,' but for it's depiction...more

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Jan rated it:

(review of isbn 0143039601)

06/27/07

Read in May, 2007

recommends it for: the spiritually minded and nature-lovers

I originally went looking for On The Road, but settled for the sequel of sorts when I saw it in the bookstore.

This is the first book I've read of the beat genre, and I found the breezy youthfulness and idealism of a nomadic life is appealing to read. Mountain trekking plays an important part in Kerouac's search for dharma, or the truth, and his description of natural settings in the story are stunning, almost poetic to read. As the protagonist Ray Smith (Kerouac himself) and ot...more

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Katherine rated it:

05/17/08

bookshelves: memoirish

Read in January, 1998

One time, I was staying at a youth hostel near Big Sur, California. I was spending a semester off of college driving aimlessly around the west, searching for...something. Kicks? I was under 21 and lonely, but somehow it seemed like a good idea at the time.

So I was sitting in the common are of this youth hostel, re-reading my paperback copy of The Dharma Bums, when I looked across the room and espied an attractive member of the opposite sex...busily reaading his own copy of The Dharma Bums. I...more

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Morgan rated it:

(review of isbn 0141184884)

06/05/07

bookshelves: religion-slash-spiritual

Read in May, 2007

A good read, although I did find it to be a bit pretentious and hypocritical, at least on the part of the main character (whom I can only assume is an extension of the author). While I do appreciate the struggle towards enlightenment, I feel that there are two problems with the book.

Firstly, the main character's attitude towards Christianity is the same attitude he receives from others about his Buddhism, yet he does not see the parallel, and does not see his own closed-minded nature reflec...more

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Amy rated it:

03/09/08

bookshelves: travel

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: the lonely wanderer

Wow! I LOVE when music or literature speaks to me and connects to my soul. I can't wait to get home to continue reading this book--Kerouac did it before all of us, carrying his home in a duffel bag and meeting colorful strangers along his journeys. Technology has separated us to the point where our main interaction is writing on someone's wall on Facebook or Myspace, email or text messaging...I have to say that like Kerouac's experiences, acts of kindness, conversation and body language through ...more

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Todd rated it:

04/03/08

bookshelves: literature

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: No Oner

I finally decided to read some basic Kerrouac after all these years. All I can say is what is the BFD? Other than being the subject of a 10,000 Maniacs song what is so important about his writing?

He was a drunk, a misanthrope and I am pretty sure fairly talentless. He is credited by some as pioneering the "stream of consciousness" form of writing. This is a form of writing that caused Kerrouac's contemporary Truman Capote to look at his work and say, "That isn't writing. It's ...more

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Dan rated it:

07/12/07

Read in August, 2001

recommends it for: white people interested in buddhism, beatniks, hippies, and loud mouthed malcontents

This is my favorite Kerouac Book. I would also venture that this book might be the best thing to come out of the dirty beatniks.

First I want to be very clear that I think Jack Kerouac is an a-hole. Crude? Yes, but simply true and it begs to be called out. He is a bad person. He was a womanizing, alcoholic, tramp who was trying to be good. He is a bad person with amazing writing skills, and that is why his books are so popular.

This book was interesting to me in many regards:

1) ...more

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Evan rated it:

(review of isbn 0143039601)

06/17/08

bookshelves: recently_read

Read in June, 2008

Kerouac really doesn't care about plot as much as discussing various ideas with a mediocre amount of depth. In many ways, this is the story of Japhy more than Ray, but the focus on Ray's various moments of "enlightenment" and no real character arcs for either man left me yearning for something to happen. The initial mountain climbing sequence is done well, to the point that I felt Ray's sadness at giving up and joy at realizing the point of the trek. But after that moment, the rest of ...more

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Sarah rated it:

09/24/07

bookshelves: released

Read in September, 2007

The Dharma Bums was published the year after On the Road and like its predecessor is a semi-autobiographical novel. Where On the Road focuses on the city scene and the wild parties Beat Generation, Dharma Bums goes out to the countryside in search of peace, tranquility and enlightenment.

The Dharma Bums has all the charm, irreverence and wackiness of On the Road. It has train hopping, Chinese poetry in Berkeley, Buddhism in the Sierras, enlightenment in the snow and self imposed isolation in ...more

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Tyler rated it:

07/04/07

Read in July, 2007

The description on the back of the book was pretty misleading, making this seem like a literary 'Easy Rider:' it mentioned drug-fueled love-ins and made Kerouac out to be the "Daddy of the Psychedelic Generation." That last part may or may not be true, but the book isn't really much like that. Most of it is about the so-called beatnik lifestyle; hitchhiking, riding the rails, drinking wine and reading/writing poetry. The main focus of the book, as you could tell from the title, is of t...more

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Matthew rated it:

02/10/08

Read in February, 2008

The date above is my most recent completion of the only other book of Kerouac's that I've read. But as an English teacher, it's a life-goal to never stop reading or writing, and to someday read every book I ever say I thought about reading, which includes the rest of his catalog and the majority of the book room at school that doubles as our office and the location of one of three photocopiers, which bumps up the heat ten degrees; not to mention, only two of the four computers work and no one us...more

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sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0141184884)

04/14/07

Read in January, 2003

recommends it for: hippies, buddhists, and people who like hippies and buddhists.

dharma bums takes place in california in the 60s. the two main settings are berkley and in the mountains of northern california... it is the story of two guys (keroac and his buddy) who are trying to get their buddhism on and begin to experiment with a life of simple purity and solitude. however, when they arent in the mountains, they are busy in the jazz and beat poetry scene, having orgies, and getting drunk or high. its an interesting look about the search for spiritual enlightenment and trut...more

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Brian rated it:

09/14/07

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: ramblers

If you've read "On the Road", then you know what you're getting into with this one. Lots of half ironic wine-steeped philosophy, casual flings with sexually liberated females, and aimless epic adventures fueled by poetry and hip flasks of port. I read it to get a bit of perspective on the whole "On the Road at 50" media frenzy, and all my impressions Kerouac's style of writing still hold in "Dharma Bums".

The plot is loose, but the VOICE is key. As Kerouac rambl...more

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Karen rated it:

01/02/08

bookshelves: could-not-finish-maybe-later

Read in December, 2007

UPDATE: No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get into this little book. I'll try again later since some suggested other books by Kerouac first and maybe I'd like this better. Someone else who agreed with me said that it's just possible that "we don't have the Kerouac gene". I loved that one! :-)
------------------------

Why can't I get into this book? It's a little book, I should have read it in an hour but I just can't keep interested. So I read a page or two and put it dow...more

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Diana rated it:

(review of isbn 0143039601)

03/05/08

Read in May, 2005

if this novel were set to music, it would be mated with an improvisational, synchopated jazz tune, like brubeck's "take five". in my wanderings, i've met japhy, in different incarnations, along the way.

one of my favorite bits o' wisdom from this novel:

"The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream, like a piece of forgotten song drifting across the water, most of all like golden eternities of chi...more

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