Jack Kerouac said that "On the Road" was just the story of two Catholic boys searching for God. Maybe so, but it is a bastardized homo-erotic version of Catholicism (more so in the original 'scroll' edition). Not content to bastardize Christianity, Kerouac tells this tale of his exploration of Buddhism (semi-autobiographical novel).

I liked this book better than "On the Road." It is less rambling and more crafted. Of course Kerouac is trite and simplistic in his characterization of Buddhism. He is as misogynist as ever here. But I think this is the better novel and I appreciated somethings about it.

First of all, I think that what stands out to me is Kerouac's descriptions of people. Kerouac's protagonist (based on himself), is accepting and appreciative of most of the people he meets (if they are men, otherwise they tend to be playthings). I enjoyed the dialogue and some of Kerouac's descriptions of his surroundings. There is mountain climbing, hiking, hitchhiking, train rides and lots of conversation. The characters here, perhaps fueled by their spiritual explorations are less self absorbed than Kerouac's descriptions of On the Road (also an autobiographical novel).

So what of the Buddhism? I am absolutely fascinated by America's fascination with Buddhism. This novel kind of typifies the American Buddhist experience. They love how exotic it is, how wise it sounds, and love the longing for transcendence and the connection of all things. And then American Buddhists make Buddhism into what they want it to be (yet I know this is an over generalization). The sense is that whatever may actually be Buddhist is repackaged as Buddhism lite. This is the sort of thing you get here.

But one of the things I appreciated about Kerouac is he seems pretty aware of the contradictions in his 'Buddhism.' His characters preach detachment and enlightenment all the while using too much drugs, drinking too much and using women. This doesn't make their 'spiritual experiences' inauthentic, but it does prove that while these travelling dharma bums may be in some sense pilgrims, they don't make a lot of progress. The fact that Ray's big moment of enlightenment happens while he longs for a Hershey Bar, tells you that this is the American Consumer version of the whole Buddhist experience.