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| Plot Summary of The Dharma Bums |
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"Jack Kerouac's easy going book describes a year or so in the life of Ray Smith a poet and self professed Dharma Bum as he searches for the Meaning of Life by following the Buddhist Way. Ray hangs out with his friend Japhy and other poets in San Francisco getting drunk, going to poet evenings and generally having a wild Bohemian time. The friends take a trip to the High Sierras to climb the Matterhorn and get in touch with their spiritual side. Next Ray hitch hikes across America to visit his mother for Christmas and then spends three months sleeping in the garden and meditating in a nearby wood. Returning to San Francisco by hitch hiking once again he returns to the partying and womanising (although Ray never seems to get lucky). They have a grand party to send Japhy on his way to join a monastery in Japan and then Ray and Japhy spend a final couple of days hiking on the Marin Trail getting back to nature. Finally Ray spends the summer as a fire look-out in the mountains and enjoys the solitary life. As the friends are all Buddhists the book explores their own Western version of Buddhism. The friends pray, meditate and party and there is nothing they want more than to see a million American kids with rucksacks on their backs hitch hiking their way across the States following the Buddhist Way! "
John Marcel, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Dharma Bums |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Internal struggle/realization?
Yes
Struggle over
- religious issues
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Druggie/Wino problems?
- alcohol
Wisdom from homeless/bum?
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- unemployed
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
- wild
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 10 (a tremendous amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
- Midwest
- Pacific NW
- California
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Mountains:
- climbing on trails
Forest?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- actual description of hetero sex
- descript. of female anat. (the big B's)
Unusual Style:
- a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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