I don’t know what put me there, but I picked up Jack Kerouac’s On the Road the other day and in listening I’m reminded of just how good the writing is. He’s got such a flow and rhythm, and his characters are so interesting.
Kerouac was perhaps the most famous author of the “beat generation” – those who came out of World War II exploring something different. Questioning the going narrative of how we should live as a nation. They might be considered tame by today’s standards, but these were deep thinkers that really rankled the establishment. And some of their work was quite interesting, if controversial.
On the Road is set against a backdrop of a series of trips taken by Kerouac and others in the late 40’s. And there’s something about it that captures a bit of a freedom that could only be had at that time. And this is kind of what I’m getting at in my title. Because I think technology has gentrified everything. You see it especially in music. Most commercial music today is packaged and formulaic. It’s not about a love of the art anymore, it’s about putting together something that’s going to make a lot of money. And the same goes for road trips like Kerouac’s. It’s about the travel package someone can put together to capture your nostalgia (but especially your money).
I’ve mentioned the New York Times’ The Daily podcast and their Sunday Read here on occasion. Their recent episode, “I Fell in Love with Motorcycles. But Could I Ever Love Sturgis?” is a wonderful example of what I’m talking about. The author has just recently gotten into motorcycles, and wants to see what Sturgis is all about. And Sturgis sounds pretty cool, but from her perspective, it seems to have gotten a bit “tame” compared to its reputation. It’s more about the getting together and having the experience rather than actually living it. It’s been sanitized and packaged and now it’s sold to those who are rich enough to take their Harleys (or rent them when they get there) on a trip where they get to play “outlaw” for a while.
A far cry from Hunter Thompson’s Hell’s Angels. But Thompson wrote that book in the 60’s, before the packaging of the biker experience.
One final author comes to mind for me on this point – John Steinbeck. I love his book The Grapes of Wrath (among others). It captures the brutal experience of the American 30s, the dust bowl, and the move to California of so many of the plains poor in search of a way out of their poverty. Steinbeck writes so many other books about the American experience. You read his stuff and you’re just in a different time. A time where people survive. No programs. No packages. Pure stuff.
And this is where I’m going with “the greatest century.” The twentieth century saw some of the most incredible changes in human history, and you can draw that experience from the authors who captured some of it. It was raw and natural. Un-gentrified. Un-packaged. Now, you can purchase the experience. Then, you lived it – and you got by without even knowing it.
I recommend you pick up and read some of these books and many others of the genre. Try to imagine a time before it was all served up for you on a platter. Maybe even break out of the twenty-first century rut and learn something about surviving a simpler life. The greatest century most certainly has a lot it can teach us.