Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums

The Dharma Bums is a novel written by Jack Kerouac, it was first published in the United States by The Viking Press in 1958. This novel is described as semi-autobiographical because some of the characters in the novel are very similar to kerouac's friends in real life. The Dharma Bums is a novel about Ray Smith, our narrator. He brings us along through his life as an aspiring Buddha; we get to know some of his friends such as Japhy ryder who Ray describes as “The number one Dharma Bum of them all and in fact it was he, Japhy Ryder, who coined the phrase. Basically a Dharma Bum is someone who travels around without a home, going from place to place spending time meditating. In addition, we learn how each person Smith meets has an effect in his life, but most importantly we learn about his beliefs and his point of view on life. This book has its good and bad qualities. The novel is very entertaining because the characters have different tasks and mission in life; but the novel can also be very uncomfortable because of the language used and the images

As mentioned the language gets very intense in this novel for instance when Ray states “I had a hardon for her three thousand miles long, goodness!” also when he is talking to princess he says "Now don't go wild and get into orgies with fifteen guys on a mountaintop." To some readers this kind of language can be described as normal but other readers it can really make them uncomfortable.You might enjoy this novel if you are someone who doesn't give value to materials, who loves nature and to travel, also if you are someone with a strong stance in religious studies. However if you aren’t this novel may be challenging to understand, relate and to