decadent_and_depraved reviewed Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac
Review of 'Maggie Cassidy' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"Never dreaming, was I, poor Jack Duluoz, that the soul is dead. That from Heaven grace descends, the ministers thereof . . . No Doctor Pisspot Poorpail to tell me; no example inside my first and only skin. That love is the heritage, and cousin to death. That the only love can only be the first love, the only death the last, the only life within, and the only word . . . choked forever."
At first, I was rather underwhelmed by the story. I was wondering when that overly sentimental, dramatic, and theatrical love stuff is going to come. But it did not come. It would never come. To fully embrace and appreciate this story, one has to reexamine all of those biases that centuries of a certain kind of portrayal of love and romance in literature have made us so accustomed to.
This is an honest account. Here, …
"Never dreaming, was I, poor Jack Duluoz, that the soul is dead. That from Heaven grace descends, the ministers thereof . . . No Doctor Pisspot Poorpail to tell me; no example inside my first and only skin. That love is the heritage, and cousin to death. That the only love can only be the first love, the only death the last, the only life within, and the only word . . . choked forever."
At first, I was rather underwhelmed by the story. I was wondering when that overly sentimental, dramatic, and theatrical love stuff is going to come. But it did not come. It would never come. To fully embrace and appreciate this story, one has to reexamine all of those biases that centuries of a certain kind of portrayal of love and romance in literature have made us so accustomed to.
This is an honest account. Here, Kerouac simply tells as was. With all the childish fervor, confusion, apathy, and pettiness. There is a game. It is not straightforward. There is someone else. Yet, you love her. Same goes for her. But, in the end, you do not even feel the growing distance. It sneaks up on you. And all it is left is just a merciless idea of that person you once so painstakingly loved.
Raw, man. Got me right into feels.
