Comments on: “A Man of Confused but Deep Spirituality” http://therumpus.net/2009/10/a-man-of-confused-but-deep-spirituality/ Books, Music, Movies, Art, Politics, Sex, Other Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:33:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: james yeh http://therumpus.net/2009/10/a-man-of-confused-but-deep-spirituality/comment-page-1/#comment-11127 james yeh Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:47:40 +0000 http://therumpus.net/?p=37206#comment-11127 i think mark sums it up pretty well -- great writers are able to inspire, motivate, embolden, bother and disquiet regardless of style. to that extent, i feel kerouac is more of a writer of ideas, ideas rooted in feeling, which i think come from a sense of spirituality. good article, maddie. i think mark sums it up pretty well — great writers are able to inspire, motivate, embolden, bother and disquiet regardless of style. to that extent, i feel kerouac is more of a writer of ideas, ideas rooted in feeling, which i think come from a sense of spirituality.

good article, maddie.

]]> By: Mark Pritchard http://therumpus.net/2009/10/a-man-of-confused-but-deep-spirituality/comment-page-1/#comment-11126 Mark Pritchard Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:44:35 +0000 http://therumpus.net/?p=37206#comment-11126 Not proper writing? He's not the first to have said so. I wonder how he would feel about Kathy Acker? The genius of writers like Kerouac is not necessarily to be found in their prose -- though it's easy to find plenty of beautiful sentences and turns of phrase in his work -- but in their effect on readers. If a writer's work motivates a generation to something -- to hit the road (Kerouac), end slavery (Stowe), clean up the meat industry (Sinclair), or take up environmentalism (Carson) -- then that person is a great writer, and their style is not an issue. Not proper writing? He’s not the first to have said so. I wonder how he would feel about Kathy Acker?

The genius of writers like Kerouac is not necessarily to be found in their prose — though it’s easy to find plenty of beautiful sentences and turns of phrase in his work — but in their effect on readers. If a writer’s work motivates a generation to something — to hit the road (Kerouac), end slavery (Stowe), clean up the meat industry (Sinclair), or take up environmentalism (Carson) — then that person is a great writer, and their style is not an issue.

]]>