Tristessa by Jack Kerouac Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Tristessa
Book Review: Tristessa
Summary: 5 Stars
Tristessa by Jack Kerouac *****
Tristessa may just be the best thing Kerouac ever wrote. Yes I know On The Road was, and still is one of the greatest and most important books of all time, but I must say I don't think Kerouac ever felt what he wrote as much as he did when he wrote Tristessa. You can feel his heart aching in the literature, something that is very, very rare to find, but very rewarding when you do.
Tristessa follows a man in Mexico City, Mexico who is completely infatuated with a women named Tristessa who is a junky, to say the least. This tortured story follows these two along with a revolving door of assorted men, and her fellow girlfriends over the course of about a year and a half. These two love each other but the narrator can't bring himself to give into her because of her addictions and flighty ways, but he also is conflicted and can't leave her in this condition because he really does love her so, and her him.
This is a gut wrenching tail of love, loss, and not being able to let go. If this is not the most prolific thing Kerouac ever wrote it sure is close, and wins my pick for his best.
Book Review: Tristessa - Kerouac in Mexico
Summary: 4 Stars
While perusing Barnes and Noble, I found this obscure little Kerouac book on the shelf. And by little, I mean only 96 pages, which makes it a wonderful afternoon read. Kerouac gives vivid and palpable description to transport the reader to the slums of Mexico in the early fifties. There, our main character, Jack, falls in love with a volatile, drug addicted Mexican woman named Tristessa. The story is told in two parts: the first being Jack's first trip in which he slowly falls in love with the Mexican native, and the second, his trip back, in which his adoration for her is challenged by the realization that she has changed in the time that has passed.
Within these 96 pages is a love story that is beautiful, tragic, and completely captivating. The lovesick Jack is a vehicle in which Kerouac unleashes some of his most beautiful prose, both for the tragic urban setting and for his fallen goddess Tristessa.
This is not like "On The Road", it is set in one location and has different themes than his more popular books. In that way, it is also much more honest and does not hold back on the raw despair and heartache. It may not be a happy book, but it is one that the reader will experience rather than just read. So please, explore this book, and enjoy Kerouac fans' best kept secret.
Book Review: Tristessa... Literary Jazz
Summary: 5 Stars
While praised for defining a generation, Kerouac is too often passed over as a great literary artist. Tristessa is the pinnacle of his art: literary jazz. Influenced by be-bop, his story of a junkie whore poor mexican girl not only expands the saga of Beat life, it finally brings his music to the page. The art and music of the story are larger than the words and the thoughts... the feelings here are be-bop; they are addictive.Book Review: Vintage Kerouac
Summary: 4 Stars
Jack Kerouac describes his low-budget meanderings within the slums of the Prostitution and Drug Culture in 1950's Mexico City. His descriptions of the hovels that his "compadres" live in, is quite engrossing... it reminds me somewhat of the activities in the neighborhoods of modern-day Tijuana (short all the pets and chickens and so-forth)... I wouldn't recommend anyone attempt these same "feats" in modern-day Mexico City, as it has become a much more dangerous place for tourists over the last 50 years.
The fact that Kerouac is able to travel and live among the bohemian under-culture is one thing, but that he is able to describe it with his running dialog style on a typewriter is quite unique (a style that is something close to what I'd independently come up with at 14 in 1973, while capturing a dialog between a good friend and my sister on my Mom's old manual typewriter).
Book Review: What's Changed?
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember reading this about three years ago as an undergrad and not enjoying this book. I'm not sure why. I just never much liked the Beats; their experiences just seemed so foreign to mine for me to relate. But I reread this book a couple of days ago, and everything had changed. I'm just guessing that I was an idiot a few years ago, and now I'm obviously wise and intelligent and crazy and depressed enough to like this. I read this straight through, and every minute of it felt so authentic. I felt the sorrow here. The longing the protagonist has for Tristessa and the desire he has to redeam her. The sense of despair and longing for spiritual fulfillment. I appreciated his engagement initially with Buddhism and eventually a reconsideration of Christianity. This was a nice read. Spare and sincere. I'll reread it again soon. I'm sure that I'll like it again.