Three Beat Boys:

The Beat generation has received renewed interest as of late. This post will look at three of it's celebrated members:

Jack Kerouac in New York City.

Jack Kerouac (above), William Burroughs (bottom, left) and Allen Ginsberg (bottom, right) were the cornerstones of the Beat Generation. 

Kerouac was the poster-boy of this post-war American subculture. His seminal work On the Road, that will be reviewed above, embodied the spirit of the subculture. It is referred to as the 'Beat bible'. On the Road is heading for the big screen this summer, with Francis Ford Coppola as a producer.

 Burroughs, often referred to as the godfather of the beat generation, was the most innovative beat novelist, often experimenting with new styles and developing different genres. In his most celebrated work, Naked Lunch,  Burroughs employs the cut-up technique, something Burroughs created, improved and eventually perfected.

Allen Ginsberg was a 'jazz poet'. Some of his noticeable works are Howl, Kaddish and America. He was the most political beat, often striving for a more politically aware movement, rather than the arguably apolitical, even anti-political, position that characterized the Beat generation.

Ernest Hemingway

To end what has somewhat accidentally become Ernest Hemingway week, I thought it was fitting to add this photo. I have shown photo's of two of his other hedonistic desires, guns and alcohol, in previous posts, but it is important to end the week showing what he does best, writing.

This photograph is statuesque and in my opinion shows the power and presence the man ostensibly possessed.







'Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another' -
Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961)

Top 5 Literary quotes about alcohol:

This week we reviewed Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. This novel, like much of Hemingway’s work, is based around war. So I decided to post a couple of American authors and their esteemed weaponry.

Another topic that always plays a large role throughout Hemingway’s oeuvre is alcohol. So why not indulge...

1.  Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut. – Ernest Hemingway

2.  An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you - Dylan Thomas

3.  The problem with some people is that when they aren’t drunk they’re sober – William Butler Yeates

4.  Work is the curse of the drinking classes – Oscar Wilde

5.  I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me - Hunter S. Thompson  

While writers are heavy drinkers and usually command the terrain of the written word, W.C. Fields is certainly worth a mention. The comedian, actor, performer and all round genius provides some of the most ironic, yet earnest, quotations regarding alcohol and it’s consumption. Well worth a read:

I drink therefore I am – W.C. Fields

Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water – W.C. Fields.

A woman drove me to drink and I never even her the courtesy to thank her - W.C. Fields