The Dharma Bums

This is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of The Dharma Bums, a novel by Jack Kerouac that is far less read than On the Road but is perhaps just as evocative of the period and of Beat literature. It details the friendship between Ray Smith (a stand-in for Kerouac) and Japhy Ryder (who is based on poet Gary Snyder), and their involvement in exploring nature and Buddhism.

The word Dharma, to a Buddhist, means "higher truth," and the Bum part, well, that is a kind of truth as well. In the fifties, the bum, or hobo, lifestyle was still something of higher calling for a kind of intellectual who wasn't interested in the rat race. During the course of the novel, Smith criss-crosses the country, covering most of the miles by jumping trains or hitching rides. This is the opening of the book: "Hopping a freight out of Los Angeles at high noon one day in late September 1955 I got on a gondola and lay down with my duffel bag under my head and my knees crossed and contemplated the clouds as we rolled north to Santa Barbara." The prose almost has the rhythm of the click-clack of a train, and effortlessly draws the reader into Kerouac's world.

The short novel consists of a few parts. First Smith and Ryder and another friend climb the Matterhorn (the one in California, not Switzerland). Ryder is depicted as a child of nature, an expert on Japanese poetry and a Bodhisattva of some standing. Smith looks up to him, eager to learn more. Come winter, Smith hitches back to North Carolina to spend Christmas with his family. He goes out into the woods and meditates with the dogs while his brother-in-law grumbles about him not working (it's never clear where Smith gets his money--presumably his mother gives it to him). Finally, Smith returns back to California, spends some time with Ryder before the latter sails for Japan, and then spends the summer working as a fire lookout on a peak in Washington state, where he rapturously communes with nature.

Kerouac was a master stylist, who manages to be both lyrical and economical at the same time. The book at times is like a long poem (and includes many haikus). His description of the simple life in nature is compelling. Consider this passage, about a night spent in the desert outside of El Paso: "All I had for companionship was that moon of Chihuahua sinking lower and lower as I looked, losing its white light and getting more and more yellow butter, yet when I turned in to sleep it was bright as a lamp in my face and I had to turn my face away to sleep. In keeping with my naming of little spots with personal names, I called this spot 'Apache Gulch.' I slept well indeed."

Tellingly, Smith and Ryder do have disagreements, particularly about Smith's drinking. Knowing that Kerouac would die about ten years later from alcoholism makes the scene much more poignant. Also, as with On the Road, Kerouac was something of a misogynist. The women in this book are merely playthings for the men. A girl known only as Princess is passed around like a blow-up doll for their amusement (including to the character based on Allen Ginsberg, who was of course gay).

While reading the book I spent some time learning more about Buddhism. There are many different varieties of it (and Smith and Ryder discuss some of these in the novel) and it certainly has its appeal, but I doubt it would ever work for me, as the heart of it requires the ridding of possessions. I'm not ready for that. I guess I'll never reach Nirvana.