Book Review: Jack Kerouac's Windblown World

Beat Generation Author's Journals 1947-1954

Dec 13, 2008

Jack Kerouac's early composition journals provide valuable insight into the author and the man, his travels, and the ideas that informed his published work.

It's an odd thing to read someone's private journal, even if it is that of a well-known author. Whether or not Jack Kerouac ever intended them to be read, at least some of his writing journals have been published as Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac (1947-54).

WIndblown World Title Describes Contents

The title, Windblown World was chosen by Editor Douglas Brinkley and refers to an excerpt from one of the author's entries: "...this drama of enigmas and double-depths and sorrows and grave joys, these human things in the elemental vastness of the windblown world." It is a wholly appropriate title, too, as that entry could well sum up the contents of the journals/book.

Those contents are taken from ten separate notebooks Kerouac kept from June 1947 to February 1954 chronicling the writing of his first two novels, The Town and the City and On the Road. While many of the entries actually do discuss the work, such as number of pages written on a given night, or problems the author was having with the composition, there is at least as much "other" covered here.

Journals Catalog Both the Profound and the Mundane

From musings on his own belief system to descriptions of drunken binges, Kerouac does not discriminate, probably because these writings were intended for his own use. As is the case with personal logs of this nature, there is at least as much of the mundane as the profound. But when the profound comes from a writer as intense and ultimately original as Kerouac, those moments are something well worth the reader's time.

Because of its structure, Windblown World can be read randomly, just opening to any passage will likely reveal some enticing thoughts. There are benefits, however, to reading these journals chronologically, as they were written. One is the ability to watch the writer grow, not only as an author learning his trade, but as a human, developing a core set of values (and with Kerouac, this was an ongoing, major theme).

The reader will also be able to follow along as sparks of ideas become journal entries that grow into passages --some instantly recognizable-- in his books (particularly On the Road). In this sense, we are able to better understand the organic growth of a literary work, a valuable lesson for both budding writers and fans of literature alike.

Windblown World is divided into two major sections: The Town and the City journals and the On the Road journals. Within these sections are several chapters representing different journals the author kept during those periods. Among these chapters are "Psalms" (journal entries interspersed with his own religious revelations and prayers) and "Rain and Rivers."

Rain and Rivers Journal Captures Kerouac's Travels

The "Rain and Rivers" journal is perhaps the most intriguing chapter for the reader interested in learning more about the composition of On the Road. This notebook was a separate travel journal Kerouac carried throughout his travels from the late 1940's to mid-1950's, and from which he drew much the novel that would become the Beat Movement's masterpiece.

Kerouac's catalog of places and experiences here would be entertaining even to those not familiar with his work. One example, as he traveled by bus through an upper midwest blizzard: "By January moonlight, in this northernmost part of America, the ghostly snow-rocks and buttes stood in bulging haunted shapes...No more 'badmen' --not on horseback-- but the same rugged, undeniable world for rugged necessary soulfulness."

At 422 pages, Windblown World can be monotonous for the reader not overly fanatical about Jack Kerouac. As stated, portions of the book are highly entertaining while others might only interest the scholar or those who simply can't get enough of the Beat king. For the latter, however, these journals are essential to an understanding of the man and his writing.

Kerouac, Jack (ed. Douglas Brinkley), Windblown World: The Journals of Jack Kerouac 1947-1954

The copyright of the article Book Review: Jack Kerouac's Windblown World in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by Dale Van Every. Permission to republish Book Review: Jack Kerouac's Windblown World in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.