The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
First published 1950 · English · 204 pages
- Novels
- Religion and spirituality
This novel follows Ray Smith, a wandering writer drawn to Buddhism, who meets the poet and mountain climber Japhy Ryder. The two become friends, sharing talk of poetry, meditation and simple living. Set largely in California and the Pacific Northwest, the story moves between city parties, freight-train rides and long hikes in the high mountains. Japhy is modelled on the poet Gary Snyder. The book blends spiritual searching with outdoor adventure and offers a lively picture of the Beat circle in the late 1950s. It is often read as a lighter, more hopeful companion to Kerouac's road writing.
Quotes
By God, you're right, all those sedentary bums sitting around on pillows hearing the cry of a triumphant mountain smasher, they don't deserve it.
Only one thing I'll say for the people watching television, the millions and millions of the One Eye: they're not hurting anyone
"Pray tell us, good buddy, and don't make it muddy, who played this trick, on Harry and Dick, and why is so mean, this Eternal Scene, just what's the point, of this whole joint?" I thought maybe I could find out at last from these Dharma Bums.
Maybe I'll be rich and work and make a lot of money and live in a big house." But a minute later: "And who wants to enslave himself to a lot of all that, though?