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The First Third & Other Writings| Media: | Paperback | | Author: | Neal Cassady | | Publisher: | City Lights Books | | Release date: | 01 December, 1971 | | List price: | $15.95 |
| Our price: | $10.85 that is 32% off! |
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| The First Third & Other Writings |
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The Pen Was Just Too Slow For Neal Cassady |
A few chosen people are meant to be artists. Of the artists, there are painters: others sculptors, musicians, poets or writers. For some, like Neal Cassady, their medium was Being.
Although a muse for the likes of Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Ferlingetti, and in many ways the adrenaline to the Beat Generation, Cassady was not a writer. Writing wasn't Neal's gig. Perhaps the pen was too slow for him; the medium just couldn't convey his essence. Rather Neal was a live show. It seems cruel to find him trapped on paper - like watching a tiger at the zoo, the wild drained off through those all confining bars.
The first few chapters of The First Third are slow and seem forced. However, the vibe changes drastically once Neal's family tree is throughly discussed. It's as if Cassady has quit the pretentious wordplay and dictated thoughts to paper, which give the remainder of the book a much more genuine feel.
The most enlightening segment of the book is the select correspondence between Neal, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey and others. It provides an insight into Neal that is raw, unedited and seems a much more accurate description than Cassady's own attempt at biography.
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| The First Third & Other Writings - Neal Cassady |
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Bukowski said it better |
The Beat-Ups had an unrealistic romantic notion of the heartland and the sticks. They slummed their way through America and insisted that everyone else share their own infantilism, incredulity and narcissism. Bukowski, rather, tells it like it is without any literary pretensions and pleading for understanding. On the Road and other such stuff is useful as a historical document of pre-interstate road travel, and not much else.
Beat-Ups should grow up, get a job and pay the rent.
I heartily advise you all to read Ham on Rye and Post Office. This will give you an insight into real America. |
| Neal Cassady - The First Third & Other Writings |
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The 1st 3rd |
| This is a must read for any beat fan since its Neal Cassady in his own words. Good family background and thorough childhood description. The other writings were more interesting to me personally wanting to hear more about the second third. I dont know, this review [stinks]. |
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