Has anyone read Jack Keroauc's 'Big Sur'? Was it a difficult read for you?

Big Sur is in my to-read stack. Like any twenty-something American male, On The Road is one of my top five novels. I enjoyed Dharma Bums a lot. But something is keeping me from Big Sur, and your question doesn’t make me want to run towards it any time soon.

So, to answer your question, no, I haven’t read it. But I’d like to.

Agree with @Mamradpivo. It depends on your age. I loved Big Sur (and Dharma Bums, and On the Road, et. al) when I read it in my early twenties. Now that I’m in my thirties, I don’t connect with it in the same way anymore.

Assuming you’re of the age where most people connect with Kerouac, then I say keep trying. It’s NOT the same as his other narratives, but it really is a great book and a fun read if you’re in the right spirit.

Big Sur nice easy version

I think that if a book is hard to read (unless educational) then it isn’t worth reading.

Reading is fun escapism. Don’t force it to be anything else. :-)

I haven’t read it. Sorry.

Yes, I read it, and no, I didn’t find it to be a particularly difficult read. What about it is proving to be so difficult for you?

I found it to be a confusing read, similar to my evaluation of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. Kerouac never connected with me at any age. But then I’ve been accused of having a calculator in place of a soul.

No I have not read it, but I have read Richard Brautigan’s A Confederate General From Big Sur , I can’t recommend it highly enough for those with a sense of humour and love of the quirky and outrageous, in retrospect I would describe it as one of my rites of passage.