Finally finished it: And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks

I first began reading And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs before either of them were famous. I was in the book store before a trip to Savannah in the beginning of August and could not resist, being a Jack Kerouac fan and On the Road being my favorite novel in high school. I need to attempt to read it again, I remember struggling to keep up with his stream of consciousness. Although I enjoyed it then, I have a feeling I would have a greater appreciation for it now.

I enjoyed Hippos, although it was totally random (as to be expected) and had a bit of an abrupt ending. I am absolutely fascinated with the 1940s beatnik culture, so it kept my attention. I am totally content reading the random and mostly meaningless conversations of 1940s beatniks. One of the coolest things about this book is that remained unpublished until sixty years after it was written! It should have only taken me a week to read, but I am awful with books. I either don't find the time to actually read them or read them so late at night that I fall asleep - hey, that's the reason I started reading books anyway. ; )

One very nerdy thing I do is mark the pages with quotes that I enjoy. Do I ever use them? Guess I am now! Here is one in one of William Burroughs' quotes (who writes as character William Dennison) that I found particularly interesting:

"I think the whole Phillip complex is like the Christian heaven, an illusion born of need, floating around in some nebulous misty Platonic nowhere, always just around the corner like prosperity, but never here and now."

I'm sure there are a ton of people out there that would not appreciate such an analogy, me - I kind of get it.

Now I must decide what to read next - Eat, Pray, Love (skipping the pray) or Vodka, are You There? It's me Chelsea. Chelsea Handler is a bit of a role model for me. I loved her first book My Horizontal Life. Might actually go with Eat, Pray, Love for a more serious read.

Check out this photo of Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs in New York City in 1953. Kerouac is the handsome one of course.

P.S. Totally hip