小简介
杰克·凯鲁亚克(1922—1969)美国小说家。生于马萨诸塞州洛厄尔城的一个信奉天主教的工人家庭。第二次世界大战期间,他曾在美国海军服役,1942年为《太阳报》的体育记者,战后从事写作。1952年,他在旧金山南太平洋铁路上当过搬运工,游历过美国各地和墨西哥,也曾去美国博物馆寻根。凯鲁亚克是美国五十年代中期崛起的“垮掉的一代”的重要代表人物之一,他一生共创作了18部小说,大多带有自传性质。他的第一部小说《乡村与城市》(1950)是一部按照风俗和历史事件的编年体例来描写家庭和社会的史诗,当时并未引起社会的注意。《在路上》(1957)则是在几个星期之内写成的,以后几年没有再修改,小说结构松散,断断续续,描写一群年轻人的荒诞不经的生活经历,反映了战后美国青年的精神空虚和浑浑噩噩的状态。凯鲁亚克的第三部小说《地下室居民》(1958)叙述了一群“垮掉分子”在旧金山整日酗酒,纵欲、吸毒的所谓生活。《达摩流浪者》(1958)题材与上一篇小说相似,但蕴含着某种高深的东方哲理。接着,凯鲁亚克又有两部小说闪电般地问世《萨克斯医生》(1959)和《麦琪·卡西迪》(1959)均包含着作者的自传成份,充斥着失去信仰的年轻人的苦闷,彷徨和消极对抗情绪。总之,凯鲁亚克的作品艺术性稍差,但对社会现实有独到的认识。他本人的晚年生活也很不幸,终因酗酒过度而导致死亡。
Jack Kerouac was the major writer of the "Beat" movement in the '50s. His major work was On the Road (1957), an autobiographical novel describing his travels in the company of a unique character named Dean Moriarty (in real life, Neal Cassady). In later novels, Kerouac told other tales of life on the road and also wrote of his childhood and upbringing in Lowell, MA. Although he was a profound influence on the youth of the '60s (and although Cassady, in contrast, enthusiastically joined in on the hippie movement as part of the Merry Pranksters and as a mentor to the Grateful Dead), Kerouac largely disavowed the hedonism and drug use of the '60s counterculture. His poetry and novels continue to influence young people decades after his death.