Reviews for A review of credibility theory

The average rating for A review of credibility theory based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-02-02 00:00:00 Darrell James Certainly the most intriguing and challenging of Kerouac's works that I have read to date, at the same time it feels like there is great meaning which lies hidden just below the surface, just out of reach. This was an incredibly brave move from Kerouac (some might say even 'foolish' as it was bound to invite derision from the anti-Kerouac crusade launched by the press and which still exists to some degree to this day). It is also Jack at his MOST spontaneous. I have a feeling that Jack lamented the lack of English onomatopoeic words and so one of his most remarkable achievements here may be that he has in fact added to and broadened the spectrum of words which describe what we hear, see, sense, touch, smell and feel. No mean feat. Here we find Kerouac trying to imitate what Joyce did in Finnegan's Wake by creating his own language. I'm not sure yet, but I hope that Burroughs' assessment of Finnegan's Wake being a 'failed' word experiment does NOT apply to Old Angel Midnight as well. Because I have not yet been able to fully penetrate this work, I am unable to judge. While Joyce's new language was largely based on a combination of Latin, Greek, Gaelic, German, French and English words, Kerouac's words seem more 'organic', plucked directly out of the Mill Valley air where he stayed with Gary Snyder in a cabin while he wrote most of this book. There are also many references to great authors, musicians, products (jello etc.) and people who were famous in pop culture at the time and some of the words in this book may have roots in Joual (a type of working-class Canadian French which Kerouac spoke fluently with his mother etc.) which I would like to study and delve into. A truly fascinating book which I am enjoying after just having finished Ulysses, a colossal book which shares some similarities with Old Angel Midnight too. I feel that this is a work that Kerouacian scholars have largely neglected and really is worthy of more attention. After James T. Jones' great scholarly dissection of Mexico City Blues in a book called A Map of Mexico City Blues, perhaps he, or some Kerouac scholar will write a good one on this work someday. Here's hoping. ************************************************************************** Just finished. Well, in two minds about this one. Some of these poems are really wild and have no idea what they mean but when you read them out they sound quite beautiful so this is really a book to appreciate in terms of the SOUND OF THE LANGUAGE and not meaning. Not to say that it is totally incomprehensible but a large portion of it is. When Kerouac hits a groove, see for example sketch #1 or #54, he is really on fire and the imagery he evokes is quite vivid and his greatest triumph I think is capturing the sound of his environment. 'Tweep' and 'tswip' are such great words that should be added to the Oxford Dictionary! You can just hear the birds like they are right outside your window, like they were right outside Kerouac's window in Mill Valley. Something beautiful about a guy who very bravely chose to go his own way with spontaneous prose, ensconced in a wood shack writing these poems in pencil by candlelight. Oh Jack we miss you.

Review # 2 was written on 2020-01-11 00:00:00 James Laster Ma pole Kerouaci abstraktsemaid asju varem eriti lugenud ja harjunult miskit lugu oodates oli see alguses igavavõitu, aga siis avastasin järgemööda rütmi, sõnapoisid ja et see on ju hoopis luule, las olla ühes jorus kirja pandud, ja siis oli kõik korras. Kerouac on ka suurepärane linnukeelte transkribeerija. Üks lind ütleb: "Pirilee, pirilee, tzwe, tzwi, tzwa" - kohe asi selge. Teises kohas: "...sound of silence broken by the firstbird's teepaleep" - teepaleep, teepaleep. Mõnus öelda ka inimkeeles. Ja lisaks meeldib mulle, et kuna see on kirjutatud Gary Snyder onnikeses, siis on see meeldiv taustamaterjal "The Dharma Bumsile" - TDB on rõõmsat hei-hoogu täis kirjutatud, aga OAM tutvustab Kerouaci argielu selle taga, rahulik-igav sipelgavaatlus ja linnulaul.