Visions of Gerard
LC Class PS3521.E735 V47 1991 | | |
Preceded by | Big Sur (1962) | |
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Followed by | Desolation Angels (1965) |
Visions of Gerard is a novel by American
Influence
Scholar Laurence Coupe has argued that the identity of the title character of Bob Dylan's song "Visions of Johanna" (from the 1966 album Blonde on Blonde) "echoes" Visions of Gerard, and the song as a whole, like the novel, "would seem to be about the hunger for beatific experience—the hope that the sacred realm might yet be glimpsed within the profane. Johanna, like Gerard, represents the salvation that comes out of suffering. But unlike Kerouac, Dylan depicts this possibility as tauntingly remote—a cause of suffering in itself."[3]
Character list
Kerouac often based his fictional characters on friends and family.[4]
"Because of the objections of my early publishers I was not allowed to use the same personae names in each work."[5]
Real-life person | Character name |
---|---|
Jack Kerouac | Jack Duluoz |
Leo Kerouac | Emil "Pop" Duluoz |
Gerard Kerouac | Gerard Duluoz |
Gabrielle Kerouac | Ange Duluoz |
References
- ISBN 978-1-59853374-3
- ^ McLaughlin, K., 'Jack Kerouac's Visions of Gerard', in Wills, D. (ed.) Beatdom Vol. 4 (Mauling Press: Dundee, 2009) Archived October 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "'Vision music': Bob Dylan via Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg" by Laurence Coupe in Beat Sound, Beat Vision: The Beat Spirit and Popular Song (Manchester University Press 2012). Quoted in "Same Song Different Readings: Bob Dylan’s ‘Visions of Johanna’" by Laurence Coupe, Pop Matters. 15 June 2022. Accessed 29 November 2023.
- ^ Who’s Who: A Guide to Kerouac’s Characters
- ^ Kerouac, Jack. Visions of Cody. London and New York: Penguin Books Ltd. 1993.