Book Review: "Maggie Cassidy" by Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac is one of those writers I read a lot of in university. I had a great time in my teens with books like On the Road and The Town and the City. But when I got to university, I found a whole new sea of books to read by him with one of my favourites being The Sea is My Brother. When it came to Maggie Cassidy, I think I must have skipped over this one or just missed it out. Books like Mexico City Blues got me obsessed in my university years too - I have no idea how Maggie Cassidy missed my gaze though. Well, the language is beautiful and the writing is simply fantastic. Let's see what it is about then...

Jack Duluoz, if you're not already aware, is an alter ego for Jack Kerouac which was used in his semi-autobiographical novels from time to time. This book is set in the 1930s and tells the story of an adolescent love affair that Jack Kerouac had with a girl named Mary Carney (Maggie Cassidy). It's not a narrative in the sense that there is a serious story, but the book captures the emotions of youth when dealing with romantic encounters. Jack Kerouac is probably, as you would believe, the worst writer to write about romance. But there are no punches held here - Kerouac does it realistically and without the Hollywood-ised rose-tinted sunglasses which have plagued our modern day.

Jack is a high school student, talented in sports, especially football and track, which gives him a certain status among his peers. Yet, despite his athletic success, he is introspective and restless, already showing the qualities that would define him later as a writer. I would also say that one of these key qualities is his inability to lie about his feelings. He has this way with words where every emotion is shaken with curiosity but at the same time, each emotions has an advantage and a disadvantage. For example: romance seems great but then again, is horrifying nervous from time to time.

Jack meets Maggie, a local girl whose beauty and independence immediately captivate him. Their relationship quickly blossoms into his first true romance. Maggie is drawn to Jack’s energy and promise, while Jack is enchanted by her presence, seeing in her a kind of purity and mystery. Their connection feels intense and all-consuming, the way teenage love often does. And yes, this is before Hollywood corrupted the teen romance genre and made everyone believe that teen romance was all sunshine and rainbows and looked like a Lana Del Rey music video when things were sad. Jack Kerouac definitely looks at the reality of romance, there is definitely something that Maggie brings to the table which is very vibrant, yet has this mystical air as well.

Much of the novel dwells on the sweetness of young love: dates, dances, walks, and simple moments of tenderness. Kerouac lingers on these moments with a nostalgic, almost lyrical quality, capturing both the excitement and vulnerability of youth. I love the way he brings the vulnerability in against these images of concrete around him. There's something definitely atmospheric about it and Kerouac doesn't make it look all rosy. Even though it is nostalgic as well, the reader knows that it is over and thus, there is something almost airy in the way he turns around on these moments. The concrete atmosphere is filled with working class folks, immigrants and the strange but vivid Catholic values that permeate through their teen years. The small-town culture is something that Kerouac constantly wrestles with alongside his emotions and this makes everything just more realistic again.

All in all, I don't want to say everything there is to say about this novel but there is something fantastic about the way in which Kerouac writes about his romantic journey with 'Maggie'. Even though they don't break up explosively, there is something longing yet immature about the way in which they realise each other. The love they once had therefore, just slowly unravels like yarn. It's less about the fact that they speak to each other and more about what they do not say. Their unspoken fears and traumas are left hanging in the air between them.