The ways of the great poet beat
Posted on April 25, 2010
Controversial first and recognized later, Allen Ginsberg was a leading exponent of the "Beat Generation". Now, thirteen years after his departure, many travelers are rediscovering their footsteps.
It was, along with Jack Kerouac , one of the emblematic representatives of the "Beat Generation", this group of artists who presaged the fierce hippie '60s. A critical rhetoric with the system, while overflowing between imagination and political incorrectness, put it constantly on the verge of disputes of all kinds.
Allen Ginsberg, who are rescued his poems mostly raw ("Kaddish" is the best example), died 13 years ago. However, his legacy often recovered from those who value the virtue of political acidity and courage to take the limits.
Like other members of the Beat movement, Ginsberg made travel almost exclusive material from his life and work. Itineraries include his discovery of India (where he met and embraced Buddhism) and controversial step by Castro's Cuba, where he was expelled for questioning the discrimination against homosexuals in the late '60s.
The personal journeys and friendship with other artists (including Bob Dylan and Kerouac himself) fed slightly autobiographical texts. To critics, "Howl" ("Howl") is just that: Ginsberg's life until 1955 and indirect but accurate portrait of the world beat.
Between San Francisco and the City
Today, when many of the questions of Ginsberg seem obsolete or out of fashion, the Beat movement nostalgic looking for a set of tracks to relive those eternal maverick talent.
In the U.S., perhaps the best place for that is the City Lights bookstore. Located in San Francisco (at the intersection of Broadway and Columbus Avenue), their role in the career of Ginsberg is key. City Lights (which was also reviewed and small publisher) irreverence dared publish "Howl" at a time when middle America lived under the umbrella timid conservatism.
City Lights was the meeting point of the progressive intelligentsia then.
You have to cross the border into south to follow the adventures evoking "beats", not only but also Ginsberg Kerouac and William Burroughs. In the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, between small bars and rundown mansions, the locals kept intact the memories of these three men. Not go unnoticed and devoted every man for himself: to live and drink cheap, explore Mexican culture and continue confusing art with everyday life.
