Lost beat novel ‘not worth the wait’

And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tankes by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs

The US press has been hard at work this weekend dosing the flames of hype that have been rising around one of the literary world’s most anticipated releases ever.

As previously reported on The Scribbler a long delayed novel co-written by beatnik founding-fathers Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs is finally available to buy.

The writing of and originally planned release of And The Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks was surrounded by scandalous mystery. Over 60 years ago, when Kerouac was 23 and Burroughs 30, the scholars were arrested by the New York Police Department for helping a friend cover up a murder.

After they were released and cleared of the charges the pair decided to collaborate on a novel based upon the case. While Kerouac was pleased with the work American publishers unanimously disagreed.

While some sources cite this as being the reason why the book was so delayed, others state a pact was made between the writers and the real killer, one Lucien Carr that the novel would not be published until Carr passed away in an attempt to protect his name.

Thus the manuscripts were locked away and remained unpublished until this month when Grove Press did the right thing and treated it to some long deserved daylight.

Associated Press writer Bruce DeSilva this weekend damningly wrote: “The characters are aimless, intellectual wannabes who spend most of the book engaging in vacuous conversations while wandering from one seedy apartment and bar to another in pursuit of sex, drugs and whiskey.

“It is impossible to work up much concern for what will happen to any of them.”

DeSilva also added: “The crime, with its bohemian characters and hints of paedophilia, was a lot more interesting in the newspapers of the day than it is in the novel.”

The said crime was one of passion. Carr, the son in a well-to-do family, had become the object of obsession for the victim David Kammerer who met Carr years earlier in St. Louis while working as his Boy Scout leader. Kammerer reportedly followed Carr to New York where the older man met his demise at the end of Carr’s scout knife. The murderer then filled his pockets with stones and sent him to the bottom of the Hudson River.

Carr quickly confessed to Burroughs and Kerouac who in turn did not call the authorities, in fact it is claimed Kerouac helped get rid of the murder weapon. Eventually Carr was brought to justice and was found guilty of second-degree murder but was only given a two-year sentence after his lawyer argued that the crime was committed in self-defence from homosexual, paedophilic predator. Carr served his term and later led a successful career as an editor. He died in 2005.

William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac relaxing

DeSilva believes while the crime caused a sensation in 1944 New York and gave the writers a lot to write about ‘they failed to do much with it.’

Describing the book, DeSilva said: “The story is plodding, the characters uninteresting and the writing listless, with few hints at the innovative styles that would later make these writers icons of the beat generation. Perhaps the book will be of interest to literary scholars, but Grove could have posted it on an obscure internet site and spared the rest of us.”

DeSilva goes onto to protest: “Kerouac and Burroughs changed the names of all the characters, including themselves. Inexplicably, they also changed the murder weapon, turning the delicious detail of the scout knife into a hatchet. As ‘Mike Ryko’ and ‘Will Dennison’, the authors take turns narrating the story in a hard-boiled style, trying to write like Mickey Spillane and making a mess of it.”

Kerouac and Burroughs may have made a mess of the book in one reporters eyes but fans of beat writing and contemporary literature should remain enthusiastic about a release by two of the world’s most renowned authors that has been a closely kept secret for some 60 years. Posthumous releases are always something to look forward to.

Keep it The Scribbler Blog for a review of the novel in the coming weeks.

To buy your own copy of And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks click here.

There’s a 71 minute documentary on Jack Kerouac below if you have the time and the patience to watch it, we did:

For a William S. Burroughs video cast your eyes below:

Discussion:
Has anyone read the book? What is your opinion of it? Is it on a par with Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, regarded as one of the best pieces of crime writing ever produced?

Words: Dean Samways

The Scribbler Blog – Post one of many…

Welcome to the newest, freshest blog for exciting, contemporary writers

Hello enthusiastic writer and welcome to the first post of the new Scribbler Blog.

This weblog is designed as a precursor for the eventual release of The Scribbler magazine and official website.

In the long term The Scribbler will be a monthly magazine concerned with new and exciting literature from contemporary authors, poets, screen/playwrights and journalists.  With the purest of intentions, the magazine will inspire and advise amateur writers in penning their first masterpiece.

This blog, and later the magazine, will include tips and guidance from established authors and industry representatives on how to get published.  On top of this all the news, reviews, features and interviews on exciting industry developments will also be featured.

What’s it all about?

Here’s the profound bit.  The mission of The Scribbler to showcase and nurture exciting new contemporary writers, novelists, poets, journalists and screenwriters alike.  The objective of the publication is to inspire and engage amateur writers by providing features and interviews with their favourite writers as well as tips and guides on succeeding in the publishing industry.

The idea behind The Scribbler was first born while I was at university studying journalism.  My project partner, Seamus Swords, and myself, wanted to inject some life into the stagnate literary sector of the magazine industry.  We felt the perfect remedy for this would be to interview, report and analyse some of the most exciting, controversial and contemporary writers around.

So please enter:

Bangs, Bukowski, Burroughs, Cave, Cohen, Coupland, Ellis, Fiske, Greene, Kerouac, Murakami, Palahniuk, Salinger, Self, Thompson, Welsh, Young

…and many, many more.

For a little taster of what multimedia treats The Scribbler Blog has in store, cast your eyes below:

Post by: Dean Samways

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE THE COMMENT BOX AREA TO LEAVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND THOUGHTS ABOUT EXCITING CONTENT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON THE SCRIBBLER BLOG.  WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU…