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9 Counter Cultural Books

9 Counter Cultural Books

The word counterculture generally refers to any movement that strives to achieve ideals counter to those of contemporary society. While counterculture itself is not a genre per se, the concept has intertwined itself into numerous fictional and nonfictional accounts of the 20th century and beyond. From the hippie rebellion of the 1960s to the persistent struggles of minority groups for equality, these books embody counterculture each in their own way, each with their own take on an ideal society.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

9 Counter Cultural Books

On the Road has become a staple of the countercultural canon. Jack Kerouac based the novel on his relationship with fellow Beat poet Neal Cassady, who appears in the book as Dean Moriarty. Kerouac himself is the basis for protagonist Sal Paradise, and a number of other characters are representative of people in Kerouac’s life. The novel, told in five parts, details various adventures taken by Sal and Dean. Sex, drugs, and jazz are the foundation from which characters like Dean grow, forcing Sal to contemplate the implications of freedom and contempt for conformity. Sal begins to travel across the United States, sometimes with Dean by his side, and broadens his perspectives through the situations he encounters. As the novel progresses, Sal begins to understand the complexity of freedom, ending with a reflection on his journeys and Dean’s role in his life.

The novel was written in just three weeks and came from journals kept by Kerouac while traveling the country with Cassady. It was first typed on one continuous scroll, which spans 30 feet (9 meters). Kerouac employed a stream of consciousness technique while writing On the Road, approaching it casually as if it were a letter to a friend.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson (1971)

9 Counter Cultural Books

Similar to Kerouac’s On the Road, Hunter S. Thompson’s novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is autobiographical in nature. The story is based on two trips to Las Vegas taken by Thompson and his attorney, Oscar Zeta Acosta, in an attempt to gather information for articles commissioned by Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone. Protagonist Raoul Duke, Thompson’s literary double, goes to Las Vegas with attorney Dr. Gonzo, Acosta’s fictional counterpart. While there, Duke and Dr. Gonzo are meant to report on the Mint 400 motorcycle race, but they are constantly interrupted by their intensive use of recreational drugs including LSD, cocaine, cannabis, and alcohol. During bouts of hallucinogenic experiences, the two ponder the meaning of the “American Dream” and the counterculture.

Thompson’s recounting of the past in a manner than blends both fact and fiction gave rise to the genre of gonzo journalism, an inherently countercultural method of reporting.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker (1982)

9 Counter Cultural Books

Alice Walker’s The Color Purple proves countercultural in a manner different from the works of Kerouac and Thompson. While they fought against implicated societal confines of how to live life, Walker fought against the institutional racism and sexism of 20th-century America. The Color Purple is a compilation of a series of letters from protagonist Celie to God. Celie is an impoverished African American girl who, at age 14, is constantly beaten and raped by her stepfather. She is forced to marry a man who is also abusive toward her. She eventually meets Sofia, a strong woman who stands up for herself on numerous occasions when confronted with sexism and racism. As an intimate look at the trials, tribulations, and strengths of African American women like Celie and Sofia, The Color Purple is an oft-cited example of both civil rights literature and feminist literature.

Walker won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1983 for The Color Purple, and it was later adapted into a film (1985) and a musical (2005) of the same name.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (1969)

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five is a satirical semiautobiographical account of World War II. The novel follows, by use of an unreliable narrator, the story of American soldier Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim’s life is recounted in flashbacks, making the story appear out of chronological order. He begins as a chaplain’s assistant, hating war and refusing to fight. He is then captured by German troops during the Battle of the Bulge and survives a series of events that eventually lead to his rescue on V-E Day. After being treated for PTSD and settling down with a wife and children, Pilgrim is abducted by Tralfamadorians, aliens from the planet Tralfamador. He is placed in a zoo exhibit with Montana Wildhack, another human. They fall in love and have a child, but Pilgrim is sent back to Earth immediately after. Pilgrim is eventually shot and killed by a hit man years later, after giving a speech on death, at a baseball stadium. The novel counters war in a satirical manner while also promoting a fatalistic view, one that was held by the Tralfamadorians who abducted Pilgrim and eventually by Billy himself at the end of the novel.

Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (1961)

9 Counter Cultural Books

Stranger in a Strange Land is a science fiction novel by Robert Heinlein that follows the life of Valentine Michael Smith, a man who was born in space and raised on Mars. Smith arrives on Earth for the first time at 25 and encounters a society far different from that of the Martians. In a post-World War III United States, organized religion holds immense power. Smith befriends Gillian, Ben, and Jubal, who help him to escape from government officials. Smith eventually creates the Church of All Worlds in response to the corrupt religions he encounters. Within this church is a familiar sort of counterculture: open sexuality and rejection of commonly accepted laws of conformity. Members of the church learn the Martian language under Smith and eventually develop psychokinetic abilities. Smith is killed by a mob of protesters who insist his new church is blasphemous. The book ends with the implication that Valentine Michael Smith was, in fact, an incarnation of an archangel.

The original name of the novel was The Heretic, which furthers the implications of a divergence from contemporary religion and, therefore, cultural structure. In 2012 the Library of Congress named it a “Book That Shaped America.” An uncensored version of the novel was published in 1991, containing even more countercultural statements that had been removed by publishers on account of the shocking nature of their implications.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (1963)

9 Counter Cultural Books

The Fire Next Time contains two essays that challenge race relations. The first, “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation,” details the treatment of African Americans in American history. The letter serves to educate the nephew, but it also subtly becomes a call to action for African American people, that they must continue to push for true freedom. The letter culminates in a profound argument: that the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation is being celebrated 100 years too early. The second essay, “Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind,” recounts James Baldwin’s experiences with Christianity, the relationship between race and religion in general, and the Islamic ideals of African Americans in Harlem. Baldwin, through these epistolary essays, sought to counter the culture that had oppressed African Americans for centuries.

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (1962)

9 Counter Cultural Books

Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest provides an allegorical approach to counterculture. The novel, set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital, is narrated by “Chief” Bromden—a half Native American who recounts the story of patient Randle Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy faked insanity to keep himself out of jail, allowing him to serve his sentence in a psychiatric hospital. He is constantly stirring the pot and creating chaos between the patients and the nurses. After one of the patients commits suicide, McMurphy is blamed by a nurse with whom he has constantly clashed. He lashes out and attacks her, which results in him receiving a lobotomy and being condemned to a vegetative state. Chief escapes the hospital, smothering McMurphy in an act of mercy before fleeing to freedom. The novel is seen as an antiestablishment allegory, with the hospital and the nurses representing the overbearing government and McMurphy the counterculture.

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963)

9 Counter Cultural Books

Widely regarded as the spark behind second-wave feminism in the United States, The Feminine Mystique attacked the 20th-century understanding of a woman’s function in society. Betty Friedan conducted and recorded a plethora of research, eventually publishing the book because no magazine would publish her original article. The nonfiction book introduces the problem that has no name, which is described as the unhappiness felt by the majority of American women in the 20th century. She argues that this feeling was perpetuated by the slow narrowing of the lives of women into solely domestic roles. The following 14 chapters detail her extensive research, explaining in layperson’s terms the function of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Freudian theory, and other complicated psychological agents that affected the widespread feelings of women in the 1950s and onward. She ends by suggesting ways in which America can prevent itself from falling further into this trap.

Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman (1971)

Abbie Hoffman published Steal This Book as a guide to acting against the government. The book is divided into three sections—“Survive!”, “Fight!”, and “Liberate!”—with multiple subchapters. Written in the style of a “how-to” manual for members of the counterculture, Steal This Book is a snapshot of the hippie movement and the ideals it perpetuated. Subsections include information detailing how to successfully grow cannabis, protest, live in a commune, and even shoplift. It was so provocative that Hoffman eventually created his own publishing company, Pirate Editions, in order to sell the book, as other publishers were too afraid to attach their names to it. Though it was scarcely advertised, Steal This Book became very successful and was immortalized by the Woodstock Nation, who adopted Hoffman’s term for America, “Pig Nation,” as their own.

Hoffman cofounded the Youth International Party—the “Yippies,” a countercultural political party.

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