The Sea Is My Brother

By: Jack Kerouac

Narrated by: Ray Porter

In the spring of 1943, during a stint in the merchant marines, 21-year-old Jack Kerouac set out to write his first novel. Working diligently day and night to complete it by hand, he titled it The Sea Is My Brother. Nearly 70 years later, its long-awaited publication provides fascinating details and insight into the early life and development of an American literary icon.

Written seven years before The Town and the City officially launched his writing career, The Sea Is My Brother marks the pivotal point at which Kerouac began laying the foundations for his pioneering method and signature style. The novel chronicles the misadventures of two seamen who at first seem different but are really two sides of the same coin: 27-year-old Wesley Martin, who “loved the sea with a strange, lonely love”, and William Everhart, an assistant professor of English at Columbia College who, at 32, impulsively ships out, hoping to “escape society for the sea, but finds the sea a place of terrible loneliness.”

A clear precursor to such landmark novels as On the Road, The Dharma Bums, and Visions of Cody, it is an important formative work that bears all the hallmarks of classic Kerouac: the search for spiritual meaning in a materialistic world, spontaneous travel as the true road to freedom, late nights of intense conversation in bars and apartments, the desperate urge to escape from society, and the strange, terrible beauty of loneliness.

©2011 John Sampras, the Estate of Stella Kerouac; Introduction 2011 by Dawn Ward (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Published for the first time, the novel betrays the faults of inexperience….But these are outweighed by its virtues - the vitality of its dialogue, the freshness and power of its descriptions, whether of cheap saloons, cramped cabins, or sunrise at sea. A social concern rarely found in American fiction since Dos Passos.” ( Daily Mail, London)

“The real value in The Sea Is My Brother is that it shows that Kerouac didn’t spring fully formed as the ‘King of the Beats,’ but had an evolution, a period of growing up and maturing, and that he - as any great writer must - certainly paid his dues.” ( Independent, London)

I guess it’s ok

I didn’t hate it. But. It didn’t fulfill a single storyline. Just kinda meandered and then ended as abruptly as it began. Seemed like a tease to me. Whether or not that was intentional is up for debate.

Humble beginnings for Kerouac

I consider Kerouac to be my favorite author due to the works of On The Road and Dharma bums alone. Coming from that end of his works, I’ve progressed back to his beginnings here with this book and it shocked me! This book is so SOBER, and anyone who loves Kerouac knows that SOBER is entirely different from his later works, or really his life at all.
I loved this book, I loved Kerouac’s prose, direct story telling.

A fantastic romp of a tale! A great narrator too!

If you could sum up The Sea Is My Brother in three words, what would they be?

A great romp of a tale!

What did you like best about this story?

The plot and characters...developed so quickly and with gusto!

Which character – as performed by Ray Porter – was your favorite?

Martin

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laughed a bit...

Any additional comments?

thanks!

Like A Thrift Store Treasure

Knowing this is Jack before he was officially "Kerouac" gave me the same warm thrills as finding a perfectly scuffed little treasure in a thrift store. I enjoyed every line of this young Jack and noticed the way he wrote himself into every character. Noticed the way he lodged various splinters of his identity, whether present or prophetic, into the lives of any man with a line in this book. Being so young and unseasoned, he might've done this to inflate the imaginary world still lacking his personal evolution. As I said, this is Jack before Kerouac and in that fact alone rests several hours of historical happiness for the Beat nuts of today.

For Kerouac fans

This story, on its own, it nothing special. It is unfinished and lacks the signature style that Kerouac is known for. It is however a very interesting look at the early formation of Jack's writing and a glimpse of his first attempt to walk the thin line between fact and fiction. If you love Kerouac's work, you'll probably like this as well. If you have never read any of his other stories, you may be disappointed with this one. Narration is top notch. As usual, Ray Porter knocks it out of the park. He is tied, in my mind, with George Guidall for best audio book voice actor.