Go is a semi-autobiographical novel by John Clellon Holmes. (Holmes referred to the book as a roman à clef.) It is considered to be the first published novel depicting the beat generation. Set in New York, it concerns the lives of a collection of characters largely based on the friends Holmes used to hang around with in the 1940s and 1950s in Manhattan. An underworld of drug-fueled parties, bars, clubs and free love is explored through the eyes of character Paul Hobbes, Holmes' representation of himself in the novel. Hobbes is torn between joining his friends in their riotous existence and trying to maintain his relatively stable life and marriage to his wife Kathryn. Plot introduction Go concerns protagonist Paul Hobbes' struggle to maintain his marriage to his wife, Kathryn, while simultaneously indulging in the world of the 1940s and 1950s Beat Generation. It follows the complications of interpersonal relationships arising from a group of disillusioned and often eccentric young people. Hobbes finds himself in a world of promiscuity, casual drug use and petty crime but retains a certain detachment from it, sometimes to the annoyance of his friends. From wild all night parties to Allen Ginsberg's visions of William Blake to the death of Bill Cannastra, the events of the book are largely real events, some of them alluded to in other beat works, most notably Ginsberg's "Howl". Holmes has said that the only plot element entirely invented by himself is Kathryn's infidelity. Different titles The original manuscript was named The Daybreak Boys as an allusion to a rivergang on the New York waterfront in the 1840s, but this title was rejected as a book with a similar title had been published by Scribner's shortly before Go was received. The word Go appears regularly in the book, spoken by many of the cast of characters, almost as a mantra. In Britain Go was originally published as The Beat Boys. Characters in Go The characters in Go are, as was common in beat generation literature, representations of the real people the author knew while writing the book.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“The Ancient Japanese considered the Go board to be a microcosm of the universe. Although when it is empty it appears to be simple and ordered, in fact, the possibilities of gameplay are endless. They say that no two Go games have ever been alike. Just like snowflakes. So, the Go board actually represents an extremely complex and chaotic universe.”
— Max Cohen's mentor Sol Robeson, in Pi (1998 film) written by Darren Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, and Eric Watson.
“When I was young I wanted to be the world's best chess player and, of course, I didn't succeed. I wanted to be the world's best Go player, too.”
— Bill Gates, as quoted in Bill Gates Speaks (1998) by Janet Lowe, p. 227
“Go is destined to take the place of Chess as the leading intellectual game of the Occident, just as it has reigned supreme in the Orient for some four thousand years.”
— Edward Lasker, Go and Go-Moku ISBN: 0-486-20613-0.
“I learned to play go in college ... It's a very complicated game ... non-linear.”
— Barack Obama, as quoted in "Obama Played Go in College", American Go E-Journal (19 October 2015)
“The number of all things in Nature begins with one. The points on the go board number three hundred and sixty plus one. One is the first of all living numbers. It occupies the polar point of the board around which the four quarters revolve. The other 360 points represent the number of days in a [lunar] year. They are divided into four quarters which represent the four seasons...”
— Wang You Qing Le Ji [The Carefree and Innocent Pastime Collection], the oldest surviving Go manual, from the early 12th century (though it is actually an anthology of older texts), as quoted in Go in Ancient China.
“Why I play go? The answer inside me is clear... To link the far past with the far future.”
— Hotta Yumi, in Hikaru no Go (Volume 23, chapter 189)

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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Overview

Go is a semi-autobiographical novel by John Clellon Holmes. (Holmes referred to the book as a roman à clef.) It is considered to be the first published novel depicting the beat generation. Set in New York, it concerns the lives of a collection of characters largely based on the friends Holmes used to hang around with in the 1940s and 1950s in Manhattan. An underworld of drug-fueled parties, bars, clubs and free love is explored through the eyes of character Paul Hobbes, Holmes' representation of himself in the novel. Hobbes is torn between joining his friends in their riotous existence and trying to maintain his relatively stable life and marriage to his wife Kathryn. Plot introduction Go concerns protagonist Paul Hobbes' struggle to maintain his marriage to his wife, Kathryn, while simultaneously indulging in the world of the 1940s and 1950s Beat Generation. It follows the complications of interpersonal relationships arising from a group of disillusioned and often eccentric young people. Hobbes finds himself in a world of promiscuity, casual drug use and petty crime but retains a certain detachment from it, sometimes to the annoyance of his friends. From wild all night parties to Allen Ginsberg's visions of William Blake to the death of Bill Cannastra, the events of the book are largely real events, some of them alluded to in other beat works, most notably Ginsberg's "Howl". Holmes has said that the only plot element entirely invented by himself is Kathryn's infidelity. Different titles The original manuscript was named The Daybreak Boys as an allusion to a rivergang on the New York waterfront in the 1840s, but this title was rejected as a book with a similar title had been published by Scribner's shortly before Go was received. The word Go appears regularly in the book, spoken by many of the cast of characters, almost as a mantra. In Britain Go was originally published as The Beat Boys. Characters in Go The characters in Go are, as was common in beat generation literature, representations of the real people the author knew while writing the book.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Go is a semi-autobiographical novel by John Clellon Holmes. (Holmes referred to the book as a roman à clef.) It is considered to be the first published novel depicting the beat generation. Set in New York, it concerns the lives of a collection of characters largely based on the friends Holmes used to hang around with in the 1940s and 1950s in Manhattan. An underworld of drug-fueled parties, bars, clubs and free love is explored through the eyes of character Paul Hobbes, Holmes' representation of himself in the novel. Hobbes is torn between joining his friends in their riotous existence and trying to maintain his relatively stable life and marriage to his wife Kathryn.

Notable quotes

“The Ancient Japanese considered the Go board to be a microcosm of the universe. Although when it is empty it appears to be simple and ordered, in fact, the possibilities of gameplay are endless. They say that no two Go games have ever been alike. Just like snowflakes. So, the Go board actually represents an extremely complex and chaotic universe.”
— Max Cohen's mentor Sol Robeson, in Pi (1998 film) written by Darren Aronofsky, Sean Gullette, and Eric Watson.
“When I was young I wanted to be the world's best chess player and, of course, I didn't succeed. I wanted to be the world's best Go player, too.”
— Bill Gates, as quoted in Bill Gates Speaks (1998) by Janet Lowe, p. 227
“Go is destined to take the place of Chess as the leading intellectual game of the Occident, just as it has reigned supreme in the Orient for some four thousand years.”
— Edward Lasker, Go and Go-Moku ISBN: 0-486-20613-0.
“I learned to play go in college ... It's a very complicated game ... non-linear.”
— Barack Obama, as quoted in "Obama Played Go in College", American Go E-Journal (19 October 2015)
“The number of all things in Nature begins with one. The points on the go board number three hundred and sixty plus one. One is the first of all living numbers. It occupies the polar point of the board around which the four quarters revolve. The other 360 points represent the number of days in a [lunar] year. They are divided into four quarters which represent the four seasons...”
— Wang You Qing Le Ji [The Carefree and Innocent Pastime Collection], the oldest surviving Go manual, from the early 12th century (though it is actually an anthology of older texts), as quoted in Go in Ancient China.
“Why I play go? The answer inside me is clear... To link the far past with the far future.”
— Hotta Yumi, in Hikaru no Go (Volume 23, chapter 189)