Memories of the Past: From Pioneer Naturalist to Buddhist Mountaineer (Thoreau and Kerouac) An old adage says "never let the truth get in the way of a good story." However, where is the line drawn between embellishment and fabrication? Artistic privilege is just what it sounds like; the freedom to manipulate and constrain verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of speech and sentence structure to produce a much more enjoyable narrative. As with any privilege, there is a responsibility, in this case, the responsibility not to change the original intent of the story or the context in which it took place. In "Walden, or Life in the Woods" (1995), by Henry David Thoreau, he takes a very analytical approach to his memories of the past. Through the use of colorful descriptions, he paints a vivid account of the surrounding landscape without any detectable embellishment, while providing a highly accurate account of his experience. "But while we limit ourselves to books, even if selected and classic, and read only particular written languages, which are themselves nothing but dialects and provincial, we run the risk of forgetting the language that all things and events speak without metaphor, which alone is abundant and standard." (Thoreau 72) In this description of sound, the level of erudite and colorful language is clearly evident. Comparing Thoreau to his modern counterpart Jack Kerouac, in "The Dharma Bums" (1958), Kerouac writes with much less colorful language but provides more detail about personal feelings and emotions. "Far away, only the noise of the yards where the cars kicked in with a great slow motion, waking up all of El Paso, except me." (Kerouac 154) Kerouac is still descriptive, however he is much less academic in his word choice…in the middle of the paper…in writing. In retrospect, Thoreau uses less colorful language and maintains a much more detailed account of his experiences. He documents, in detail, everything from the size of his life and the pond, to all of his surroundings, to encounters with neighbors and adventures in the city. Kerouac takes a different tack, writing extremely nostalgically and philosophically about his travels and escapades. Imagination plays a marginal role in both pieces, where facts and detailed memory are manifest in both pieces. Furthermore, the theme of the “Value of Simplicity” is present in both stories. Finally, Kerouac writes in a similar style but uses more colorful language with great detail used by his counterpart. In conclusion, Kerouac, who for simplicity can be defined as the Thoreau of today, proves to be very similar in his literary approach.