Hardcore Doors/Morrison question---
 

According to Paul Rothchild, the Doors were the most literate group he ever came across. Jim and the other members were apparently always lost in a book (reading or writing). I was wondering if anyone knew exactly what the group read, or heard specific titles mentioned by any of the members. Going by lyrics, its obvious Morrison read Nietzsche and the Greek tragedies, but where else did he draw literary inspiration?

I know Jim read a lot of Huxley, as well as William Blake and either got the band name from Huxley's book 'The Doors of Perception' or from the Blake quote "If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite."

Also as you said Friedrich Nietzsche, you might also want to check out Arthur Rimbaud, as well as Jack Kerouac, Joseph Campbell, Antonin Artaud, and Charles Baudelaire.

I happen to be (distantly) related to Patricia Kenneally, and I talked to her about Jim a few times. I know he read Verlaine as well as Rimbaud and Baudelaire. He also read philosophy by almost anyone he could find. Manzarek was a lot of eastern philosophy, as well as reading the Egyptian Book of the Dead (check out his solo album The Golden Scarab). He apprently carried a copy around for years. Densmore apparently liked autobiographies and World War two memoirs. I couldn't tell you about Krieger.

Manzarek is an idiot. Granted I am a fan of his music WITH the Doors but everytime he opens his mouth I go insane. The man is a total self-important ass who has latent homosexual tendencies when it comes to Jim. Seriously, the guy obssesses about Jim more than anyone on the planet...get a life man...the Doors are over!

I can agree with that Manzarek does have a serious man crush on Jim, seems he has since the band started.

Manzarek occasionally has something decent to say...but it's pretty rare. I liked him better in the late 70's, when he was actually trying to get his solo career going....at least then he seemed to do something more than live in his past glories.

Who do you think would be major influences today on Jim if he were still alive? I could see him getting into the likes of Baudrillard or Paul Virilio. Technology is the new mysticism.

Also, is Patricia Kenneally as psycho as the Doors books/movies would have me believe?

She hasn't been at all freaky when I was talking to her. She does admit she was a little weirder when she was younger, though.

Still, Patricia is very...intense. Some people aren't used to that, so she may come across as a little odd. She's also very very intelligent, so that can be off putting to some.