On the Road
Ratings429
Average rating3.4
A vibrant portrayal of life presented in jazz form: messy, loud, improvised, collaborative, and irreverently original. This is what you would expect from a literary icon who helped found an entire movement. Jack Kerouac's iconic novel On the Road truly lives up to its positive reputation and embodies a life-affirming joie de vivre. This is my first Kerouac read, though I am familiar with various quotes from him, with one of my faves being: “Nowhere to go but everywhere, so keep on rolling under the stars.”
Like the quote, On the Road unfolds like a stream of consciousness as the author embarks on a somewhat autobiographical journey across the country several times. Each journey features a unique assortment of supporting characters, inspired by real figures from Kerouac's life, who enhance the reverie of existence. Figures of the Beat generation such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, among others who embody the sentiment of the free spirited and unconstrained of their generation. Ultimately it’s a story about embracing life to its raw fullest; to live in the moment without hesitation or judgment amidst all its highs and lows.
Film Recs:
- Easy Rider
- Babylon
- Y tu Mama Tambien
- American Honey
- Kill Your Darlings
I hate this book So. Goddamn. Much. It's an abomination. It shouldn't be anywhere near the ‘literary classics' section. What exactly is so brilliant about this book? The incoherent ramblings of an alcoholic? The completely bland and uninteresting white male protagonist? This book should be pushed way to the back of any bookshelf, and forgotten about. Better still, don't even bother picking it up.
Summary: This novel is considered by many to epitomize the beat generation. Sal Paradise shares his experiences traveling across the country over the course of several years with Dean Moriarty and other friends, and he gives a glimpse into the wild lives that they lived.
Listed as “a novel that defined a generation”, but I’m not sure I would quite call it that. To me it relates to a lot of truths in life, and the people that we meet. I would have enjoyed it most in my early 20s. Worth a read though.
In a way this book reminded me of Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat, except in this the people are the way they are, I assume because they are deeply selfish and myopic.
Ok I got through like a half of the book and I grew tired of those rides and stuffs and debauchery. So literally I skimmed through it and in the end i was like what? Again a ride?
I feel a lot of emotions went into this book. It's a kind of wild ride back and forth across the United States following WWII – late 1940s and 50s.
Is it just typing? I don't think so. It's strange, because I found some of it deadly dull at the time of reading, but then found that it stayed in my mind while I was going about my daily chores.
I wish that I'd read this as a younger man, when travelling was on my roadmap more than it is now. I think it's that that has made it stay in my mind - it has me thinking back on my travelling days and looking at my kids as they grow into travelling ages and hoping that they get to do that.
It also has me thinking about my life now, as I approach 50 and go nowhere, but even if I did go somewhere, it would be to visit, not to live, and with family and not friends. Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing, just a different thing.
So the book has got me thinking, which is why I've given it four stars. The writing style suits the content perfectly. I think this is a book I'll read again in 10 years or so.
Such a serendipitous find too - I went to the post office which just happens to sell books too, and they had this on the counter as an impulse buy, so I impulsively bought it.
If there was a deep meaning to this book other than don't let someone irresponsible be your idol, I did not find it.
This appears on a lot of must-read lists. I don't understand why. This book was a slog for me. I listened to the audiobook and played it at 2x's speed, and it was still too long. This book seems to be about Sal (who possibly represents the author) and Dean (who is a complete psycho) they run from one side of the country to the other drinking doing drugs and sleeping with prostitutes. I found the plot depressing and the characters repulsive and pathetic.
This books redeeming aspect is descriptive and emotional language used by the author.
Fast, breathless, always moving...
I never connected with the characters. I understood term. I may have even known some Sals and Deans. But I just couldn't connect with them, as people.
Yet, I enjoyed the writing.
Enjoyed the vividness of the scenes.
Enjoyed discovering a subculture of 7 decades ago.
Even, at times, enjoyed the wild wanderings of minds constantly high of mj, insomnia and youth.
Not bad for a book I picked up by mistake.
Literally one of the worst books I've ever read. It serves no point, no purpose. Totally useless, without any message whatsoever.
I only made it to page 92. This does not translate well to modern thinking - dude is pretty racist and sexist. Also I barely care about anyone in this story. Everyone is a bad person, not least because of the racism and sexism.
This is a book unlike any other, so you can't read it like any other. The book has a different kind of momentum, which is not built upon plot but upon language. When you read it you need to read it as Kerouac wrote it, quickly. He wrote the entire book in two weeks, taking no time to go back and edit. So, therefore, when you read it, take no time to go back. It's just go go go, no time to be spent mulling the plot because there almost is none, this is all what happened to the author. Essentially this is an autobiography, written in as stream of consciousness as you can get.
And by reading at breakneck speeds, you begin to find a rhythm in the language. Kerouac, when writing, was fueled by coffee, drugs, and jazz.
So it wouldn't be a stretch to call this book literary jazz: there's an underlying beat, improvised instrument solos, and a feeling of discarding all the establishments. There are grammar errors, spelling errors, and Kerouac even makes up words for Gods sake, all because he's so in tune with the beat that he just can't stop writing. And the trick to reading his tome, which admittedly seems intimidating, is to just keep following the beat, following the road onwards, wherever it takes you- even to places you've never imagined.
On the Road is what happens if the world tells men that everything they have to say is interesting and worthy of a larger readership.
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“The truth of the matter is, you die, all you do is die, and yet you live, yes you live, and that's no Harvard lie.”
key words: i don't care about ur male struggles leave me alone
2.5 stars. I'm going to give what I previously wrote a little more substance even though I 203% stand by what I said.
This book was an absolute drag. I gave it three stars but writing this review a week or so later I can't remember why so we're downgrading a bit. The thing that redeemed it was the language, at times. At times it's the kind of poetics you expect from a beat generation poet. Most of the time, however, it's rambly at best and racist & sexist gibberish at worst. It probably didn't help that I read the original scroll, meaning there were no paragraphs, it was just one big blob of letters.
None of the people were really interesting (though they seemed to believe they were). The men were excuse-my-French fucking disgusting most of the time, treating everyone around them terribly without a care in the world. Honestly, I don't give much about this “fresh vision” if it means I have to read about shitty, annoying, boring people for almost 400 pages. Also, nothing happened. People drove that way and fucked up their lives and then hitchhiked the other way and fucked up their lives some more. Cool.
i probably would've thought this was cool when i was 14. but i was too busy reading about wizards and spaceships, which i still think are cool, unlike Jack Kerouac .
Liked: Having traveled to many of the same places as Sal and his pals.
Disliked: Bizarre language!
What will stick with me: How Sal found beauty, wonder, adventure, and intrigue everywhere he went.
I listened to this book on Audible. Highly recommend Will Patton's reading of the book. Really brings the characters to life. http://www.audible.com/pd/Classics/On-the-Road-Audiobook/B002UZMS58