Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - On the Road (Penguin Classics) by Kerouac Jack (2002-12-31) Paperback

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

On the Road (Penguin Classics) by Kerouac Jack (2002-12-31) Paperback by Jack Kerouac

18 reviews

dylanwelker's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The craft is strong and the style revolutionary for its time, but I found the characters extremely unpleasant and more self-deluded than I think I’m meant to. They’re incredibly misogynistic, homophobic pedophiles, and while they aren’t racist in the sense that they hate non-white people, the author clearly still maintains internalized white supremacy. In his eyes, other races seem to be pitiful or just incapable of seeing the world the way he does, as if straight white men are the only ones capable of seeing the madness of the world. I see most descriptions talk about the book as a search for meaning, but it’s really just a bunch of white guys driving around, impregnating women, abandoning them, and drinking heavily. I can’t tell where the character’s delusion and over baked sense of self-importance ends and the author’s begins.

Content Warnings

kj_suguitan's review against another edition

0.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

bakrafty1's review against another edition

2.0

challenging medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This title shaped a generation in the 70’s who were checking out from the rat race. I understand now why this post-WWII tale of cross-crossing the US hobo-style had a major influence on the “hippie” generation. Wondering now if the title shows up in current university lit classes thanks to the rise in “van culture” and “remote working” encouraging a new generation to hit the road.
However, gave it a 2 rating due to misogyny, drug and alcohol abuse, racism, sexism, etc.

Content Warnings

cthulhu_calamari's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 48%

It's basically a dubiously "real-life" account of people all of whom you could generally sum up as "an undiagnosed ___" commiting crimes and treating other people's lives as theme parks, with no consequences other than a "man, can you believe it!" story.

I can imagine that boomers "dig it," but it's otherwise of no discernable cultural value. The parts that aren't completely pointless ramblings tend to be about some asshole watching terrible things happen to people, with the narrato 's commentary consisting of "Man, he/she was *wild*, can you dig!"

Content Warnings

madzzzzzx's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

i picked this up as it’s renowned as a text that inspired american media which i can understand. this book romanticises lifestyle on the road but has these awful characters to intentionally create irony in the romanticising these bad habits. i also enjoyed the homoerotic nature and friendship between sal and dean.
this book does not age well.

Content Warnings

bonesfor5dollars's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I went into this book with the curiosity of the 'Beat Generation.' Counterculture movements have been a fascinating topic to me and so to read a book that 'captures the beat generation,' I was quite eager to dig into this book. However, what I got out of this was pure disappointment and just a poorly-aged book that contains questionable characters and ideas. While the writing style of Kerouac can be interesting at some points, I feel the book is entirely bogged down by the characters who are probably the most unlikable characters that I've seen in a book. How they describe people of color is just baffling especially from Sal, who has some of the most baffling descriptions and observations of African Americans, and Mexican Americans. The main characters also sexualize underage women a lot and get extremely bad by the end of the book, when they are in Mexico. Also, the manner in which women are presented in this book is just terrible as well, as the main characters often exploit women either for sex or for money and make comments on how women are objects.

Content Warnings

kai_okay's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark inspiring reflective fast-paced

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

hypocrisis's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

couldn't get past the racism, pedophilia and misogyny (unfortunately?).
Selfish and self-destructive characters like Dean Moriarty can only be romanticised as 'angel(s) of terror' and prophets from the safe distance of a reader ...or a protagonist who's in a permanent state of intoxication.
I'm sure it was groundbreaking at the time, but the lifestyle described doesn't appeal to me, even though i do give into 'madness' at times and love 'kicks'. Maybe I'd get it if i had a real connection to american culture and jazz, or if i had a driver's license lol. Maybe I'm too stuck in my middle-class ways to see it, but i didn't get the point of all these roadtrips just to do the same thing with the same people all over again.

Content Warnings

sophiajkessler's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The main takeaway for this book for me was something I already knew: straight men are more in love with each other than they could ever love any woman. It was quite obvious to me that Sal and Dean love one another and this is to an extent a love story. Hence why Sal overlooks how bloody annoying Dean is which we as the readers have to suffer through, whilst Sal gushes about how great he is. Cognitive dissonance much? Other readers have commented ( and I agree) that although this book has beautiful prose it is plot deficient and there are precious few actually likeable characters. To me this didn't detract from the book though as it helped develop the sense of loneliness and isolation that an itinerant lifestyle engenders no matter how freeing it might be. People who aspire to this kind of lifestyle should look at the endings of the protagonist and deuteragonist to find the moral of the story:

Sal makes his way off the road and finds his happiness. Dean never does and seems unable to do either. We leave him to an uncertain fate, having lost all the friends and lovers of his journey and also Sal, his probable soulmate.

A cautionary tale about the dangers of a lifestyle many idealise even if its simultaneously a love story, both to the road itself and between its main characters. Best enjoyed if you yourself are actually on a roadtrip! At times I could practically see and feel the emotioms and scenery described. Beware of the content warnings though.

Content Warnings

nessafurtado's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Para um livro escrito em três semanas tem seus pontos fortes; as paisagens descritas, o pós guerra, o nascimento da geração beat, algumas boas frases sobre amor e a vida. Eu consigo entender o porquê tanta gente romantiza esse livro.
Agora, os personagens são, na grande maioria, detestáveis. Demandou muito esforço mental tentar compreender o que Sal via em Dean, uma fé e dedicação totalmente cegas e unilaterais. Os comentários de Dean sobre mulheres, e uma criança eram deploráveis; os comentários relacionados a pessoas pretas ou gays não eram melhores. Não importa o tempo em que isso aconteceu - 1950, 1960 - isso NÃO é desculpa para ser uma pessoa ruim/babaca.

Content Warnings

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