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

amelody'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

Sal Paradise is a colossal ass. Hated these characters. William Burroughs ("Bull Lee") was the only one worth knowing. And he was a self proclaimed junkie--and certainly no hero. Kerouac seems to have been an irresponsible, privileged, little snot whose rambling search for himself or for adventure led him to use everyone he came into contact with to the best of his abilities. The only saving grace of this book (beyond Bull Lee's practical interludes) is the fact that Kerouac/Paradise at least described the settings well.

Content Warnings

touchingartt's review against another edition

2.25

adventurous challenging dark 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

As much as this is a classic, it was actually really hard to read it and there are a few reasons for that:
1) All characters, especially Dean, do not seem like genuinely good people. (cheating, racism, r*pe, and at some point even pe*ophi*ia)
2) Plot is basically non-existent
3) You need to have extremely good knowledge about America in the 1940s and 1950s to understand how some things might have worked or are possible; the same goes for knowledge on certain American cities where they travel a few times (i.e. Denver, San Francisco, New York...), so you can understand which parts of those cities were poor, industrial, fancy, etc.
4) Writing was lazy at some point, so it seems like you can never finish reading one page even tho it says basically nothing

Content Warnings

kydnmthws's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

serving_goffman's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this is a difficult one to review.. it is safe to say that the slang is passé and the racial and especially misogynistic sentimentalities are absolutely appalling. But on the other hand the search for something meaningful to hold on to - the famous IT and TIME - the tales of passionate friendship and spiritual revelation are timeless. It also contains some of the most beautiful prose ever written and reads like an insane rollercoaster ride. this is beat americana distilled into one of the maddest books i’ve ever read.

Content Warnings

erinhjackson's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous lighthearted fast-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

arnevdsande's review against another edition

2.0

reflective slow-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The fact that Kerouac took years editing this novel (and most of the edits were omissions), is quite unbelievable: how did so much still make it into the finished version? Overall quite boring, the characters are a pain and the women have zero agency, let alone importance.
But I guess that was kind of the point.
Wish I could see why this is seen as canon in the American road narrative... If you decide to read this, I recommend watching Thelma & Louise afterwards to see what could have been.

Content Warnings

wretchedtheo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

ssgcedits's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

An all-time favourite and one I am always glad to re-read. It is beautifully written, it depicts the time to an almost hyper-realistic degree, and there isn't a dull moment from start to finish. I wish women had a more active role in it instead of being mainly used to show how adventurous and 'successful' the men are, but, again, it does reflect the time almost too well.

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