Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

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

23 reviews

hypocrisis's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

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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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Alcohol

Minor: Sexual assault, Toxic friendship

jessieherdman's review against another edition

1.25

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol

Minor: Fatphobia

carrotdreaming's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous reflective sad 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

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

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

noahaimelire's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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The book is divided into five parts. I'd recommend reading the first part and finishing there. I found Part 1 interesting, entertaining, and thought-provoking. It explored themes such as adventure, growing up (a little), and the American Dream, as well as just defined a great perspective on the American identity and exposed you to a lot of the country you may not be familiar with. Parts 2-4 almost feel like the same story over and over again. Some of the main characters are honestly annoying. And while I respect their story holistically, it can be frustrating to get through. There were also MANY, MANY characters, and they all sort of blend together to the point where honestly I didnt make much sense of who the narrator was actually referring to by the end of the book. It really is an interesting book and I would certainly reccomend the first part. Continue reading on at your own peril.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Sexual content

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Racism

e_jc's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence

animar1a's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-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

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I picked up this book because I knew Kerouac was one of Bob Dylan’s influences, and beat writers and poets have been catching my attention recently. I wouldn’t say On the Road was a disappointment, but it also didn’t live up to my expectations. I didn’t enjoy the ‘stream of consciousness’ writing style or the abhorrent racism, misogyny and pedophelia; but the plot (or lack thereof) was actually really compelling. I don’t think the passage of time was coherent whatsoever, with some parts of the book being drawn out and pointless to the character arc, and others being beautifully written but much too short, (specifically their time spent in Mexico and the ending of the novel). On the Road is deeply flawed and panders to the male ego, but even those who aren’t enchanted by its self indulgence have to admit it makes a compelling argument. I’m not feeling desperate to read any more of Kerouac’s novels, but I inevitably will in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse

Minor: Drug use

erinwolf1997's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Alcohol

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Car accident

danielled628's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Homophobia

biljnavjestica's review against another edition

1.5

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcohol