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4.4k reviews for:
On the Road (Penguin Classics) by Kerouac Jack (2002-12-31) Paperback
Jack Kerouac
3.28 AVERAGE
4.4k reviews for:
On the Road (Penguin Classics) by Kerouac Jack (2002-12-31) Paperback
Jack Kerouac
3.28 AVERAGE
Not quite sure how to go with this. I don't come away with any significant underlying messages, this was just about people doing things. That is the laziest analysis I can come up with, as it describes almost every story.
At the risk of sounding ignorant, I don't get the Beat generation. The people featured here, trailblazers of the post-war Beat path, make poor, impulsive decisions and let their thoughts wander too far out of bounds to be of any use.
But Corey, this was how life was for a generation. Whether you agree with it or not, this actually happened and it's a life you can't comprehend. Hence the reason you pick up books in the first place: to learn.
Still - with a grand and intricate world out there, some topics just aren't worth your time or interest.
At the risk of sounding ignorant, I don't get the Beat generation. The people featured here, trailblazers of the post-war Beat path, make poor, impulsive decisions and let their thoughts wander too far out of bounds to be of any use.
But Corey, this was how life was for a generation. Whether you agree with it or not, this actually happened and it's a life you can't comprehend. Hence the reason you pick up books in the first place: to learn.
Still - with a grand and intricate world out there, some topics just aren't worth your time or interest.
At first Kerouac's frenetic prose makes this a hard read but once you get used to it you can start enjoying and feeling the frenetic lifestyle of living on the road.
While there's not a lot of "plot", I guess that's also the way life works, we just go about from one place to another, not knowing where the road will take us, but we must learn to enjoy all of its randomness and whatever the road will bring.
Finally, while I was expecting Sal (the protagonist) to reflect on what his journeys through America taught him about life, there was no such thing ever on the book, but I guess Kerouac leaves that to us the readers to imagine. Should we live life on the road, always looking for kicks, or should we ever settle down and stop? What was the point of all of Sal and Dean's journeys? What's the point of our journey?
Overall a great read and it was very interesting learning about the cultural context of the "beat" generation and culture.
While there's not a lot of "plot", I guess that's also the way life works, we just go about from one place to another, not knowing where the road will take us, but we must learn to enjoy all of its randomness and whatever the road will bring.
Finally, while I was expecting Sal (the protagonist) to reflect on what his journeys through America taught him about life, there was no such thing ever on the book, but I guess Kerouac leaves that to us the readers to imagine. Should we live life on the road, always looking for kicks, or should we ever settle down and stop? What was the point of all of Sal and Dean's journeys? What's the point of our journey?
Overall a great read and it was very interesting learning about the cultural context of the "beat" generation and culture.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fun to see the birth of common American tropes and reflection of ideologies, doesn’t hold up as much today, Definitely not on enough drugs to understand it
A good book, obviously, but I'm not a fan of the beatnik, I guess. I remember reading this and feeling bad that he had to keep asking his mother for money. Such are the thoughts of a teenager...
This was terrible. If this is how straight white males still think I will never ever be a part of it. I thought it couldn’t get worse and then the last 50 pages really did it
The one thing that we yearn for in our living days, that makes us sigh and groan and undergo sweet nauseas of all kinds, is the remembrance of some lost bliss that was probably experienced in the womb and can only be reproduced (though we hate to admit it) in death. But who wants to die?
After hearing about this book for years, I have finally read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. The “stream of consciousness” writing is raw and gritty, making it a difficult read.
Kerouac wrote this on a massive scroll of paper with no breaks. With no attempts for organization, the result is not the polished novel of modern day life. Rather than reading it continuously through, I read it in bits and pieces at a time.
I should have read this as a teenager when the carefree attitude and sense of adventure appealed to me more. It’s not ground-breaking today as it was in 1957 when published, but I appreciate it for being a product of its time, a world that simply doesn't exist anymore.
Kerouac wrote this on a massive scroll of paper with no breaks. With no attempts for organization, the result is not the polished novel of modern day life. Rather than reading it continuously through, I read it in bits and pieces at a time.
I should have read this as a teenager when the carefree attitude and sense of adventure appealed to me more. It’s not ground-breaking today as it was in 1957 when published, but I appreciate it for being a product of its time, a world that simply doesn't exist anymore.