Scan barcode
zioale's review against another edition
4.0
In un certo senso è un libro che mi ha fatto crescere. Ottima la traduzione della Pivano, anche se naturalmente dieci anni dopo leggendo l'originale ho avuto più soddisfazioni
grunzy's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Frantic. Why would someone go to so many lengths like literally too many cross country trips for one crazy man. I feel bad for these women who put up with them. I wasn't exactly sure what I'd get with this book but it wasn't what I wanted.
I listened to the original scroll
I listened to the original scroll
islandofgreen's review against another edition
Definitely feel that this is a classic that hasn't aged well. I can see its appeal to some with the very descriptive and often beautiful prose, and can see how some people would connect with the main character in some ways - he's a self-proclaimed misfit and doesn't know what he wants to do with his life - he just wants freedom to do his own thing and see his friends.
I, however, couldn't get into it. I found the writing dry and the pace of Sals' adventures to be too fast with too little meaning behind them. I just don't understand what the point or the message of this book was. Not only that, but I found the characters completely unappealing - not just in terms of their views (which were racist and sexist) but also just the fact Dean is reckless and selfish and Sal just follows him around.
Really I don't think I'm the target audience for this book as a woman - in the book people of my demographic were overly sexualised and objectified, which in reading made me feel very uncomfortable.
On the topic of uncomfortable - the amount of paedophillic comments made in this book - something I could not get past and eventually made me put down this book before finishing it.
I, however, couldn't get into it. I found the writing dry and the pace of Sals' adventures to be too fast with too little meaning behind them. I just don't understand what the point or the message of this book was. Not only that, but I found the characters completely unappealing - not just in terms of their views (which were racist and sexist) but also just the fact Dean is reckless and selfish and Sal just follows him around.
Really I don't think I'm the target audience for this book as a woman - in the book people of my demographic were overly sexualised and objectified, which in reading made me feel very uncomfortable.
On the topic of uncomfortable - the amount of paedophillic comments made in this book - something I could not get past and eventually made me put down this book before finishing it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Pedophilia, and Sexism
ebancroft's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What a perfect little book to describe America as a country for someone who’s never been. This book was a full, well fleshed out tourist experience without ever leaving my house.
The characters were fab, and really encapsulated the era of the time. I found everything very vivid and visually compelling. Kerouac’s very, very good at detailed descriptions of places and events without it ever feeling boring.
I would definitely read another by Kerouac, he really feels like an author that does define his genre of writing.
The characters were fab, and really encapsulated the era of the time. I found everything very vivid and visually compelling. Kerouac’s very, very good at detailed descriptions of places and events without it ever feeling boring.
I would definitely read another by Kerouac, he really feels like an author that does define his genre of writing.
thefangirlsdilemma's review against another edition
4.0
A brilliant snapshot of a moment in time but also like…why are men?
daisylesesne's review against another edition
2.0
2 // big time not my thing. there were a few things that i enjoyed but overall i found the writing boring and the characters unlikeable
kcrouth's review
3.0
How very serendipitous that i should finish this book on the author's 95th birthday! RIP Mr. Jack Kerouac. This is one crazy-ass story. I don't know how much of it actually happened, but i believe it is based on real events. It has been referred to as the "Huckleberry Finn" for the author's generation. This story is one (no, actually, MANY) wild ride(s)! It is said to define a generation, or at least a sub-culture of a generation. I just realized that Jack Kerouac and my father were born in the same year - 1922. I am pretty sure that my dad experienced this period of history differently than Sal and Dean in the story, but even with the differences, i see some similarities. Sal's background was different than that of my dad. I do know however that my dad loved to travel. Dad, rather than taking the bus or a travel bureau car, preferred his motorcycle. I do not know how widely he traveled before settling down with my mom, but he never lost the love of traveling across the US and eventually around the world. We made many trips between southern California and the Ozarks of Missouri in my childhood, and dad continued to travel after us kids were grown and gone. I wonder if that love of travel and the open road was truly a part of his generation.
As i said earlier, this story is a series of wild journeys taken in a very different time, but they do capture a freedom and inquisitiveness that continues to be a part of our culture. This was probably the last days an adventure of this type could be undertaken, with the Interstate highway system just around the corner. Although William Least Heat-Moon was able to experience the same flavor of adventure in his excellent Blue Highways journey, with decidedly less flamboyance. Maybe the blue highways are a part of all of us. I certainly like to unplug and hit the road to see where it leads, and hope to do it again soon.
As i said earlier, this story is a series of wild journeys taken in a very different time, but they do capture a freedom and inquisitiveness that continues to be a part of our culture. This was probably the last days an adventure of this type could be undertaken, with the Interstate highway system just around the corner. Although William Least Heat-Moon was able to experience the same flavor of adventure in his excellent Blue Highways journey, with decidedly less flamboyance. Maybe the blue highways are a part of all of us. I certainly like to unplug and hit the road to see where it leads, and hope to do it again soon.
shoba's review
3.0
In the whole eastern dark wall of the Divide this night there was silence and the whisper of the wind, except in the ravine where we roared; and on the other side of the Divide was the great Western Slope, and the big plateau that went to Steamboat Springs, and dropped, and led you to the western Colorado desert and the Utah desert; all in darkness now as we fumed and screamed in our mountain nook, mad drunken Americans in the mighty land. We were on the roof of America and all we could do was yell, I guess—across the night, eastward over the Plains, where somewhere an old man with white hair was probably walking toward us with the Word, and would arrive any minute and make us silent.