Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - On the Road

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

14 reviews

bonesfor5dollars's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

2.25

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.

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nomatophobia's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book might have changed my life whether or not it's deserving. In the time that I was reading this, I took a few fun spontaneous adventures of my own and I'd like to believe it was a little bit inspired by the chaos of these pages. That being said, this is the definition of "does not hold up." I'm not sure how much of this was intentionally offensive because it seems for the most part it just wanted to show how the characters got along with so many different kinds of people, but if you tried to count the amount of slurs in here you'd go crazy. The lack of plot didn't bother me as much as bearing my 21st century eyes to this much bigoted language.

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frankiejblue's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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noahaimelire's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

3.25

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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kydnmthws's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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zo__ish's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective 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? It's complicated

2.0

It took me four months to read this book, which is very unusual for me. I wanted to like it so bad, I had good friends tell me I would like it (I love travel, I love meeting people, and I love prose and detail) but boy did I suffer reading this. I felt crazy! But there is some comfort in knowing even Capote had no kind words for Kerouac’s most well known novel (“That’s not writing; That’s just typing”).

Normally I am a huge fan of character driven novels, I don’t need much plot. However, Sal (aka Kerouac) and Dean were flat and insufferable. There was little to no character arc. However, Kerouac does write dialogue very well, he depicts tension between characters and the way they move beautifully, but it was a chore to try and get into.

There are some sentences, paragraphs, and chapters that I underlined and loved; page 15 waking up with the sun and the anguish of not knowing who you are or what you want, the chapter going through Denver to Central Cities, or the whole entirety of Terry and the San Joaquin valley. I wish these bits were enough to make up for the rest.

Kerouac’s writing lacks the depth I want in a story(it also feels passionless, or apathetic, somehow Kerouac feels incredibly distanced from a story that mingles with autobiography), there are some beautiful depictions of cities and towns in America.

The last chapter of One The Road was one of the best parts, if not the best. Maybe because I was so excited to be done with it.

LA is a jungle. [….]

The beatest characters in the country swarmed on the sidewalks-all of it under those soft Southern California stars that are lost in the brown halo of the huge desert encampment LA really is. You could smell the tea, weed, I mean marijuana, floating in the air, together with the chili beans and beer. (77)

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erinwolf1997's review

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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_quinnsreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Reading this book made me feel like I've traveled to the entire America. I quite liked Dean although he's supposed to be the least likable character in the story. Also the adventure, the fun stuff and Kerouac's portrayal of romance and pop culture while living in the 1950's was ironically nostalgic for me while I was reading it. I hope to read more of Kerouac's wonderful works.

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airheadgallery's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I was really excited going into the book because while I didn’t know who jack kerouac really was, i did know that he was a beat author and that this book was his most popular. I was also excited because I too would be going across the country as i was taking the california zephyr from sf to chicago. Maybe I would have liked this book more if I didn’t have such high expectations from the book with it being a classic and all.

The book is broken into 5 parts with about 14 chapters in part 1, 11 chapters each in parts 2&3, 6 chapters in part 4, and no chapters in part 5.

part one was pretty good. I didn’t really care too much when I was reading it but I think there are some good lines as well as some parts I found my self chuckling. Sal decides to go across the country, most of the way by himself, and really describes the troubles he went through. It’s his first time going to the west and i think traveling a long distance by himself.

part two was a blur and a pain to get through. Worst part is that’s the part I read on the train and the part that made me want to DNF it.

part three was probably my favourite part because of the descriptions of the states that I went through and was able to visualise. Also the fact that everyone around dean was finally getting sick of him. “That’s what Dean was, the HOLY GOOF.”
"You always been a crackbrained sonofabitch anyhow."
Also, some good commentary on Dean’s lifestyle from Sal’s aunt, “You can’t go all over the country having babies like that. Those poor little things’ll grow up helpless. You’ve got to offer them a chance to live.”

part four starts off strong but eventually lets you down. You get a really good paragraph at the end of chapter two, third(?) to last paragraph. the rest of the book I was just powering through it because I was so close to being done.

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serving_goffman's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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.

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