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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I got obsessed with the Beats and read a lot about them and by them in my teens and early 20s. I only wrote in my journal from 1991 that I was "reading some Kerouac" but I'm fairly sure it must have been this novel since I'd previously read "On the Road" in high school.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This is the story of my dreams with absolutely no exaggeration. Japhy and Ray strike a chord between hippie wanderer and intellectual buddhists, and these people are hard to find. They get IT!
I wish he wrote about women the way he writes about nature.
Kerouac's love note to Buddhism, backpacking and the great American outdoors. The master of spontaneous writing displays more restraint in his prose than earlier works, but he dissolves into barely-coherent worship of nature and the ineffable by the final sections. Otherwise, a solid and engaging read with lyrical descriptions of mountain climbing, wild bohemian parties and transcendence through nature and meditation.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mid ass book and then it ends with a freaking awesome final chapter that makes you question if everything leading up to it really was that mid but yes it was all mostly very mid
I kind of went back and forth on this one. The story itself kind of got on my nerves from time to time (it never felt like anything was happening), but I ended up getting really into some of the hitchhiking and the mountain scenes, especially at the end. I also like Kerouac's writing style, which helped. It's worth a read, if you're a fan of the Beat authors at all.
I think these characters lacked development and the story was aimless. There were about ten phrases throughout the book that felt valuable that kept me reading, but I really had a very hard time getting through this because it was just uninteresting. Maybe I’m missing something
Undecided about giving it 3 or 4 stars, simply because there were moments of much inspiring beauty and others where I just wanted to get on with it. A good exercise on patience and attention, perhaps.