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A review by airheadgallery
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia