On The Road

Rating:
Summary: Hasn't 'Influenced' My Life But It's a Pretty Damn Good Book
Review: Kerouac is one of the best writers, and On the Road is one of the best books.
Dean Moriaty, one of the book's main characters, has so much energy and a love for life; Kerouac captures it so perfectly. As I read the words (I swear, each word read was cherished)I could feel the passion and the emotion. And the narrator, Sal Paradise, is so poignant, so the reader just loves him. The whole idea of being on the road and all the people they encounter and the characters' freedoms is what makes the book so interesting.
This is the all-time fav book for me; you're missing out if you haven't read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Redundant Genius
Review: At first, Jack Kerouac's On the Road is amazing. It provides a portrait of a movement against mainstream culture from the source, from people who actually embody and act out the ideas contained within. It also does a great job of painting a portrait of a group of people and most of all its main character, Sal. Unfortunately, once you get past that one is left hanging. Structure is pretty much abandoned, and after enough pages of the blur of interesting people, sex and "tea," I kind of felt like I've done this all before. Characters change, but the ideas do not. This is not to say it isnt worth reading the whole book, which keeps you engaged by constantly changing scenes, characters, etc., but the redundancy sometimes seem to make it a bit sluggish.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Account of Beat Life
Review: Jack Kerouac's On the Road is not a regular book. There is no plot, conflict or dielema. This, however, is not a problem because that is the same way Beat culture is. It is fun and enlightening to read of the author's experiences he travels simply for the sake of gaining new experiences. The only thing that may turn you away from the book is the repetition. It's all a cycle of the characters traveling the country, doing drugs and having sex. I had a lot of fun reading about their encounters but if you are looking for a book with plot twists and thouroughly engaging then this may not be for you.

Rating:
Summary: Not all that its cracked up to be
Review: The story is an impressive one of a man crossing the country many times. And not only crossing the country but really exploring it. It is inspiring but lacks any substantive emotion. You never develop a true connection with the characters possibly Dean at the best. The book is really a hundred page story stretched into a 300 page novel.

Rating:
Summary: Bohemian Glory Days
Review: This book is a perfect introduction to the magic
of Kerouac. If you have never read this book,
you owe it to the collective consciousness
to do so. Kerouac has an amazing ability
with language. Words kind of dance for him.
If you haven't read this book in a while,
then you owe it to yourself to give it another
read. I have always considered this book to be a
dear friend from an author who inspired me to
become a writer.

Rating:
Summary: A matter of opinion, but...
Review: Nowadays, many people who call themselves writers would not be able to write as sincerely as Kerouac did, just because they seek success more than any other thing when they write. But when you read On The Road, you really have the sensation that the man is writing down everything he sees, feels or thinks straight and simple, at it comes to his mind. He did not want fame or comprehension, not even respect from other writers: he enjoyed writing, alhtough he also had the dream to live only from the money they could get from the publication of his books. On The Road seems to be a clear reflection of Kerouac's life; but still, it could be a reflection of the life of many people like him. He was, somehow, a voice that spoke through his books, and he did so for a whole generation of disenchanted men and women, who felt out of a strict and restricted society, and lived their lives with the same insecurity and disorganisation described by Sal Paradise, the narrator of the book. And maybe this book is not of everybody's taste, since Kerouac had a very peculiar and unique style. But he really knew how to use the power of words, and that cannot be denied. The infinite variety of adjectives and the long, expressive sentences he used, specially in the descriptions, transfer you the very emotion that fills every bit of On The Road. I really recommend it for people who read for no other reason than enjoying themselves.

Rating:
Summary: mixed feelings
Review: I think the reason people like this book is because they envy the ability of Sal to live free and have no responsibility. These same people think that this is no longer possible and Sal was extremely daring and fortunate to take this oppurtunity. As long as you dont have kids, you can still live this type of lifestyle. I recently embarked alone on a cross country bike trip. Hitchhiking, sex, and drugs were all easily available to me on that trip. So it is still possible. Furthermore, Druggies are usually really stupid people but Sal was somewhat awake and intelligent. Not what I consider the greatest accomplishment. Keeping this book in perspective is hard but if you do, respect for Sal and his book go up somewhat. To conclude, if you've lived any type of freedom you won't enjoy this book as much as one who had a strict upbringing who feels the need to justify a 'free' lifestyle. Also, it seems that age greatly influences one's perception of the book, I am 18.

Rating:
Summary: from the lips of a beat...
Review: what can i say? this book is fantastic. heartbreakingly beautiful passages, insane adventures, and a reminder of a lust for life.

Rating:
Summary: On the Road
Review: When I first got this book from my English teacher, I had high expectations. In the class I had learned about the beat generation. How people were dissatisfied with everything and were just trying to find themselves. I thought, wow I feel sort of the same way about a lot of things. When I was told that "On the Road" totally epitomized this generation, I was all for reading it. I must admit, the beginning of the book was interesting enough, but as it draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggged on through all of the main character's "adventures", I came to realize something. This book is boring. Like snooze-city man (so to speak).
In this Book, Sal, the main character, meets Dean, a rebel type guy who's had a rough life, and has been in an d out of jail a few times. Through out the book Sal travels across the country in search of his friends and in search of a good time. Pretty much, the whole book is him wandering through the country, doing what he can to get by.
In my opinion, this was a boring novel that went no where and didn't have much of a point. I personally don't see how this book got such wide acclaim. I keep hearing about how great it was and how much of a milestone book it was. I don't see it. I don't know maybe I'm reading it wrong or something.
In conclusion, This book wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It was boring and pointless. The way it was written was less than impressive and the plot was pretty much non-existent. To those who say that this book was one of the greatest of the twentieth century, it's obvious that you haven't read many books lately.

Rating:
Summary: Good, not great
Review: This book was good, although overrated. It was enjoyable and easy to read, but wasn't a masterpiece by any means. Its about this guy named Sal, a curious writer, who up and decides that he wants to see the country. He's not content with the "scene" in New York City with all his intellectual friends. I can't blame him. They're all a bunch of lame, pompous poetry writers and painters. He meets this guy named Dean who hasn't had any direction in his life, has been in and out of juvenile halls and jails, and wants to travel.
Sal really likes Dean's passion for life and wants to travel out west with him. He doesn't have much money, and he plans on hitchhiking most of the way. The book is about their travels on the road. They are not always together. Sal is the narrator, although Dean is the "hero" of the story. Sal has some interesting and sometimes funny stories from his travels, although nothing that cool happens. I guess I can't relate to it Being a teenager in the 21st century rather than the 40's, I have more freedom and I've been exposed to more stuff, so this book isn't shocking or controversial to, although I'm sure it was at the time.
The writing style was easy to read, but the pace was weird. When I first started reading it, it was fast paced and really enjoyable, but then it slowed down tremendously got way too detailed, and wasn't nearly as exciting. I liked when they talked about drugs and sex, but a lot of the stuff that happened to him was stupid. For the most part, I live a more exciting life than these guys do. I think a lot of the beat generation is some very pretentious people who have no talent. Although Kerouac was not one of these, he hangs out with them. All in all, this book is good, but not great.