On The Road

Rating:
Summary: One the road
Review: written by a bum in a beat brown sui

Rating:
Summary: What else can I say?
Review: I'll skip all the superlatives that apply to this the finest work Kerouac has done. Mandatory reading and a definite classic. When I read it again these days, it brings a tear to my eyes as this novel could never take place in today's sick society. Hitchhiking and railroad hopping is Russian roulette now.

Rating:
Summary: On The Road
Review: to put it in the simplest term, this is a masterpiece. it is truley well thought up, the inner deamon that drives Dean, is somthing that so many peole have lost. It is a book that portray the simple fact of living life, realizing time, and how precious it is. If anyone in interested in have there soul reawakened, read this book, and attempt to understand the insanity that runs through dean and sal, and u will see, what life is all about. talk to me at [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: exudes coolness
Review: No need to judge or analyze. Just try to be as cool as Kerouac and go along for the ride.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece of American Literature
Review: Despite it's questionable content of sex, drugs, alcohol, etc., this book describes what each adolescent desires to do with his life. To break out of the shell his parents have placed upon him, to experience firsthand the world through experience, the hardest teacher of them all is the theme of the book. It's almost Salingerian quality completes this great novel with beauty and the bared soul of the author.

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Summary: Beyond the beats
Review: Look, I apologize. I already wrote one review of this book, but having read some of the stuff that has been written later I feel the need to expand on my previous statements. Lately most of my friends have found Kerouac books that they like better than this one, which is fine. The fact of the matter is, if you read this book after the age of sixteen, you missed the boat. If you read this book while you were sixteen or before and it DID NOT change your life, then you've no place in America, my friend. Those who don't know can't understand, and those who do can't explain.

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Summary: Beat Style Tedious and Without Purpose
Review: This novel is interesting, but I found the style to be tedious and unsophisticated to no real end. While many may enjoy the romanticism of the life of these vagabond writers, I find the beat philosophy--both literary and personal--amazingly misguided. Rebellion against society, especially one as oppressive as 1950s America, is noble, but it must be marked by some true insight. The Beat rebellion, I believe, is summed up by the anecdote that Keruoac refused to wear a tie and jacket to his readings. Clothes do not a movement make, and this is certainly no real rebellion.

Rating:
Summary: GO!
Review: I picked up this book with the assumption that it was about nothing more than the scraggly haired goatteed bongo beaters called beatniks that I've seen on tv, but when I read it, i found that the word "beat" doesn't describe the way people dress and wear their facial hair, but it describes a whole fantastic way of life. This book hepled me to see that there are people who own themselves and that aren't held up by the fake ideas of society that we've created. Its hard to say what kind of feelings this book can put into you, but for me it burned a word into my brain that hasn't gone away since I've read it: GO! So read it and GO, LIVE!

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Summary: This book isn't for the Bitter People
Review: ...Kerouacdidn't write this book for the bitter. He wrote the book for himself and for those who understand how sweet and urgent and sad life can be. This is sad, empty romance at its finest. If you hate this book, you do so for reasons that stretch far beyond the words that Kerouac strung together in On the Road.

Kerouac is like the New York Yankees. You either love 'em or hate 'em. But if you say the Yankees are an awful team than you've clearly let your personal bias and bitterness cloud the truth. And that is exactly what tends to happen with Kerouac. You can't even fully finger what you hate about Kerouac, because it's more about you than it is about him. He just tells his slice of life story. If this simple tale stirs emotions of hatred in you, there's something drastically wrong in your outlook towards life.

Rating:
Summary: changed my life
Review: This book opened my mind, period. The tales of the road made me want to drop everything, take what little money I have, and strike out on my own (something which takes more courage than most people have to do). Those who criticize On The Road for it's lack of any plot obviously entered into the experience of reading it with totally false expectations. This is NOT a novel in the 'traditional' sense. It does NOT have nice neat characters who have clear motivations. It does NOT have a nice plot that ties up neatly at the end. But what it does have- and this is something that most of today's novels lack- is passion. So give him some credit for that, throw away your expectations, open your mind, and dive in. I promise it will change your life.