Rating: 
Summary: Interesting read, with historical context
Review: I tried reading this book tens years ago, and found the first chapter "boring" and put it down. Now, trying again to read what many claim is a classic of literature, I'm glad I gave it a second try.Describing the book is a little like describing a Seinfeld episode. A bunch of guys drive around, drink a lot, chase women, listen to jazz, and basically ignore what most people do in life to learn what life is all about. But the restlessness of Dean Moriarity to find himself, and his long lost father, and the writer protagonist Sal to discover what exactly he sees in Dean is what drew me in. You can't help but feel the joy of discovery the characters go through. Interestingly enought, there are are enough hints from Kerouac to suggest that just maybe, all the "revelations" aren't as cracked up as they seem to be. It is interesting to view this is a historical context. In the 50's, the free wheeling life styles would have been shocking. In the 60's no doubt people would read this and say "Right on, man!". Today, Dean Moriarity comes across as genuine, if misguided. We're not so outraged at what he does, so much as the irresponsibility of it, which many of the book's characters seem to get by the end. Even Sal realizes this by the end of the book. Many people call this a great book about finding yourself, but I don't think it is that. It is more about two characters trying to find truths on the open road, who are not entirely successful. In addition to that, the book genuinely changed more than one generation. For that reason alone, I recommend reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy yourself a great book!
Review: In "On The Road", Sal Paradise(Kerouac), a young writer from New York City, ventures to cities around the country, staying with old friends, making new friends, and doing everything he can to stay alive and move on. His mentor and friend, Dean Moriarty(Neil Cassidy), often travels with Sal, always talking, laughing, and being his insane self. Now let's stop and take a brief look at the fascinating life of Dean Moriarty: Throughout the story, Dean plays several different women, has 3 wives and 4 children, half of whom he can't account for ever meeting. He was born in Salt Lake City, and grew up going to reform schools and jail. Dean was an infamous hustler in Texas and Denver who was always stealing cars and money, but never for more then [money amount]or just when he needed a quick ride. He was insane, always laughing and having a great time, and always getting the most he could out of life. Sal and Dean experienced some great high's and low's of travelling together, seeing such cities as Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and Mexico City. Throughout the book you get to know the fascinating personalities of Sal, Dean, and several other characters. "On The Road" is a tale I will never forget. The book has its slow parts, but never failed to pick up and become more interesting, easy to read, and enjoyable as it went on. Along with The Losers' Club by Richard Perez and Bright Lights, Big City, I would recommend this novel to ANYONE and EVERYONE. "On The Road" is an American Classic, and much of the Beat Generation of the 1940's-50's learned by it.
Rating:
Summary: pleasing introduction to the world of the beat...
Review: Before beginning to read this book I really didn't know what to expect other than a tale that would invigorate my desire to hop in a car and travel across America with only my closest friends. Not only was that fulfilled, but it also gave me an insight into a truely chaoctic, yet carefree American lifestyle, embodied in the character, Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady), and more importantly the most eloquently written prose to the mood and performance of Jazz music that I have ever read.
It doesn't exactly take a literary scholar to have a pretty good idea of what the plot of this book involves just by reading the title. Even though a "road trip" is expected the way Jack Kerouac gets from city to city is always an exciting journey. Whether he is meeting with characters symbolic of Jack Kerouac, Allan Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, or Neal Cassady. The characters are outrageous and spontaneous, similar to Kerouac's writing style.
Regarding the subject of Jazz in this novel; it certainly plays a key role during Sal Paradise's and Dean's search for enertainment while traveling. The passages that involve "God" (George Shearing) provide an amazing mental image of a tortured jazz soul, along with countless other musician's who play a key role during Sal's trip.
Overall this book is a fun and easy read, the spontaneous writing style is very fresh and the mental imagery is definately one of the best out of a novel post 1950. Definately a classic on my list, and apparently many others as well.
Rating: 
Summary: A Rambling Bore
Review: This book went on & on & on. OK, so Sal went on the road, then Sal, Dean and others went on the road. There was a lot of drinking and hitchhiking, and a lot of ridiculous ramblings by Dean. Go talk to some idiot on drugs and you'll hear the same thing. I had hoped for so much more but was greatly disappointed by this book - I could pace the floor of a 7-Eleven and get more enjoyment than I got out of this flimsy road-story. There were times when Kerouac's words sounded quite literary and lovely but the times were too few.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, yet... Oddly Boring.
Review: This book has come into my hands twice now, and I still had difficulty finishing it. It tells of the "Beat" generation (I think "Beat" is short for "Beatific", which makes sense since Kerouac described the movement as essentially religious and himself as a "strange sort of Catholic mystic"). Despite the exciting story, I found it to be oddly boring. Kerouac just kept going and going and going.... Regardless, there are many sublime points in his prose. The book is a great peace of "Americana". Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: I Love Dean!
Review: This novel does a superb job of making you love life! Wild men hitchhiking back and forth the country, loud, fast music and passionate musicians at every corner, hobos by choice, and a lesson stating that even if your life is a mess, life itself is a beautiful thing. This is the moral that Dean teaches us all ... I've never met a man with more enthusiasm and love and excitement for everything. Kerouac has created one of the most beautiful characters of all time ... he's a little crazy, very wild, always broke, but he has a fascination with everything he sees, sweating with excitement, crying "Yes, yes, yes!" as he witnesses the intensity of music, flying down the road marveling at people and humanity, and teaching us all that life is a wonderful, beautiful thing.
Rating: 
Summary: the book of a generation...but not mine
Review: On the road is an amazing piece of literature and a definite good addition to anyone's library but for me it just wasn't something that stuck with me. I felt that Dean Moriatry was a definite literarily rememberable character but this book just was overly interesting to me. If you're interested in the beat generation then this is a must read. If you're not particularly interested in the beat generation you'll still appreciate On the road (and most Kerouac) for its literary value but his stories are hit or miss. Either they mean the world to you or really mean nothing more than a piece of nice literature worth keeping on your shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Most inflential book I've ever read
Review: A quirky, awkward fellow introduced me to this book years ago. I've long since lost touch with him, but I will be eternally grateful to him for it. He picked up the book and said to me "Just open it to any page and start reading". I am at a loss for words to describe what this book meant to me. It has deeply affected me, and the greatest thing I can hope to do is pass this book onto others.
Rating:
Summary: Great Expectations
Review: Some of this novel was what I expected and some of it was unexpected. I thought the book was about a single trip west, New York City to San Francisco. I also thought that the time frame was more in the early 60s. I was wrong on both counts. C'est la vie!
I think Kerouac's writing with respect to this novel is a melange of Transcendentalism/Whitman's Leaves of Grass, Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.
I see Whitman's influence in the wonderfully descriptive paragraphs and phrases that randomly appear throughout the novel. There is a way in which Whitman is everything and nothing at all in Leaves of Grass. I am always intrigued by the way in which he moves from soul to soul, or should I say Oversoul to Oversoul? I always have seen Whitman as a Transcendentalist. The experience of reading this novel is very similar to reading Leaves of Grass. You get the idea that not only are you reading the story but that you are a nearby observer. Not quite a participant but not really left out either. It is strangely compelling. I think this comes from the stream of consciousness narrative. This type of narrative is difficult for me to follow at times because it deteriorates into free association, jumping from one topic to the next. This 'flitting' is reminiscent of what Whitman does in his work.
I find an echo of Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men in the diction, settings (California, migrant farm workers, lower classes) and the idea of a journey with two participants. There are also allusions to Dean's criminal past and the way in which he cannot get fouled up with the law--similar to Lenny and George's unsuccessful efforts to maintain low profiles. Dean and Sal do not always travel together but Dean is never far from Sal's thoughts and Sal never travels alone--he is always with someone; an acquaintance or friend. Even though this book is set in the late 1940s to the early 1950s, the Steinbeck echo makes it feel as if it is set during the Great Depression. It is very strange. I had to keep reminding myself of the true time frame.
The Catcher in the Rye comes in when I consider the characters of Dean and Sal. Whenever I read Catcher, I ask...Did the fantastic story Holden tells, really happen or was Holden hallucinating as a patient in a mental hospital the entire time? I am tempted to ask that same question as I finish this novel. First, Sal like Holden, has an "illness" he is loath to discuss. Second, the character of Dean is nothing if not Manic. I find myself wondering if Dean is Sal's alter-ego or other personality. It would certainly explain the feeling of the reader as "a participant who is not quite a participant." Third, some of these episodes (or adventures) are a little fantastic and hard to swallow hook, line and sinker as it were.
All of the above said, I didn't love this book. But, I didn't hate it either. I definitely have to re-read the novel because I am sure I missed a lot. There are many references/double meanings I am sure that I misunderstood living in 2003 as opposed to post WWII America.
The most positive thing I can say about the book, is that the book made me think. I feel that a book that makes you think and that makes you want to talk about it with others is a significant book. For that reason, I recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Time Capsule
Review: Jack Kerouac's writing is so smooth. It flows unlike any other writing I've come across. He was on Benzedrine when he was writing this book, and at times you feel as if you are on it with his descriptions of the American and Mexican landscape. It is the story of Sal Paradise, and his road trips he takes in the late 1940's. He is searching for so many things; truth, culture, landscape, and his history. The person that either inspires all of these trips or accompanies him on all of these trips is Dean Moriarty, an insouciant free spirit who is likewise looking for some answers. I can't help but feel that there is no real plot to speak of, in the traditional sense of introduction, climax and resolution. However, the important thing to realize is that Kerouac was not trying to tell the story of only one or two people; he was painting a picture of the American landscape shortly after the Second World War. He does this through the interactions of different drifters along the road. The picture he paints is perfect. _On the Road_ displays the post-war era as well as _The Grapes of Wrath_ displayed the great depression. This is a great novel, and can be understood and enjoyed by a person of any reading level.
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