On The Road

Rating:
Summary: Now more than ever
Review: On The Road is a saga that is more important now than when it was written in the late 40's. I've read it about 8 or 9 times and find it as modern as anything else there is out there. Kerouac lyrically deals with America and it's post-war, post-nuclear device detonating intrigues. Everyone was sincerely lost after that battle they had never asked for, much as we are all lost now in a battle none of us ask for or represent.

Rating:
Summary: IT'S CALLED SPONTANEOUS PROSE KID.
Review: i'm sorry this was a chore for you to get through, really, i am, becos you missed out on one of the greatest works of literature of our time, and possibly time[s] to come.
it's not written in any commonplace style becos kerouac liked to write, not writing about writing. spontaneous prose method, he put it to use, remember that. it basically means that this 'jumble' came out simply as it was, no editing, they were the raw thoughts without the obstruction of comma's or conventioanl punctuation. if you'd done a little reserch, perhaps you'd better be able to understand the schematics behind the novel itself. look into it, cos you're missing out.

Rating:
Summary: Far from walpole
Review: I think Eileen from walpole would like this review of the book. but i bet she wouldn't like the use of improper grammar in describing the book she hates.
I think on the road is basically good. It kinda showed me that books can be more than the typical charles dickens' classics they make you read in class.
but it has been turned into the bible for so many of these coffee house wanna-beatniks. im glad i read it and thats it.

Rating:
Summary: Dazed and Confused
Review: Dazed and Confused

The novel by Jack Kerouac On the Road is the story of Sal Paradise, and his directionless travels around the country. The book revolves around personal interpretation of situations, and relationships formed with others. The seemingly purposeless life, and travels that Sal and his sidekick Dean Moriarty experience, was portrayed as the almost utopian lifestyle.
The book brings to mind an almost new sense and better understanding of the word freedom. Spontaneous sense of living based upon not the destination it self, but the journey and experience it takes to get there, is a concept we aren't always the most familiar with. The situational narrative seemed to be a bit heavy, and character dialogue a bit light. The story was very free flowing and in some parts carelessly put together as far as logical background, knowledge, and setting, which nicely corresponded with the theme of the book. The novel was interesting and unique in the respect that, it didn't have a definite plot structure, only a common theme throughout. A basic and carefully planned plot would have contradicted the entire purpose of the story where spontaneous freedom was the focus. The careful narrative interpretations, and characterization in the novel supports and in a sense replaces the light dialogue.
The novel was the supposed voice for the "Beat" generation, one that really concentrated on the journey of life. The unplanned sporadic adventurous Sal and Dean experienced was the dream and cry of most Beatniks. The novel has been and will continue to in the future as an inspiration for road trips, and in some isolated cases the right to be lazy and carefree. The book took a rebellious approach to the American dream, which seems to be centered on capitalistic goods, and how eminent you are in society. Any average American with the sole aspiration of happiness appreciates Sal and Dean's approach to life.
The concept of time in the novel is very nonsymmetrical with pages ranging from the events of the day, to the events of a month. The style is however symmetrical with the theme of the story. Some things in life deserve more attention then others, and it isn't exactly what happens to you in life, it is the journey in which it takes place. The way Kerouac related the style of writing to the common theme of the story is a true art form, it gives the characters and story a more believable atmosphere in which the reader perceives them.
After the completion if this book, your life will seem to have more structured meaning than ever before. It is almost as Kerouac opens your eyes to the true sense of freedom, and the idea of happiness. The novel gives an interesting insight to the "Beat" generation, and exposes a rare and intriguing lifestyle. I give the book a personal rating of three blondes on a scale of five.

Rating:
Summary: A chore
Review: Reading this so called "literature" was a complete chore for me. I had a hard time getting into it, and just forced myself to continue reading JK's supposed masterpiece.
There is no real plot, it's about some selfish, slacker types that travel around the country looking for the next best thing.
The narrator, Sal Paradise, is the exception. Supposedly, Dean Moriarty is based on Neal Cassidy, JK's real life side kick. I know and am unfortunately related to people like this guy..not a selfless bone in his body. What is too like? JK's annoying style of mindless chit chat that just seems to make almost no sense. I abhor the fact that there is no use of correct grammar here. I guess this is what it takes to create a literary classic.
1. Use little or no grammar rules
2. Create characters that people just want to smack around
3. Have no plot, and just aimlessly spew out words that make
no sense.

It's your decision. It took me a long time to get through this and feel I wasted so much of it. Highly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Getting into real life and on the road
Review: On my first ten tries to read "On The Road", I failed miserably, never appreciating the style of Kerouac past the first or second chapter. However, just last week, I managed to really sink into Kerouac's world and fly through the book at an amazing pace. This masterwork is one that I've found many people to have the same experience with, therefore if you try to read it and dislike it, put it down and try it again in a month or so. The language of Kerouac is very thick, mostly paragraphs and a very "so we left our little shack, then we went to the beach, and oh the waves!" It captures the dream of running away, and living the life of a dream, to run across the lands of the world, and truly live, live live! It is a great read when you get into it, a definitive masterpiece among the American dreamers of the 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Less Of A Destination, More Of A Journey
Review: I had never before known a fictional character to be sullenly optimistic or naughtily innocent. Sal Paradise, the main character in On the Road, is all of these things. The way in which Jack Kerouac keeps these polar opposites in delicate balance is the reason I so immensely enjoyed this book.

If you're in need of a novel with a plot you can really sink your teeth into, this isn't the book for you. The story is less about WHAT is happening and more about HOW things are perceived. Sal takes four road trips across America during the course of the novel, and most of the time on the road is spent with his friend Dean Moriarty at his side. It's a love/hate sort of friendship, but it's obvious that Sal lives vicariously through Dean and his frivolous approach to life. All these road trips are made with no real purpose except to "stop and smell the roses" and experience life. They don't really have money, and do whatever they can to raise just enough for gas, liquor, and cigarettes. Though, there are a few times in the novel when they'd actually pick up someone's used cigarette off the ground to smoke it. They don't care, they're happy.

The real strength of this novel is in Kerouac's ability to narrate a given ambiance. I especially enjoyed his description of San Francisco and all the streets and suburbs that surround the city, as well as his description of Mexico and its people near the end of the novel. Through these descriptions, the reader will get a precise sense of what it might be like to be on the road with Sal and Dean.

My only criticism is that the author sometimes moves the plot along with sufficient background or explanation. There isn't an evenness to his writing style. He'll spend pages describing something that happened over the course of five minutes, and then he'll suddenly devote just a paragraph to describe something that happened over an entire year. There are times when the boys hook up with random girls along the way, and the reader is left to wonder how it happened.

I can understand how a book like this helped fuel the whole Flower Power generation of the 1960s. Though Sal and Dean always had a destination they were trying to reach on their road trips, the importance was always in the journey that preceded. It wasn't about achievement, but appreciating what had already been achieved. I recommend On the Road.

Rating:
Summary: Care-free Misadventure into the life of mad writers...
Review: First of all in my review here, I would like to recommend On the Road to anyone who is in the mood for a care-free spontaneous adventure into the lives and escapades of several beat generation writers and hipsters and the gone ladies they pick on there way across country from New York to Mexico to Denver to San Francisco. Kerouac crafts the story not only enjoyably but beautifully. He creates memorable characters (Dean is my personal favorite Carlo Marx and Sal Paradise are close seconds). This simply never gets old although I did take me a bit to get into it from the beginning (the New York scene) it was all uphill from there. Pick this up you will not be disappointed.

"One night we suddenly went mad together again..."

Rating:
Summary: Very Overhyped Slabber
Review: There is no reason why I should not have liked this book. I like road trips. I like smoking "tea" and getting "kicks"; however, I also have a penchant for worthwhile literature. OTR is not in that category. It is a rather mindless chronological journal without substance in most places. One meets character after character on the road. Each is described in scant sentences. And then we move on. There are central characters, of course, but only two of these are explored in any depth warranting perhaps a short story not a long-winded novel. (Yes. It comes across as long-winded.) On top of that, the characters are unlikable misogynous solipsistic slackers.

I have a feeling that if JK did not coin the phrase "beat", we would not have 300+ replies reviewing this book. (You can't sell it until you label and pigeonhole it, can you?)

As someone else mentioned quite accurately and humorously in another review here, this is supposed to be a great book for picking up girls in bars. My experience tells me otherwise. After discussing this book with several, the unanimous pronouncement was that anyone who is enthusiastic about this book has suspect taste and is perhaps the worst thing of all - a follower.

Rating:
Summary: The only people for me are the mad ones......
Review: A must read for the angst and rebellion ridden teen or for anyone who hears the call of the open road.This not some moronic coming of age beer soked college road trip but rather a journey.Jack does some of his best writing in this book.This is essentially volume one of the series of books he never was able to publish.He died before he could publish what he would have titled "The Legend of Dulose" or "The Vanity of Dulouse". Jack Dulouse was his alter ego.If you little or no inspiration in OTR then you really wouldnt understand what he wanted you to get anyway.Start here with OTR and if you like that then jump in with both feet and dont stop.Yes dharma bumbs is the obvious follow up to OTR but maybe you sholud try Subterranians and if you can keep up with that try Desolation Angels or Big Sur.I sincerely hope you actually read Kerouac and try it out and see for yourself instead of listening to someone who has never read him but "heard" that his writing is trite and rambling and that "there is no plot". Again,if this must be explained to you,go back to your Grissom novels.