Rating: 
Summary: the true road book
Review: many have tried but no one has accomplished what jack kerouac did in on the road. i originally read this the 1st time 30 years ago when i was in my early 20's. since that reading i have read dharma bums and desolation angels by kerouac. i also read electric kool aid acid test which gives a 60's history of neal cassady the hero of on the road. knowing what happens after these road trips gives the reader much more insight into the relationship between the two main characters than a simple reading does. the book has numerous forebodings of the eventual split and the reasons why.the real road warrior here is sal paradise(jack kerouac). he is the one who initiates many of the cross country treks. dean moriarity (cassady) is a unique character upon which the story is built. when you know where he goes in the later years of his life after on the road you have a better understanding of him. he is the true "beat" who evolves into to the true "hippi" of the 60's. to one who has grown up in the 60's, this book is the dream. many have tried to hit the road. some have succeeded, most have not. it is a life that although still possible, is much less probable. life is just too dangerous out there these days. i highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the beat movement and appreciate how it transitioned into the hippi movement of the 60's. the book has the sound, pace, and fever of the generation. it is the beginning of the search that continued thru the 60's that never found what it was looking for.
Rating:
Summary: Road trip
Review: On the Road captures Americana in a stronger and more vivid fashion than John Steinbeck did The Grapes of Wrath. On the Road covers the same route (and more) but doesn't water down the regional flavors with allegory. Instead American from New York to California and all parts in between is shown for its good, bad, rich, poor, and various ethnicities with humor and honesty. Through Sal's numerous transcontental road trips, Kerouac describes the regional beauty, kirks, culture and geography of every city and state the protagonist passes through. Of the cities I've either lived in or visited that are visited in this book I enjoyed the most--especially his numerous pilgrimages to San Francisco. His first entry into San Francisco is classic: "Over the Oakland Bay Bridge I slept soundly for the first time since Denver; so that I was rudely jolted in the bus station at Market and Fourth... and there she was, Frisco - long, bleak streets with trolle wires all shrouded in fog and whiteness... . Weird bums (Mission and Third) asked me for dimes in the dawn..." This opening paragraph to San Francisco is still apt, if not, perfect. While the book is an icon of the Beat generation and Sal, the narrator, desires to be among that set, he's abmismal at it. Throughout the book he worships his friend Dean who is the wildly cool womanizing, debauched, drug addicted man Sal wants to be but Sal just can't manage to follow in Dean's footsteps. Whereas Dean will drive over 100 mph, steal cars and delight in getting drunk, Sal will either drive the speed limit or hide in the back when Dean is driving, try to return Dean's joy ridden cars, or want to sleep off the booze he's drunk when around Dean. It's Sal's valient attempts to be like Dean while being unable to follow through that add a delicious irony to the novel. In the end Sal and Dean and the rest of the gang part ways, having grown apart as they've matured over the course of the two years this book covers. The book ends on a somewhat sad note, looking back across the days of those crazy contiental trips with nostalgia and longing.
Rating:
Summary: Jack Kerouac and the Wild Tea Ride
Review: On the Road is one of Kerouacs 2 or 3 masterpieces. The novel depicts a series of cross country trips taken in 1947 and 1949. Plus a road trip to Mexico City in 1950. At the same time the novel is about a spiritual quest for enlightenment, freedom and escape from the smothering conformity of the America of that time. Kerouac is Sal Paradise and his buddy, the hyperkinetic (and according to William Burroughs, psychopathic) Neal Cassady is Dean Moriarty. Moriarty has to rank with one of the greatest literary creations of all time. Truly whacked out and beat. At one point they go down to Louisiana to visit Bull Lee (Burroughs) who was living in a broken down farm house with his speed freak wife Joanne. Lee was addicted to heroin and guns, just as the real Burroughs was. The trip down into Mexico in the final chapters is visionary and brilliant. Traditionally the Shamanic voyage into the spirit world is depicted as a journey to the south. The journey they take south into Mexico from Denver, through New Mexico and Texas can be seen in this light, albiet in a rather strange way, distored and colored by life in modern western civilization. They stop in a small Mexican village and smoke tea with some of the mexicans which results in a kind of vision of golden eternity. This is a great book. My own appreciation of it has grown with my knowledge of the lives of the people it portrays: Neal Cassady, Kerouac, Ginsberg and Burroughs. With its energy and excitement it is truly a wild ride.
Rating:
Summary: A relentless American masterpiece
Review: On the Road may at first, appear to some, as a wildly incoherent novel that sputters and meanders all over the place. At first, it appears as a mere vehicle for Kerouac to rant and rave about sex and parties. However, if one puts their energy and focus into reading this novel and thinks hard about the reasons it was written for and gets involved in it; they will be left with a truly breathtaking experience of sadness, excitement, and joy. Underneath the surface of drinking, sex, drugs, and wild nights on the road, lies a thundering message about the complexity of human life and emotions we all face.
On the Road begins relentlessly and never lets up the entire novel. It does an ever better job than Catcher and the Rye as far as getting us inside the narrator's head. We are carried from one thought to another, never giving us time to catch our breath as a untamed, inventive story unfolds in our imagination.
The narrator's name is Sal Paradise, which is Kerouac's alter ego. This is a semi-fictional autobiographical account of certain people and events which shaped Kerouac's life. Some of the stories are real and some are not. In the beginning of the novel, Sal introduces us to the man he will come to idolize and in the end reject. That man's name is Dean Morarity. Dean is a wild, chaotic, uncontrolled sex addict. He has just gotten out of reform school for stealing cars. Instantly, Sal takes a liking to him, despite cautions and warning from his friends and family. Dean wants Sal to teach him how to write and from there the two form their relationship. The first part of the books tells us of Sal's obsession with Dean and the slight indifference that Dean has towards him.
Eventually, Dean moves across the country to San Francisco. Sal, in a sudden rash mode of thinking, decides to head on out to go visit him. Lacking money, Sal hitchhikes and has all sorts of crazy adventures as he makes it across the country to visit his friend. After a short visit in San Francisco Sal realizes this place is not for him and he decides to go back home. Time passes. One day, Dean finds his way to New York and the two friends once again begin one crazy ride across the U.S.A. I don't have time to explain all the fanatical things that happen to them as they go on their cross country journeys. They have to be read to be believed.
During these journey's we get a clear indication on the type of man Dean really is. He commits adultery numerous times on his wife. He is borderline insane, drives over 100 miles per hour on the road, is loud, funny, and outrageous. He will end up marred three times and divorced twice throughout the course of this story. Through these wild journeys we begin to see Dean for who he really is. Even though it appears Sal is still in denial and blinded to the character Dean really posses. Nevertheless, at the end of the novel, Sal ultimately rejects Dean, even though his mind goes on thinking about him.
The most pivotal, deep, and sublime section of the novel is when Dean, Sal, and one of Dean's friends embark on what will be their final road journey. The three head on down to Mexico on what will be their wildest ride yet. While they are in Mexico, Dean suddenly takes off and leaves, abandoning Sal, as he has done on more than one occasion. At this point, Sal finally realizes what Dean is; a man that cares nothing for anyone but himself. Despite all the parties, womanizing, and laughter, the core of Dean's soul is wounded and troubled.
If you think On the Road is a shallow novel about parties and drinking, then you have not really thought about what the author is trying to say here. For me, this was a novel about two lost souls searching for happiness that they could never find. The parties, the sex, the drugs were just symbolic of the things the world tries to give you to bring joy into your lives. Notice how many times Kerouac uses the word sad in this book....the sad street, the sad night, the sad man, etc. Kerouac is creating a mood here and he does it with vividness and precision. His writing style is perfect for this setting. What could be more powerful than a writing style which meanders from thought to thought just as the main characters lives are just one big, searching, wandering path?
On the Road really is one enthralling read. It helps us examine our own lives and states that time old question "What really makes someone happy?" The best novels are always those that give us an uncompromising view of life and let the reader's mind be the final judge.
On the Road is an American masterpiece. According to what critics have said, it defined a generation that was still reeling after World War II. The "beat" generation it was called, according to Kerouac. It was also said to have changed and influenced the prose of modern fiction writing as we know it. Once you are through reading this work of art, you won't wonder why.
Grade: A
Rating:
Summary: Please read this. Buy it. Buy a copy for everyone you know!
Review: The discovery of 'On The Road' has (excuse the cliché) changed my life irreversibly. I found it to be the most riveting, energetic, powerful and inspirational work I have ever had the fortune to read. My poor friends, and just about anyone else who has cared to listen, have had to endure my crazed ramblings of passion and attempts to describe the sheer genius and delightful brilliance of Kerouac and his work. I cannot begin to describe how much this book has affected my entire perception of the World and everything within it. Kerouac feeds the itch within anyone who has a rambling soul, leaving the reader craving for their dreams, ultimately, anyone who gets this, anyone who truly appreciates it, I am confident will never be quite the same. Every scene, every pure, brilliant landscape, every character is crafted with such skill and subtle, tactical brilliance; you fall in love with each one. Sparkling, pulsing dialogue, evocative simple depiction, passion, craving; this book is so powerful; combining enigmatic and isolated reflection with irresistible freedom that reflects the ultimate lifestyle of anyone who just cannot stop moving. It is so modest and subtle...Kerouac is a literary God. Please read this. Buy it. Buy a copy for everyone you know! I can't imagine that I could ever have lived without knowing, without ever realising.... This book should be handed out in schools and workplaces and universities and streets all over the world. Please, just read it!! So, in response to other reviewers, who I can almost believe have never felt the want of freedom, have never felt the exhilarating magic of the road: Can you not see the pure and simple LIFE of this story? I cannot believe anyone could dismiss this. I was devastated to reach the final page; it is so rare to find such a gift. So please, show me a more faultless achievement of a novel, for I would love to read it. But I believe you'll have difficulties- this is as close to perfection as it gets. And to those who have the soul and the insight into the heart of a real angel of a man, to share in my breathless admiration, there is a poem by William Burroughs that may interest you: Remembering Jack Kerouac Writers are, in a way, very powerful indeed. They write the script for the reality film. Kerouac opened a million coffee bars and sold a million pairs of Levis to both sexes. Woodstock rises from his pages. Now if writers could get together into a real tight union, we'd have the world right by the words. We could write our own universes, and they would all be as real as a coffee bar or a pair of Levis, or a prom in the Jazz Age. Writers could take over the reality studio. So they must not be allowed to find out that they can make it happen. Keroac understood this long before I did. Life is a dream, he said.
Rating:
Summary: A unique perspective on America and life
Review: This classic presents the experience of Sal and his ecclectic friends traveling around the country and exploring with child-like excitement and wonder their surroundings. The style of this book is unique as you're immersed in the sights and sounds of hobo-life on the road and pumping jazz clubs in the city. I did not relate to any of the characters, nor really to any of their adventures, but I appreciated and learned from their experiences.
Rating: 
Summary: BORING!!!
Review: This is not what I thought it would be. I mean people rave about this book. Maybe it would be a big deal in the 50's (although I dont see it raising too many eyebrows even back then.) I just dont see it. It's the same thing over and over. "Lets move on cause I'm restless. Let's find a ride and get to the other side of the U.S. for awhile. Lets do drugs and get drunk. OK now I'm bored here, lets go back." There, now you dont have to read it. I've just given it all to you.
|
