John G. reviewed On the road by Jack Kerouac
None
4 stars
There's a calm in the eye of even the roughest hurricane. "[b:On the Road|6288|The Road|Cormac McCarthy|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21E8H3D1JSL.SL75.jpg|3355573]" is pretty much a category 5 storm. The writing is frenetic and the plot is all over the place. But where you least expect it, an [b:eye of the storm|92364|Eye of the Needle|Ken Follett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171245794s/92364.jpg|395229] appears, and wisdom emerges with such clarity and profundity that you think, "Wow, I'm glad I kept reading."
One such moment: "Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk--real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious." (Part 1, Chapter 10).
It's such moments of reflection that make the book worthwhile to me. I also recommend Matt Dillon's audiobook narration. (Yes, Matt Dillon). His James Dean style of wary impudence fits the book very well.
