markm reviewed On the road by Jack Kerouac
Review of 'On the road' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Sorry, I just don't get it.(27)
307 pages
English language
Published Nov. 11, 2003 by Penguin Books.
3 stars
(223 reviews)
On the Road is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. The novel is a roman à clef, with many key figures of the Beat movement, such as William S. Burroughs (Old Bull Lee), Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx), and Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty) represented by characters in the book, including Kerouac himself as the narrator Sal Paradise. The idea for On the Road, Kerouac's second novel, was formed during the late 1940s in a series of notebooks, and then typed out on a continuous reel of paper during three weeks in April 1951. It was published by Viking Press in 1957. The New York Times hailed the book's appearance …
On the Road is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use. The novel is a roman à clef, with many key figures of the Beat movement, such as William S. Burroughs (Old Bull Lee), Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx), and Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty) represented by characters in the book, including Kerouac himself as the narrator Sal Paradise. The idea for On the Road, Kerouac's second novel, was formed during the late 1940s in a series of notebooks, and then typed out on a continuous reel of paper during three weeks in April 1951. It was published by Viking Press in 1957. The New York Times hailed the book's appearance as "the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as 'beat,' and whose principal avatar he is." In 1998, the Modern Library ranked On the Road 55th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.
doug reviewed On the road by Jack Kerouac
Review of 'On the road' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
I hate this book. It is without a doubt the most overrated American book ever. I want to punch this book in the face.
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.
torin reviewed On the road by Jack Kerouac
Review of 'On the road' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
I wasn't very impressed with this novel, though the descriptions of jazz were perfect.
Subjects
- Beat generation -- Fiction