On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)

Author - Jack Kerouac ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from Penguin (Non-Classics) was reviewed on 25-Oct-2008.

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1) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). On the Road: one of those books that people will claim they´ve read in order to sound cool at snooty parties or score with the earnest and naive alterna-chick, who is amazingly non-conformist, just like all her friends of course. This is a book that far more people claim to have read than have actually read, and among those of us that have actually read it, we come away feeling "wow, what the heck was all the fuss about?" I´ll offer the benefit of the doubt and suggest it maybe was fresh, interesting, or what have you when it came out, but I don´t see anything special about a couple of road trips that don´t go any place really interesting. Semi-autobiographical, all Kerouac demonstrates is his being used and abused by junkie friends, which left me with an impression of Kerouac as a complete wannabe, always on the outside or the periphery looking in, never really part of this crowd he somehow managed to get hooked up with, more tolerated than anything, and a complete doormat, and dressing it all up in the most pretentious dribble imaginable. News flash people, it ain´t _that_ good. I read it once when I was 17 and thought "hey this is pretty cool" a mere five years later at 22, I read it again and thought "seemed a lot cooler before I had any actual life experience" including several cross country road trips and some time overseas. I´m 31 now, and even less enamored. Not profound. Not even enjoyable, and certainly not deserving of its reputation. "I saw the most gullible minds of my generation, suckered in by horrible beatnik writing" ;)¤

2) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). This is by far Kerouac´s best work. It details his adventures with Neil Cassiday in way only Kerouac could. This book defines the beat movement and defines, for me at least how the world was long before I was born. Being only 20 years old I cannot imagine hitch hiking across the country, in the present time that would not only be socially unacceptable but highly dangerous.

However this book is a quick and fun read that you don´t want to put down. Kerouac´s writing style is great and original and cannot be matched.¤

3) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). I first read On the Road when I was still in high school, and I didn´t think much of it then. I only picked it up because a guy in one of my classes kept going on and on about how wonderful it was. But I recently thought to myself that it IS, after all, widely considered to be a great book. And that, in the past, I´ve found re-reading books that I first read long ago has proven enriching, as my perspective of things has changed over the years.

Well, I read it again, and I still didn´t like it too much, though I see why an 18-year-old boy would think it was the coolest thing EVER. I realize that this novel/memoir is hailed as the definitive book of the Beat Generation. I understand that the depiction of Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady) is supposed to be representative of life, of the Christ figure, of the wild madness and crazy desire to grasp and understand life´s meaning. But, overall, this is a book about some people who, at their core, are sad, lonely, unfulfilled, irresponsible, and out for themselves. At the end of the day, Dean Moriarty deserts his wife and abandons his children on a regular basis. Sal (Kerouac) blows his GI money on marijuana and Mexican whores. These guys are pinning all of their hopes on these epic road trips, but when they actually get out on the road, they are starving, miserable, sick, and start to piss each other off. Throw in some illicit drug use and the constant prowl for girls to have sex with, and you apparently have a book.

Remember how I said that my perspectives have changed over the years? They haven´t changed me enough to make me a fan of this book. I thought Dean and the gang were crazy idiots back when I was 18, and I still think that today. Oh, well. I guess I should just be glad that I didn´t grow up a member of the Beat Generation. I would have felt quite out of place.
¤

4) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). It is absolutely amazing that any novel could be written in just three weeks, let alone this defining portrayal of the United States in the early 1950´s. This is a true masterpiece.¤

5) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). I don´t need to say much, because I see I´m not alone here. I honestly don´t know how anyone can read this whole book. I picked it up really excited to read it and just couldn´t get through it. I asked a friend what the big deal with Jack Kerouac was, if I was missing something, he said it was the shock of things he said for the timeso in other words, it´s totally outdated!¤

6) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). First published in 1957, this novel epitomized to the world the Beat philosophy. It chronicles a spontaneous and wandering life style founded both on jazz and drug-induced visions.¤

7) Paperback Book On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) by Penguin (Non-Classics). On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac´s works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac´s writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalized autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac´s real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac´s alter-egos, On the Road is a cross-country bohemian odyssey that not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 22-Nov-2008, 01402832939780140283297, 200-930-9X0-460-920-810-750-8

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