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

On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) | Jack Kerouac | OK read

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On the Road (Pengu...

	On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century) Jack Kerouac Penguin (Non-Classics), 1999 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 630 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Great American Anti-Novel

Recently the scroll came to Denver and I went down to view it. To me, this was like going to see the King Tut exhibit. The first draft of this novel that the author taped together into a scroll and rolled up was allegedly written during a marathon session of Bennie's, Wine and cigarettes. This is a true piece of Americana and a relic from the dying past. Jack Kerouac, though a tragic man, was one of the founders of the American underground culture, one of the original Beats. In many ways he's the godfather of modern youthful rebellion and angst, often imitated in some form or another.

I first read this book in college and its sublime, very sparse prose made me want to give up my studies and live out of my car like a hobo. Some of the passages are beautifully constructed although it reads more like a diary than a novel. There is very little in the way of conflict in the novel, there is no real quest, there are no protagonists or antagonists, and there is no overwhelming triumph over adversity. The romantic interludes are hollow and flatly portrayed as youthful hedonism. The only tension or conflict in the novel revolves around a young man who is leading a life at odds with society and is challenging its norms and conventions by partaking on a meandering, wandering quest out to the west from his New England home. The drug of choice is wine although there are references to all types of other substances. The characters who populate the book are real life legends like Burroughs, Ginsberg, and Neal Cassady, (a real life Denver native) who later became a burned out deadhead buddy of Ken Kesey's.

Reading this little book is like a trip back in time and you almost feel like you are wearing a white tee shirt, rolled up jeans, smoking gutter snipe cigarettes, and drinking gut busting cheap wine. You're cruising down some forgotten stretch of highway on the way to Steinbeck's Eden, the promised land; the land of Californication-leaving all your troubles behind. Certainly no Fear and Loathing..., the book is a little out dated but when approached from the right mind set, it's still a great read. It took me years to recover from reading this book. It still remains to me a great American Anti-novel.

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OK read

I found this to be a fairly boring story, but it is well written. Perhaps my expectations were just too high, after all the praise around it. Still glad I read it.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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