On the Road

Rating:
Summary: 1950s novel precursor to J Crew catalogs
Review: On the Road is the single most overrated bad novel in the twentieth century. I say "overrated bad" because I must distinguish between that category and "overrated good" or "overrated fair;" I wish no disrespect to the latter two. Let's face it: this book's popularity stems from the fact it provides romantic fantasy to priveledged suburbanites who fancy themselves "creative," "book reading," and "rebellious" and who subsequently define rebellion as hopping around the country (who without money could even do this?), drinking jug wine, and shouting impromptu poems to the moon while walking barefoot. Please. Kerouac's prose, for all its supposed "spontanaity," strikes this reader as labored and heavy handed, even when entire pages pass without punctuation. I can almost hear a rusted robot walking when I read his prose: creak, BOOM; creak, BOOM! Kerouac offers absolutely zero insights into ANYTHING. Any supposed attempts to portray the exhilaration of the road, the excitedness of youth, or the opposition to Eisenhower-era conservatism ring completely false. I almost felt bad for the author while reading it, realizing "this guy has zero talent" (well, plus he is dead and all). Which is a shame because that's the only little revelation I gleaned from Kerouac: he really wanted to be a writer. Ed Wood really wanted to be Orson Welles, though. At least Wood's work was funny; Kerouac can't even muster that. This book is proof that anybody can finish a novel so long as they have the tenacity to continue typing random words together for awhile. Based on the glowing recommendations of friends and fellow book lovers, I can't think of a novel I was more disappointed in than this one (and subsequent other bad books by Kerouac). I mean, please trust me that it's hard to write a book about drug taking, sex having, and conservatism opposing that I don't like. And I really disliked this book and its self-referential vapidity. On the Road is almost singlehandedly responsible for the modern proliferation of aspiring authors who pick out "author clothes" like seersucker shorts and plastic cigarette holders before typing one page of a focused manuscript. It's been a terrible influence, and certainly has inspired one too many lead singers in rock bands to submit flotsam and jetsom to book publishers. And THAT, folks, is a CRIME...AGAINST...HUMANITY! Have you ever read any of Bob Dylan's stuff? All that said, however, I highly recommend the book if you are a nineteen-year-old rich male who's really angry at your parents because they told you that they won't fund your three-year, self-finding hiatus from Brown. I think this book is right up your alley. Of course, you could just read your Patagonia magazine; that has pictures!

Rating:
Summary: idealistic
Review: what can i say. when i first read this book i was 16 years old. i was young and idealistic. i read this book, and i thought,"yeah, that's what i want to do, see the country in the most simple passionate ways." i'm turning 25, and i just read the book for a third time. i can still feel the same after the third time. i want to hitch, and camp, and drive and thrive around the wild country. how can you not like a book that still affects the different generations that encounter it. if every reader goes into this book with a clear head, and no pretentions of what it's supposed to be about. well then i'm sure that they'll be moved every time they read it. they will read it more than once. no masterpiece should be read once.

Rating:
Summary: The twine...
Review: wound with beat, Kesey, passion, Wolfe, adventure, Burroughs and self-exploration. Read between Naked Lunch and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, this was the perfect book for me to read at the time. The characters and base influences reappear throughout each of these three books. Not the "greatest book I have ever read", as many of you say, but I did really enjoy it. There is a relaxed and mystical feel to Kerouac's descriptions and lyric writing that is unique. This style may be compared to Steinbeck's first three pages in Of Mice and Men, but there is no other Kerouac. However, I may have to read it again now knowing that Kerouac may not have been as "beat" as we all thought (the recently published The Long, Slow Death of Jack Kerouac, I believe that is the title). If you do read Wolfe's book (The Electric...), remember... Neal Cassidy is Dean.

Rating:
Summary: pure excitement!
Review: On The Road took me to places that I wish still existed.Places I will never see and people I will never know the likes of. Kerouacs' use of similes and metaphors painted a canvas of colors and emotions for me to revel on til my days of old. The way he made love to life encourages me to do the same. Thank you Jack.

Rating:
Summary: It was not as good as I thought it was going to be.
Review: I had heard a lot about Kerouac as a writer, and I think maybe my expectations were too high. I did not like it as much as I thought I would. The book seemed pointless and never ending. I thought some of the experiences the main character had were interesting, yet became boring after a while.

Rating:
Summary: Wild, sweet, innocent youth
Review: Whatever happened to Dean?! I ached to have this question answered as I finished the last page of this great book. I've been to many of the places described in On the Road and Kerouac made startling, true descriptions... and he made me think of these places in a fresh, new way. I trust his descriptions of the places I haven't been and so was fascinated (their trip to Mexico was a revelation). While this novel may define the "beat generation", it tells of YOUTH. That time in our lives when we're looking, searching, exploring, and seeking our place in the world. While Dean and Sal may be viewing the world "under the influence" much of the time, even in the sober moments, they are loving and open. It makes me nostalgic for the time when youth seemed wild, sweet and innocent.

Rating:
Summary: Kerouac puts the meaning of beat in "Beat Generation"
Review: Possibly the greatest book I've ever read in my life, Kerouac put's all his emotions into this novel and just let's them burst all out onto whomever reads book. I was so strung into this book that I read it once and then read it again! It seems each time I read this book, it only get's better! It is a must for the man that has the ambition to be a traveller in life. Long live Kerouac! -Sid Mason

Rating:
Summary: Kerouac's finest work, the definition of "beat."
Review: Reading On the Road was possibly one of the most important things I have ever done. Kerouac's finest book is without a doubt the definition of "beat," and perhaps the definition of america's youth. As one read's the novel, and feels the power of Kerouac's realness, it impossible to resist the madness that can only be classified in one important word. beat.

Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOK.......I DUG IT!
Review: picking up this book was the single most life altering thing i ever did. and i wouldent have it any other way. from the first page all the way to the all-to-soon ending, i felt a tug at my soul, the tug of the road perhaps, and my feet began to itch. i could say i loved this book, or i could say read this book!!!!! but all of that, its been said before, and its cliche anyway. oddly enough, this book made me realize how incredbly pathetic i am. how naive. i thought..."could there really be that much wonderful world i dont know? this, all of this, is what ive been missing, and ill never be the same" this book makes me want to ....feel the tingling gyrating vibe of LIFE, feel it run all along my nerves, making me jump and yell and run out and dig EVERYTHING!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Beat began here...
Review: Jack Kerouac's novel about him and his pal Neal Cassidy (In the book the names are changed to Sal Paradise for Jack and Dean Moriarty for Neal), and thier numerous adventures On The Roads of America. I thought this book was brilliant and is worth all the compliments it has been given. The quick pase it is written makes you feel like your int those bebop clubs right along with Sal and Dean. I'd recommend this book to anyone.