On the Road: Jack Kerouac (English Edition) (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (BBC Drama S.) (Penguin Orange Collection)

by Jack Kerouac and Editorial Aleph

The classic novel of freedom and the search for authenticity that defined a generation

September 5th, 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of On the Road

Inspired by Jack Kerouac's adventures with Neal Cassady, On the Road tells the story of two friends whose cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naiveté and wild ambition and imbued with Kerouac's love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz, On the Road is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed anyone who has ever picked it up.  

• ISBN10: 1514371073
• ISBN13: 9781514371077
• Publish Date: 15 June 2015 (first published 5 September 1957)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Createspace
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 138
• Language: English

Reviews

[ellieroth]

También en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Todas mis lecturas en el reto Los Libros de Charlie han sido bastante variado, me han gustado, los he amado completamente, se me hicieron indiferentes o ni siquiera pude pasar de la primera página. En este caso con On the Road me fue conflictivo, hubo partes donde mi interés estuvo completamente despierto mientras que otros me fue difícil incluso hasta pasar página; de todos los libros en la lista de lectura es uno de los que más información tuve gracias a una película que se hizo hace algunos años, entonces… Entonces sacarme de la cabeza la cara de ciertos actores que no me gustan malogró también mi experiencia con el libro, así como me pasó con El Gran Gatsby.

Dean Moriarty

Se supone que lo que da vida a la historia es la relación casi dependiente entre el narrador del libro (del cuál no enteramos de su nombre hasta la mitad) y Dean, sólo que para mí fue lo menos interesante y lo más desesperante de la lectura. Leer sobre Sal viajando, conociendo gente casi enamorarse en cada pueblo que conocía, fue lo que más me gustó. Mientras que con Dean, cada vez que aparecía quise golpearlo y abandonar el libro, quizá es porque he tenido el placer de conocer uno que otro prospecto de Dean, el personaje se me hizo insoportable.

Adaptación Mata Libro

Aquí en Perú hay una especie de dicho “Billetera mata galán”, quiere decir que no importa lo guapo que seas o que tan buena persona eres, si no tienes plata… HABLA’OS (esas interesadas…). No sé si mi versión del dicho este muy bien. La cosa es esta: en el libro la belleza y exuberancia de Marylou es mencionado cada dos párrafos creo, Sal está muy obsesionado con ella, mientras lees te imaginas una Scarlett Johansson, con un físico espectacular, extremadamente sensual pero sin ser vulgar, muy típico de esa época cuándo no había esta cultura a los huesos que hay ahora pero…. Pero… No podía sacarme de la cabeza la actriz que escogieron para la película y me arruinó todo (quién se ve nada sensual pero sí muy vulgar)

¿Qué más puedo decir del libro? Una vez que lo terminé no he vuelto a pensar en él, incluso se me hizo difícil escribir esta reseña de lo indiferente que quedé, los libros On-Road tienden a ser mis favoritos, estoy casi predispuesta a que me gusten y quizá solo por eso le puse 2 de 5 estrellas y no 0.

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[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

On the Road is a semi autobiographical novel about Jack Kerouac’s travels through America. Set in 1947 the novel documents the travels of Sal Paradise with his friend Dean on a quest of self-knowledge and life experiences. This novel is often considered as the definitive ideal of the Beat generation and living life postwar. The Beat movement is a cultural movement which rejected a normal life for a bohemian lifestyle; this movement inspired jazz, poetry and literature. The non-conformity and spontaneous creativity as well as experimentation with drugs, alternative sexualities and interest in Eastern religions lead to the hippy movement in the 1960’s even though there are many differences.

On the Road is a novel of friendship, not just between Sal and Dean but the people that come and go from your life. Hitchhiking through America gives an opportunity to see this quickly; Sal meets new people all the time and just like that they are gone from his life; their impact on Sal may very but it really is a good way to show the effects people have without having to scratch a story over a few years. Then there is the friendship between Sal and Dean, it’s clear to me that Sal is idolising his friend and his need to be just like him is really not helping him to grow. Sal does grow through the book but it never feels like Dean has, this really changes the dynamic of their friendship as the book goes on.

This is also a book on the ideals of the beatniks; they are young and wanting to experience life, learn from their experiences. But underneath it all Sal feels unhappy. Either alone, in a relationship or just having casual hook-ups, Sal is never content. The only time I ever feel like Sal is enjoying himself is when he is having intellectual conversations, but he never really works out how to channel that passion to make his life mean something, I did think he would find contentment in writing but he never really does. The characters feel they should learn from life instead of books and this leads more to sex, substance abuse and even madness seem to be the end results of their experiences rather than knowledge.

While some might think this is a rather boring novel, I tend to think there is so much in the book worth exploring. I like the style and feel of this book, it reminds me of dirty realism and the quest for knowledge and satisfaction in life really hit home for me. My past experiences are nothing like those of Sal or Kerouac’s but there is something so real and raw about this book that I enjoyed. Overall it was interesting to read the book as a manifesto to the beat generation.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2012/12/30/book-of-the-month-on-the-road/

[brokentune]

Note: I wrote this review in 2013, but forgot to update here. It's not so much a review as a compilation of thoughts on On the Road and Steinbeck's Cannery Row.

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I watched the film version of On the Road the other night, and while watching it I couldn’t help but compare Sal Paradise, Dean Moriarity and their fellow beats to the inhabitants of Cannery Row, more specifically Mack and the boys from the Palace Flophouse.

That is, there aren’t that many similarities but it struck me that both books deal with the stories of characters who have an innate longing for freedom, individuality and a break away from conventional society. Both are written with a pinch of nostalgia for road trips.

So, thinking about this for a couple of days I made the following observations:

The inhabitants of Cannery are pretty nice people. They just want to mind their own business and get on with their day. They might not all subscribe to the same interpretation of morality, but they all seem to be pretty decent people – if anyone is taken advantage of this is with their knowledge and consent and generally in the genuine spirit of everyone having a right to be a chancer.
The whole point of the story of Cannery Row is for Mack and the boys to do something nice for Doc – and even when not everything goes as planned everyone still displays a sense of good will.

By contrast, Sal and Dean in On the Road lack the concern for others and instead are mostly concerned with pursuing their own pleasure seeking interests. Many of which invariably seem to result in sponging off other people – be it Sal’s aunt, their friends, wives, girlfriends, whoever.

I first read and adored On the Road in my teens , when the ideas of road trips seems pretty cool and the defying defined roles seemed something to aspire to. I would not say that picking up Steinbeck’s novels in the years since that first reading On the Road changed that perception completely. I still love road trips! However, I’d much rather hang out or collect frogs with the inhabitants of Cannery Row. And let’s face it, their parties sound much more fun than the ones Sal and Dean end up in.