On the Road

by Jack Kerouac

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.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Literature, Adventure

327 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 24, 2023

Reviews

[Carol Sheppard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A completely different book to my usual genre. A story of friendship in a harsh location. I was amazed how someone could set off to cross America with no proper plan and only a few dollars in their pocket

[Caitlin Whelpton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slow, repetitive, and a bit icky. It was definitely a slog to finish

[Kol · Rating 5 out of 5]

4/5 - Kerouac has such a way with prose, I love the jazz-like style. I wish more authors adopted his way of writing.

[Sarah Hennebry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Glad I finally read an American classic, the writing is mesmerising. However, I am so disappointed but can’t be surprised whenever he describes a woman, then you are very suddenly drawn out and you realise it’s just another 50s male who hasn’t yet humanised his fellow travellers.

[Lemegeton Hesperus · Rating 3 out of 5]

It‘s a fun read if you like roadtrips, somewhat obscure characters and stories of sex, drugs and late 40‘s Bebop Jazz. The Author‘s writing style can be bit lengthy and tiring, and he‘s not the best at writing dialogue, but his style is also speckled with beautiful, poetic descriptions of feelings, situations, ideas and persons. Especially the first part, and the second part where pretty good, the third and fourth also have some entertaining parts but the language and certain customs that wouldn’t be used today are definetely something that you‘ll have to prepare yourself for, and have to remember that this book was written almost 70 years in the past. The ending is beautiful and wraps everything up quite well, so yeah, definetely a fun book if you can get past the outdated language etc.

[tralalouda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book that made me want to annotate pages and underline quotes. Not much to say about a cult classic that defined the ever so enviable Beat generation. Personally, I've always been a sucker for a slow developing autobiographical read, so this was right up my alley. A beautifully narrated snapshot of how it was to "dig" life on the road ca. 40-50's; speaking of which, keep this timeline in mind to help stomach some events and language. The aesthetics come to life through a refreshingly raw narration; images, smells, sounds, the lot! I felt like I was, but I wish I'd been there with them!

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the classic American manuscripts. Reading it in its original scroll form is hugely entertaining. I don't understand people who deride this novel in its edited or scroll version. It's not that I'm a fan of all of Kerouac's work. At the time of writing this, I'm a fan of very little of Kerouac's work. I do think the first volume of Letters collected by Ann Charters are wonderful. I do think he is one of the great but irrevocably dated writers (excepting this novel) from his time and 20 years before and after him. It's that I feel this novel is uniquely funny, powerful and American. That's it.

[Zach Werbalowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

like a 3.5, the scroll reads like any other beat writing reads or maybe i've read so many beat writers that the beats are all the same cause without the name changes and the people becoming characters, off the road is as well written and interesting as this, but i guess read that non-scroll version awhile ago, when i was younger, i finished reading this croatia and left it in the ladies house i was staying with in split since i bought it for a dollar in portland and that felt right and like i wouldnt miss it.

[Wais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hated and DNFed on the first read, but I was convinced to give it another try and I knew what to expect this time around.

It still reads like the story version of a run-on sentence but it's a vibe. I also learned recently that it's semi-autobiographical. And it has a movie adaptation with Kristen Stewart.

[Stefano Satireyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if popularity somehow damaged this authentic masterpiece of world literature, this is Jack Kerouac at its best. Of course, many books of his reached peaks that not many reached in literature, but he did it especially - but NOT ONLY - with On the road. It's the Manifesto of the Beat Generation and it's a must read for everyone.

[Isobel · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book. happy to have read another classic. writing was good and ive never read a book with a similar writing style so that was cool. otherwise the book was definitely a bit too male-centric for my liking. but told a decent story of hitchhiking america.

[Sami Awwad · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4

[Verity Saunders · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Sam McGreevy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the cultural relevance of the selection and the impact it had on society during the late 50s, but overall it was a slow read.

[Christopher Von · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eins meiner Lieblingsbücher, die "instan-prose" von Jack kerouac und seine dynamischen Erzählungen von einem Amerika in den 50er Jahren sind einfach genial. Best of the Beat Generation

[Kate McKinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in a very offbeat (occasionally indiscernible) style, this book nevertheless is intriguing & strangely bedazzling in depicting that "beat" mentality of a freewheeling, footloose, full-out excitedly seeking & exploring-it-all lifestyle. The colorful characters run the gamut: from the eccentric fringe, all the way to the de facto criminal element; but their humanity is up-front & somehow the author makes them accessible. At times, this book is a masterpiece. There are sections of writing which are unsurpassed in descriptive power & sheer creative whimsy ("She...had Plains complexion like wild roses... the modesty & quickness of a wild antelope. At every look from us she flinched. She stood there with the immense winds that blew clear down from Saskatchewan knocking her hair about her lovely head like shrouds, living curls of them. She blushed & blushed.") At its worst, the book is disjointed & confusing, like an anarchic frenzy. It's brilliant, but maddening. How did this bunch of guys get elevated to the level of mystics, poets, or philosophers?? They're basically a group of sociopathic freeloading hoods, looking for kicks, while hurting lots of other people in the process. *** SPOILER ALERTS AHEAD *** They have loyalties to no one, not even to each other (Dean routinely abandons his wives, children & friends, changing affiliations instantly, even leaving his critically ill friend in Mexico, so he can be on his way to continue w/"his life"). It seems like they'd need to be on energy-heightening drugs, to even keep up the pace they describe. I wonder about mental-illness & what role it may have played in their lives, as the book is supposed to be semi-biographical. Their lifestyle is astounding & occasionally funny; but it gets tiresome after awhile. All this frantic motion, just to end up going nowhere, learning almost nothing from their mistakes & adventures. I can see how they get burnt-out. It's like there's no anchor, core, or ethical bedrock to anything they do - just full-tilt hedonism & pursuit of impulse. It's often hard to get a handle on the gist of the story & the entire cast of characters, which is rapidly changing, coming & going, in a chaotic way ("I like too many things and get all confused & hung up running from one falling star to another till I drop.. I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion") ("With frantic Dean I was rushing through the world without a chance to see it"). It's understandable how the author repeatedly refers to things as "sad" (the sad landscape, the sad look on people's faces, etc.). He & the other characters seem compelled by some nebulous "longing" which they surrender to, in a completely undisciplined way, getting themselves in all varieties of trouble. Likewise, their activities & behavior are so zany as to become inscrutable at times (two of the guys sitting facing each other on a bed, exchanging "truths" all night long? Kinda cool, but what does that mean? Hard to fully comprehend). Also what they consider "truth" often seems to be nothing but fleeting & distorted perceptions of their own making). Much of the dialogue is difficult to understand - ("He slowly gets up & takes the mike & says, very slowly, 'Greatorooni ... fine-ovauti ... hello-orooni ... bourbon-orooni ... all-orooni ... orooni ... vauti ... oroonirooni"). The author doesn't really attempt to translate, you're just along for the ride & you can make of it what you will! I think the trip could've been more enjoyable if Kerouac had put a bit of effort into reaching out more to his readers, instead of just writing his fleeting impressions in such a purely idiosyncratic train-of-consciousness style. It was almost like a diary that had been written in a kind of code that only the "in-group" would understand fully. But hey, at least we get to participate! This books gets a high mark for its virtuoso presentation of a lifestyle that typifies a time in our culture. Not because I would really want to be part of it - (Ok, maybe for a night!).

[Dafne004 · Rating 1 out of 5]

What is the most useless book of the 20th century and why exactly on the path of Jack Kerouac?
I must admit that at the beginning I liked it but after 142 pages. The same description in the preceding chapters

[Tuba Balta · Rating 5 out of 5]

the slutty boys travel and perform various shenanigans. What a slay