Review: On The Road

ON THE ROAD  by Jack Kerouac, published by Penguin Books in 2011. This book was first published by Viking Press in 1957, but the copyright is dated 1955. Jack Kerouac is in his twenties when he went on this adventure with his friends, whose names were changed in the book.  These were friends he met in college, and along his journey's with 'Dean', who was really Neal Cassady.

My comments on the book would be WOW. This book is manic. I was not born until 2 years after this book was published. I grew up with the beat movement in the background, but not in my life. It was a different time and it shows in this book about adventures. Looking at our current society where everything is in place, kids go to college, life is structured around teams and taking off and doing your own thing is not widely accepted. Though in my twenties, I had a mini adventure, traveling with my friend to Europe, riding on the train to sleep from one town to the next. We stayed in Europe for 1 month, leaving everything behind. I was enamored by just carrying around a suitcase and a bunch of traveler checks to see Europe. My daughter spent 6 months in Europe and the British Isles, traveling and working through out the country. That amazed me and made me happy to know I had the means to save her if she got stuck.

In this book Sal (Jack) has his aunt who helps him out when he gets stuck, but he is always on the move. Traveling by foot, bus, hitchhiking and sometimes by the car that Dean has procured to get him. They travel back and forth to California and New York. In the last part of the book they end up traveling to Mexico, where once again Sal is abandoned by Dean.

Dean is the manic component of this trip, just talking and feeling and saying whatever comes to mind. Enjoying the ability to roam, see people in his own personal way. Looking for things lost like his father. I kept thinking he is going to crack and drive off the road, he is so manic sometimes. I think I would get tired really fast and driving that fast may have had me get off at the next stop. But they had so much fun, partying all the way, breaking hearts and connecting with people.

Different times, different feelings, a new movement called the Beat movement, that celebrated life. Good book, full of history between the manic parts. I really enjoyed the book.