Skip to main content

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

"The whirlwind adventure of Sal Paradise and his friend, Dean Moriarty, who often just drop everything they have, their families, wives, children, and travel across country to experience life. The idea is fun but the book itself was a painful struggle of run on sentences, cringeworthy "beat" slang and just an overall dislike for the characters and their flagrant lack of responsibility and selfishness."

1 Star

Pros: It's an interesting notion, to give into the lull of wanderlust and just travel across the country, the idea is intriguing but the reality of the situation just doesn't work for me.  

Cons: All of these men, all they did was drink, smoke weed, hook up with girls, marry girls, have babies, hook up with other girls, get them pregnant, divorce the first girl they married. It was a never ending cycle of selfishness, indulgence and irresponsibility.

Full Review: 

Sal Paradise, the protagonist, lives with his Aunt in Paterson, New Jersey. He's working on a novel when he meets Dean Moriarty and they form a friendship. That friendship will go on for years and years and across thousands of miles. All Sal seems to do is get the urge to travel cross country, with only a few dollars to his name and go off and have ever lasting parties. He often runs into Dean on these adventures and they "get IT" together, which means, they experience all that life has to offer. But to these cast of characters it seems that all life is is one endless party, drinking, smoking weed, hooking up with girls, marrying girls, fathering children, falling in love with more girls, having more children, getting divorced. Only a few of them actually do settle down and have a life. No one ever seems to work or to earn. They're always wiring for money from relatives. 

Perhaps it's a generational thing but, since this book was written in the fifties. And Kerouac was of the "beatnik" generation. But there was nothing likable about any of these characters. Their flagrant irresponsibility was mind boggling. Their selfishness, how they could marry a girl, have children, then go off on an endless debauch across the country and fall in love with another girl, get her pregnant, divorce the first girl...it was all just so selfish. By the middle of the book, after the end of every chapter, after Sal, Dean and other characters had gone off an "got it", I rolled my eyes. 

This was one of the worst books I've ever read. And it could very well be that I'm a stick in the mud. I'm not one for random bursts of spontaneity. I appreciate routine, organization, stability, dependability. These characters and their flagrant disregard for other peoples emotions and the consequences of their actions just left me feeling ill. Sure, sometimes I think just heading off somewhere, no clear destination in mind and seeing what happens, would be fun, but then the rational, responsible part of my mind shakes itself awake and I realize that I couldn't live my life like that. 

Some people can, some people have wander lust and love to see what's beyond that next curve in the road, but for me, I appreciate the predictability and more importantly, the stability of my life and the people in it. Give me a routine, work a day existence over not knowing where my next meal will come from, or whether I'll be sleeping in my car that night. If anything this book made me not want to "hit the road" in a whirlwind adventure. It made me appreciate my life all the more. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

“Rick Deckard is a Bounty Hunter who's on the trail of six "Andys" (Androids) who have come to Earth illegally. His job is to track them down and "retire" them. Something he found easy to do until he met her, Rachael Rosen. The Android that does the impossible, passes the "Voight-Kampff" test. The story quickly devolves into a slow, drawn out and frankly boring mystery that was putting me to sleep by the end."    ⭐⭐ Pros: I was more interested in comparing it to the film, "Bladerunner."/At first I kind of liked the drab, dreary atmostphere but it soon became soporific.  Cons: I had no real idea what was going on with Mercerism/The end there had me blinking in bewilderment, like with Herbert's 29th Dune Book/There was a lot of idle chit-chat while they were in murderous/intense situations, it just seemed odd.  Full Review:  Rick Deckard, a Bounty Hunter, contracted with the San Francisco Police Department hunts down and retires rogue ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

"Obviously targeted to writers but honestly, anyone could benefit from Bradbury's practical yet poetic advice, this was a collection of esasys by Bradbury about his writing process and reflections on some of his greatest works."   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Bradbury, duh, though I'm biased, to me, the man's prose is pure poetry, every word beautiful/Since writing is not my career, it was an interesting way to view Bradbury's life. Writing was his job and he was the only income. If he did not produce material, he would not get paid. It help put things into perspective.  Cons: The man can go on for a bit 😂/Bradbury's insane work ethic and endless endurance to just produce story after story seems insane and overwhelming but then again, this was his livelihood, so I'm sure it was insane and overwhelming. If he didn't write and get paid, they'd starve, so, it was a life or death situation. Full Review:  This was essentially a collection of essays written by Bra...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore

"Though dark, disturbing and at times, truly disgusting, Blakemore has created an unforgettable character in Tarare and his sad, sordid tale. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time for many different reasons and to me, that's a sign of a great read."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ Pros: Tarare wasn't a monster, it just seemed that the world was against him/I liked Lozeau and his strange band of misfits/Dr. Dupuis seemed like a genuinely good person, or at least, he had his moments.  Cons: Some of the timeline/people of the French Revolution were just white noise to me/Courville was a despicable man.  Full Review:  The Bottomless man, the Glutton of Lyon, Tarare the Terrible. The man who has many titles but who's name is simply, Tarare, is dying in a hospital in Versailles. Citizen Doctor Tissier has written to his friend, Dupuis, in hopes that he'll be able to cure this mysterious illness that plagues Tarare. For now though, he lays, chained to his bed and waits for...
Post a Comment
Read more