On The Road, by Jack Kerouac.

On the Road is one of my favorites - the orange in the bathtub makes me laugh every time I read it.

It's been quite a few years since I read it, but I loved it, too.

I've been meaning to read this for at least 8 years. When I was in college a bunch of my fellow English majors were big fans of the Beat Generation writers, and somewhere along the lines I bought the book, but it's sitting on my shelf. I think what got me was when one of my friends read the last paragraph or two aloud for our Oral Interpretation class.

One of my roommates was so sure I'd like Kerouac that she gave me a copy of The Subterraneans for my birthday a few years ago. Still haven't read that, either. I'll add both to my "next reads" list.

It is interesting because when I read it, I had moved back home, and I was sort of in a static mode, my life on hiatus... Iwas waiting/preparing for the next move. I had lived in Los Angeles for 7 years and moved to Cuba KS population 260. This is where I read On the Road, a very frantic crazy book full of motion. I've heard that Jack actuallly wrote it on a roll of paper in his typewriter, so he wouldn't have to stop to change paper, messing up his rhythm. The first wordprocessor, if you will.

It amazes me that there are people who can do what Sal did, just GO, with no plan, no idea where they will sleep or eat, or get money. They just GO. I always have a plan, I always know where my my next paycheck will be and how much it will be. I type out a menu and grocery list, for Pete's sake!

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

At the time, AP and UPI wire service printers in radio stations and at newspapers used long rolls of newsprint. Jack wrote On The Road on one so he wouldn't have to stop to change the paper in his typewriter. The finished product was more like a book length run-on sentence. I've heard stories that the ms he originally submitted to publishers was the unedited roll.

All of his characters were based on real people. Henri Cru, a friend who lived in San Francisco, was Remi Boncoeur. "The world owes me a few things, that's all. You can't teach the old maestro a new tune ... "

I am a HUGE Kerouac fan. On The Road is my least favourite. My favs are Tristessa, Dharma Bums, Satori in Paris, Pic, Pomes All Sizes and The Subterraneans. I think I may have read On The Road three times. I've read Dharma Bums and Satori over and over again.

KTC, What did you think of it, though?

sassandgroove said:

KTC, What did you think of it, though?

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On The Road? I think it did not live up to its hype. I enjoyed it, yes. But there were places where he just didn't seem into it. Most of the Kerouac I read is electrified with intensity...this one, not so much for me.

With Tristessa, on the other hand...I lose my mind. It's so beautiful that I forget who I am when I am reading it.

That's interesting because it's the only one I've read. To me, it was constantly in motion, so if it wasn't so much to you, his other ones must be really intense. I'll have to check them out. Thanks.

Just don't hit me over the head with On The Road if you disagree. It's a small book, but if you're really mad you could probably wield it well. (-;

On the Road's definitely worth reading, but I have to pop in and say I much preferred The Dharma Bums, and that's the one I recommend to people.

KTC said:

On The Road? I think it did not live up to its hype. I enjoyed it, yes. But there were places where he just didn't seem into it. Most of the Kerouac I read is electrified with intensity...this one, not so much for me.

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I had a different problem: I found the protag. unlikeable -- flitting around, splitting town when things went sour, and eventually running back to his trust-fund home.

'Course, I read OTR twenty-odd years ago, and I oughta re-read to see whether my memory serves me poorly. Maybe after I read some other Kerouac; Kevin, you make a good case for doing so (as well as for other Salinger).

Viking / Penguin is publishing the original unedited roll next year, for the book's 50th anniversary. The first draft had scenes too suggestive and/or sexual for publishing in 1957.

God it's been so many years since I read it ... I remember that summer I had these two squirrels in my front yard - they used to sit on the mailbox and wait for their lazy butts to be fed peanuts ... I named them Dean and Marylou ... A few years later, I considered naming my son Cassidy but the hubby nixed it ... That's a book that's more than just a book for people my age - it was a rite of passage ... Great memories ... I will re read this summer ...

Oh Poet, don't even get me started on Salinger. I'm obsessed. Literally.

Rob, with your poet's mind I think Tristessa will stop you in your tracks. It's rather all over the place...I have to confess. But it's pure poetics. It's like your heart keeps expanding the more you read until you're afraid it's going to burst. (But don't take my word for it...I'm weird.)

I enjoyed the rythms of the language, but that was about all I enjoyed of OTR. It bored me a quarter into the book, so I didn't even finish it. My hubby liked it though.

"Road" was the book that got me hooked on Kerouac. And now I've got more than 4 feet of Kerouac, secondary sources and Beat-lit on my shelf.
I admire OtR for its description of the U.S., the description of the times Kerouac lived in. He was a brilliant observer and the way he depicts the changes in society are worth reading each and every one of his books.
Tristessa didn't move me that much, but that opinion might change, as I'm about to read it again, as I want to write my final exam paper on Kerouac. Anybody got an idea for a topic? There's so much to write about him...

I loved On the Road, but oddly enough I never read anything else by him.

Not odd. For a ferret.

Godfather said:

Man, I fell in love with Dean Moriarty

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Funnily enough, so was Jack.

And the "typing it out in one session" is a myth started by Jack himself. There are multiple revisions on multiple onion skin rolls.

And On the Road is my favorite, and I have read the majority of his works.

I likes him.