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| View Larger Image | On the Road (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
by Jack Kerouac
| | List Price: | $16.00 | | Price: | $10.88 | | You Save: | $5.12 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 3866 | | Studio: | Penguin (Non-Classics) | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 304 | | Publication Date: | June 01, 1999 | | Publisher: | Penguin (Non-Classics) |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Book Description
MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers. |
Amazon.com
On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac's writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalized autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers, and fellow travelers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac's alter-egos, On the Road is a cross-country bohemian odyssey that not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 623 reviews)
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Great book about youth 
This is a great book and really shows the discovery of youth, good and bad. What did you do right out of high school? Right out of college? Backpack across Europe? Jump in a car with friends and travel the U.S.? Most don't, most never will. I read this book years ago and really enjoyed it. We can find pleasure in things when we are in our teens and even early 20's that will never bring us that same feeling again. Simple pleasures that we get so much more out of, before the grind of the 9 to 5, the stack of bills on the table, the notes from school, the news every night on TV, politics and the view of yourself in the mirror getting older and older, takes them away, right out of your hand and you're too busy trying to stop the clock from ticking to try to get them back. This is a book that reminded me of all the times I'd felt completely carefree. What will the book mean for you? I don't know, it depends on your own interests, but it made me smile and want to go "on the road."
July 07, 2008 | |
On the No-Fun Read 
I read this book in the 80's, back in the day when I had just discovered reading. I had high expectations. The book was part of a Contemporary Lit class, and I could not believe how boring it was. They would hitchhike, meet interesting characters, tell enough of the story to intrigue, and then they would move on, drinking, riding, and missing the big picture. The repitition, the blandness of what should have been an incredible journey, went on and on. Perhaps at the time it was written there was a little novelty. This book may be one of the most overrated of the 20th century.
July 05, 2008 | |
Ehhh 
I hate reading the long reviews... If I want to know what a books about I can find it ABOVE all the reviews... Sooo... This book was alright. Not very exciting. Mostly plotless, in my opinion. They drive to the west where they attempt to seduce women, drink, and smoke. Then they drive to the east where they do the same thing. Then they head on down to Mexico where they do the same thing yet again. I don't understand all the hype...? The book is a bit pretentious. I prefer The Catcher in the Rye or Into the Wild to this.
May 30, 2008 | |
The Day After Superman Died
I began this book with weary thoughts, suspecting some Beatles, hippie mumbo jumbo about life, love and drugs. I was right but also dead wrong. After reading it I can fully understand why this is thought of as the definitive read from the beat generation.
It's basically a crazed story on life on the road, of two friends who for a brief period becomes soul mates and experiences the real world as it is meant to be, on the road. The prose is filled with energy and your own imagination rushes along with the author's and at places even goes beyond his. I have read few books that does this to me in the same way, perhaps even none. Similarly to one of those well written Hemingway travel stories, you want to get out there - it makes you want to experience life - to find and be inspired by Dean Moriarty, the mighty road God.
I can't recommend this book highly enough, it is one to be read over and over again. To remind us that life is holy and to help us fully enjoy every precious moment of it.
May 26, 2008 | |
Now I know why the "beat" generation died out
I had heard a lot about the book, and I decided to try it despite the mixed reviews on line. "Why not, it's a classic, Right?" Well, I found this to be a "classic" in the same genre as the modern artist who creates a "classic" by throwing oil point at a canvas. The two main characters, Dean and Sal, cross the country on a series of four escapades. The hero is Dean (I guess), a hard drinking, womanizing excon who for some reason Sal idolizes. Dean drives with a reckless abandon that would probably make Evel Knevel cringe, effectively destroying every car he gets his hands on but also finding time to father a few children on the way. Sal still adores him, in much the same way that the "good girl" falls for the "bad boy" in high school. By the last road trip, I really wanted the book to be over. I had lost interest in the characters, much in the same way that the characters appeared to have lost interest in themselves. They seemed to realize that despite all their traveling they were going nowhere. Was there any point to their endless drinking, womanizing, and other acts of hedonistic debauchery? Or was this Kerouac's point- "Since there's little point to life, we'll just make a big a mess for everybody else to clean up." Unlike the true classics, which left me pondering the meaning of life and probing the depths of human existence, this book had all the inspiration of an episode of MTV's "Real World". A redeeming factor is that I did enjoy Kerouac's colorful and descriptive writing style. He really made me feel that I was "On the Road" with him. Unfortunately, I didn't want to be there.
May 26, 2008 | |
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