The classic novel of freedom and the search for authenticity that defined a generationSeptember 5th, 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of On the RoadInspired by Jack Kerouac’s adventures with Neal Cassady, On the Road tells the story of two friends whose cross-country road trips are a quest for meaning and true experience. Written with a mixture of sad-eyed naiveté and wild … with a mixture of sad-eyed naiveté and wild ambition and imbued with Kerouac’s love of America, his compassion for humanity, and his sense of language as jazz, On the Road is the quintessential American vision of freedom and hope, a book that changed American literature and changed anyone who has ever picked it up.
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Have not finished it yet, but it was on my list of books ‘I should have read by now!” I find it sort of rambling, hard to know where it will end (as I said, haven’t finished it yet), It sort of reminds me of The Catcher in the RYE as it rambles and the main character is a bit irreverent. Probably worth reading, but not a ‘barn-burner”.
Kerouac creates a motion picture in words. The late 1940’s and early 50’s come alive through poetry in prose. The use of language itself is a work of art. Did their ‘Beat’ generation find the meaning of life or were they just a bunch of ‘dead beats’?