So for my first review I have picked On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I borrowed this book of my girlfriend a few months ago as she had started and failed to finish reading it. I am currently reading this book and as yet not finished it myself and this in itself tells you the first thing you need to know about it..... It is a hard read. Its not that I am not enjoying it, its just one of those books that is hard to read, to take in and I guess to understand.
The novel is set in post WWII America and based on the Karouac and his friends travels around the country as well as the 'beat generation'. "It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry and drug use". That is a very brief account to the back drop of the story, that period somewhere between the better known Depression years and the Rock N Roll 60's. The impression On The Road gives me so far is of an America in transition (but doesn't it always seem in transition?), where the cultures of the post war are slowly ebbing away into the new liberal culture we are all aware of in the 60's. Inevitably it reminds you of Mice and Men (on drugs), mainly because of the travelling aspect of the novel. The main character is Sal Paradise from New Jersey who embarks on a journey across the States with his friend Dean Moriarty. There are a myriad of characters and places while on the road and time in the book seems endless. It is hard to gauge what amount of time has passed at all in parts, its all rather erratic. The character Sal is based on Jack Karouac himself as are some of the others, but also his friends and people he met whilst he travelled around the states in the 50's.
My own stereotypical view of America in the 50's is of the 'atomic family in the suburbs', Tupperware loving, driving Mustangs, hanging around Diners and Drive In's, etc, in essence Happy Days! This book is not that 1950's America. It is a cool, dark, free, liberal and artistic view of that era in America. This is what makes this book exciting and interesting, you get to envisage in your mind the alternative culture of the 50's. And alternative it was, in comparison to the atomic family ideals of the time. And who doesnt enjoy a good travel story? They are always the best kind of novel in my opinion, to be taken to another time and place that is different to yours. On the Road as the title suggests does this, it takes you from New York to LA and everywhere inbetween (almost) to people and places that have long since changed. As for the deeper meaning of this book, I have not quite found that, Im sure a quick google search would tell me but I would like to figure out that myself. To do this though I must finish it. It will be packed in my suite case for my holiday next month.
So my opinion so far is.... If you enjoy travel stories and Americana you will like this book, as I said earlier it is a hard read with an erratic style (possibly jazz inspired?!?). I have given it 3 stars so far as yet I have to finish it and consider it overall ( i should probably finish a book first in future before trying to review it). I am enjoying it and finding the landscape of the story so far interesting but I can't see where this story is going as yet, which is probably a good thing. If you have read On The Road please let me know what you thought of it.
UPDATE**
I finally finished reading this whilst on holiday. I sat back in the sun and read and I could not put it down. The later half of this book really picks up as you get to know the two main characters in the book. Sal the narrator of the story is interesting but it was Dean Moriarty, Sals best friend who illuminates the story and adventures the two undertake. Dean is the centre of all things in this story and as it progresses he changes too, becoming a little like Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men. That is, in how he is viewed by his peers. These two characters are in search of something as they travel from coast to coast and there are often vague references to god or jesus. This is not god in a Christian sense or even a religious one but rather more spiritual in nature. This i guess is were the meaning or reason can be found in this book.
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