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rutledge20910's review against another edition
3.0
I try hard not to project modern sensibilities and beliefs on earlier classics, but it's hard not to read this and think, "wow, they're all kinda misogynistic jerks."
luciethecoffeegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
ella101's review against another edition
2.0
i didn’t finish this book, wasn’t as good as the second one
lukeisdoinghisbest's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
marimarifer's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I was struggling with "getting" this book in the first few pages. I stopped to maybe get some background history on Kerouac and the beats, and I found a video of him reading his own work aloud (JACK KEROUAC on THE STEVE ALLEN SHOW with Steve Allen 1959) and it turned the book around for me 100% recommend doing that if you start to get bored. When I started imagining reading in his voice it became a lot more comprehensible. It's so musical and rhythmic and was the highlight of my reading experience.
mrbanana's review against another edition
3.0
What I liked about this book was the philosophical and emotional realizations that Sal, the main character, learns after so many years of living on the road, flying by the seat of your pants, but the fact that he and Dean continue to live this way (however, we don't really know the mindset of dean because it is all written from Sal's perspective). It's not the typical "I learned my lesson and now I'm changing my life". The ending is pretty much like any other part of the book; it's not an ending, it could go anywhere from there. At the same time, I really disliked how the characters in this book objectified women. Women and other minorities were never really given a spotlight, in my opinion, for the reader to learn deeply about at least one person who could have had a more symbolic meaning of the time period, kerouac's actual journey, or whatever (I suppose you could except marylou and terry here). This made Sal/Kerouac feel very old-fashioned, but I guess that's not wrong considering it was published in 1957. At points it did drag on a bit (and it took me much longer to read than I expected), having a very much classic literature feel, and although I enjoy my classics, I think the same thing can be said for many classic novels. Overall, I enjoyed reading this story about a lifestyle that I could most likely never lead myself: life on the road.