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emma_ireland's review
4.0
If you've only read later Kerouac then, apart from the odd flashes, this is like reading a completely different writer, the style is so different. Which, right off the back of Doctor Sax, did not displease me.
dandreamelissa's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favourites of his. I fell in love with the Martin family, hand noticed the pieces of Jack he put into the characters as well as the similarities to things that had happened in his other works. While written more traditionally then his typical free verse style, it become and easy story to love, and it has Kerouac's brilliant insight and bursts of poetic musings.
calais_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Clint, the Marijuana man who trained cockroaches, was my favorite character in the book. Maybe even in all literature ever written.
iymain's review against another edition
4.0
It took some time to get into this book. Well, maybe it just took me some time to figure out what it was about... It reads like a collection of snapshots for the longest time. The descriptions are great! Kerouac really catches the essence of a physical location and conveys the mood that it embodies. I love his description of dolphins "with their Mona Lisa smiles." This book is full of poetic passages and, finally, at the end, I discovered that it has a real message about modernity and a lost generation. It really resonates to read it now (2010) at a time of cultural upheaval, war and general disillusionment.
Of course, the book is heavily influenced by a basic machismo which is annoying. The female characters are definitely secondary, but then, in his world that's how he saw it and we are borrowing his perspective...
I was shocked to find that I liked this book as much as I did. I'd recommend it to others looking for a thought provoking novel. This was not quick and easy reading for me, though.
Of course, the book is heavily influenced by a basic machismo which is annoying. The female characters are definitely secondary, but then, in his world that's how he saw it and we are borrowing his perspective...
I was shocked to find that I liked this book as much as I did. I'd recommend it to others looking for a thought provoking novel. This was not quick and easy reading for me, though.
jwwiii1982's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Kerouac's The Town and the City is my favorite Kerouac book. It is less stream-of-conscious writing and more of a straight-forward narrative. Town/City is the precursor to On the Road, and follows the early life through college through his character Wesley Martin.
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