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A review by kartrick
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
3.0
I'm pleasantly surprised that my star didn't end up on one end or the other. Throughout my read, I kept shifting my rating between 2 and 4---mostly on the lower side, despite how much I wanted to like the book. I've been wanting to read this to get more clarity about The Road, and while the book does at times mirror some of the emotions and quandaries that The Road ignites, I can't say that it gave me any of the insights or answers I wanted. It isn't about The Road as much as (or in the way) I was hoping it would be.
I understand that the writing style is meant to reflect the speed of lived experience, which is probably why I couldn't take to it---the life the book portrays is not easy to like. This is my first real experience of the Beat Generation aside from a hurried and utterly confused read of Ginsberg's Howl a few years ago, so I'm glad I got to learn about what beat really is about. But from what I've learned, I think a more appropriate name for it would be Vice Generation. Moreover, a life revolving around consumption (confusingly, the book is supposed to be arguing against the prevalent consumerism in post-war America??) and speed is just incredibly difficult for me to be interested in; many stream of consciousness passages that drew on and on simply felt boring and I ended up skimming past them.
Given the societal and cultural context in which it was written, I get that the larger, less explicit point of the book might be indulgence in the radical and the revolutionary and the human---breaking free from normality---and not so much the idealisation of the vice-driven lifestyle. But I guess the book just hasn't aged the best; yearning for the other and living in the present are hardly revolutionary ideas in today's time, and due to the manner in which these ideas have been developed in the book it's hard for me to appreciate the sentiment even if I try to account for its context. Speaking of context, although there a few aspects of the characters' attitudes and worldviews that were distasteful (that got me saying out loud, "wut!"), these didn't automatically score negative points for me.
However, I think there was little character development despite the number of years the story spans across. This made it difficult to be moved greatly by events that were meant to move greatly (e.g., the final scene). While I didn't find the writing style particularly prolific or evocative, I still did enjoy descriptions of landscapes; it was a nice way to learn about the geography of the country. I think the descriptions of jazz bars and concerts were probably something I missed out on, having absolutely no knowledge of jazz aside from its being a very important father figure to hip-hop. On finishing the book, I finally started delving into the world of jazz and improv, and that's something I'm happy to take away from this read.
All in all, certainly not a regrettable read, given that I was able to learn about some influential themes and ideas. But more an exercise in learning than in intellectual/philosophical stimulation or debate---unlike, say, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which also explores similar themes of meaning and nihilism and the present but in a much more interesting and endearing manner.
I understand that the writing style is meant to reflect the speed of lived experience, which is probably why I couldn't take to it---the life the book portrays is not easy to like. This is my first real experience of the Beat Generation aside from a hurried and utterly confused read of Ginsberg's Howl a few years ago, so I'm glad I got to learn about what beat really is about. But from what I've learned, I think a more appropriate name for it would be Vice Generation. Moreover, a life revolving around consumption (confusingly, the book is supposed to be arguing against the prevalent consumerism in post-war America??) and speed is just incredibly difficult for me to be interested in; many stream of consciousness passages that drew on and on simply felt boring and I ended up skimming past them.
Given the societal and cultural context in which it was written, I get that the larger, less explicit point of the book might be indulgence in the radical and the revolutionary and the human---breaking free from normality---and not so much the idealisation of the vice-driven lifestyle. But I guess the book just hasn't aged the best; yearning for the other and living in the present are hardly revolutionary ideas in today's time, and due to the manner in which these ideas have been developed in the book it's hard for me to appreciate the sentiment even if I try to account for its context. Speaking of context, although there a few aspects of the characters' attitudes and worldviews that were distasteful (that got me saying out loud, "wut!"), these didn't automatically score negative points for me.
However, I think there was little character development despite the number of years the story spans across. This made it difficult to be moved greatly by events that were meant to move greatly (e.g., the final scene). While I didn't find the writing style particularly prolific or evocative, I still did enjoy descriptions of landscapes; it was a nice way to learn about the geography of the country. I think the descriptions of jazz bars and concerts were probably something I missed out on, having absolutely no knowledge of jazz aside from its being a very important father figure to hip-hop. On finishing the book, I finally started delving into the world of jazz and improv, and that's something I'm happy to take away from this read.
All in all, certainly not a regrettable read, given that I was able to learn about some influential themes and ideas. But more an exercise in learning than in intellectual/philosophical stimulation or debate---unlike, say, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which also explores similar themes of meaning and nihilism and the present but in a much more interesting and endearing manner.