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Book Review of On the Road

On the Road
On the Road
Author: Jack Kerouac
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
mpontalba avatar reviewed on + 43 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


It's not that I disliked the book, it's that I foudn Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty totally unsympathetic. This book is a great window into the Beat Generation, which one definition says was marked by "visceral experiences and search for illumination." The two main characters throw themselves headlong into searching for and experiencing every sensation. They are hungry for experience, and they consume people, food, and miles voraciously. What they don't do is reflect. What they don't do is think about how their actions affect others. The pair is continually searching for "it," without defining what "it" is. When the two reach a place, they don't stay...they simply start moving again.