Kerouac's On The Road - the book has the rhythm and energy of a train running right through it... I can still feel the warmth on my skin from those descriptions of sunsets, blue skies and air full of bugs and water.
I read this book in my early twenties and it was a great inspiration. It motivated me to step outside my comfortable surroundings and explore the world with some intensity so I could feel alive again. I've read a few reviews of the book but yours is the only one that manages to capture my exact feelings about it.
I read On the Road first in my early 20s, and all I wanted to do was hitchhike across America. I then reread it in my late 30s, and just thought, why don't you just get a damn job. Still a great book. Dharma Bums is Kerouac's best book. I still want to go live in the woods and meditate, because of it.
I just finished Dharma Bums. It has some of the frenetic quality of On the Road in the early chapters but has a meditative tone that is just beautiful. Kerouac’s descriptions of the natural world on his hikes almost brought me to tears.
“If My Heart Could Talk and Other Poems” is my debut book of poetry detailing my experiences and observations living with my heart condition. It’s available in paperback on Amazon now! Hope someone gives my work a chance and enjoys it.
@Dream Dream Serene For all of the reasons Cliff gives. I loved it for the writing, for the philosophy of living life ecstatically, for the stories within- the flatbed truck chapter, when he meets the Mexican girl... Sometimes his writing reminds me of John Steinbeck or Hemingway, both of whom I also love. It's a beautifully written, exciting novel that inspires one to travel and live life to the full!
Can't believe i'm finding this two years later, but still as grateful to have stumbled across it. It feels like i'm listening to one of Jack Kerouac's friends talking about him!
I read "On the Road" when I was 17. Because I wasn't mature enough mentally and socially, I about destroyed my life with the ideas I picked up from that novel and from Rimbaud and Morrison. I read "On the Road" multiple times in my late teens and early 20's then ended up as an English major with an alcohol problem, along with a shaky work history that took until I was in my 30's to get over. Other factors influenced me as well at that time when I was a teenager, ofc: Grunge Rock, etc. I couldn't see through the marketing and thought Grunge and Beat literature were "deep" and real.
I read lots of Kerouac as a diversion from the standard literary canon of English/Am Lit that I was studying at the time. It was initially very refreshing and energetic. Also dug into all the biographies. Then I grew tired of the Beats. It's like they never grew up. Now when I read them, they sound so damn adolescent to me. I still kinda like them, but not nearly as much as before. Oh well. At least I don't drink as profusely anymore. 😂😂😂
12:52 Phenomenal review, and i think that's the point. I think Kerouac intended this book to not necessarily dissuade others from this lifestyle but to focus on the spirituality of life, and the essence of living in the moment. That's the "it" they were trying to find, and the drugs, alcohol, and women were the false truth that promised it but never got you there. It's my favorite book for this reason
I've always wanted you to cover this book. I found your channel while reading All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers (my favourite book), and that 'American Writer Retrospective' genre always pulls me in. Thanks very much
Thanks for this video man, the closing minutes of this were really inspiring to me, it’s hard to find like minded people who share a love for books such as this and the pursuit of new ways to see the world. Thanks again, keep them coming.
I was hoping that there was a review made by you, sir. I've just finished "on the road" and, damn. It talked to me in a very personal level, maybe because I never had the courage to live life at its fullest, or whatever. Amazing review as usual.
oh hell yeah this review is gonna be awesome! Started today reading some Allen Ginsberg poetry not expecting this review to show up! Cheers to more good reviews mate, love your channel!
I read this book for a class in my senior year of college or else I may not have read it and missed one of the great influences of my life. That was in 1972, three years after he died. I went on to read a number of his books and works by many of the people he mentions in his books. A couple of weeks ago I came across an audio book here on youtube and thought I'd revisit Sal and Neal, 50 years later. Joseph Pittman who narrates the book does a fabulous job and reads it like Kerouac intended it to be, like a free form jazz session. He reads fast, gives all the characters different voices, and together they are like the band laying down the rhythm and the beat and then Dean steps forward with his "Yes, yes, dig that cat, go man go" solos until it builds to a crescendo then a break and back to the steady rhythm and beat until the next solo. I am more impressed now than I was back then. Give it a listen and it might change your world.
Good review. The improvisational nature of Jazz inspired Kerouac, and all the Beats really, and helps explain the improvisational feel of On The Road. I agree completely that the best parts of the book are the descriptions of jazz being played.
I'd been living that life for a couple of years with absolutely no knowledge of Kerouac or On The Road when I walked into a bookstore in Florence Italy and picked it up. I've used it as something of a bible ever since, I do agree though that reality has to come back occasionally.
Love your review. kerouac was full of life, and his books are full of life. On the road is my favourite because when I read it I feel that I live and experience everything that was and that should be in future that I have to experience as long as I'm alive..
Have you ever read any Irvine Welsh? Trainspotting is one of my favorite novels. It’s dark, twisted, hilarious, and written in an extremely unique and intersting manner. Sounds right up your alley.
my buddy is moving to san diego next month and we're planning our new york to cali road trip. will be the 3rd time i've driven cross country before. the way you describe the mundane moments on a trip but also the romantic ideas behind it are spot on. i've been on roofs in las vegas, almost chased down by buffalo etc... haha but driving through nebraska in january for example is basically just a long, cold and dull road. but it's all in good fun of the trip and ultimate, the memory. maybe that's all a great road trip is - living in the moment, but in turn, creating the memory. really well done review - you seem like a very inspired guy. 10/10. great watch. x
That book is my bible. Since somebody gave me 30 years ago I've read several times. It changed my mind and my life as that who gave me advertised. Now I'm in my 15th year of my own trip, trying the taste of the road, working in my art, living day by day with a unusual intensity. Some days (so many) it's a hell, but some others I'm happy to have decided the "option B" in my life. I needed a radical change in my life and I did it. That's not a weekend trip, that's not a summer holidays, that's not a easy life (being something as a outsider never is) but the "option A" meant to die. I had to choose and chose to sacrify almost everything to feel that life can be more interesting than work, get married, have children and being in a reasonably comfortable ignorance. Thanks to J.K. or to my old friend.
The bible should be your bible. It is infinitely wiser and an infinitely more impactful story than On The Road. It teaches you everything you need to know about life. The only sacrifice worth partaking in is that which glorifies Christ
I've always liked On the Road and always though it was beacuse of the travelling lifestyle. But when you spoke about it and how they lived in the book I realise that's my life up until this point. I have lived that kind of 'no tomorrow, love life so much that you almost looses it' kind of life. It was a huge revelation to hear you explain it so well and it made me understand why I like not only the book but Keruac and the while Beatnik style so much. Well put, and thank you sir.
I am really glad I finally read this one. I didn't enjoy it at first, but fell in love with Kerouac's writing style as it went on. I've traveled quite a bit across America and some in Mexico and it felt like reminiscing with an old friend about our younger days, but this wasn't one of my favorite books as I read it until that last chapter-- I've never experienced reading a slew of sentences so meaningful to me. The final words of the book gave the exhilarating, youthful, and sometimes tumultuous relationship between Dean and Sal so much heart and morality. It captured perfectly how you never know when it will be the last time you see someone and it was heartbreakingly realistic in how the end of an era sneaks up on you. Life just keeps on going in the shadow of what once was. Damn...
Aapparently I'm one of the few to not like this book... nor the style nor the content.. Also I wanted to recommend (besides the usual Aragon) a French author whose style and work are so unique and could very much interest you :Claude Simon. Would love to know what you think of it!
I really dislike that book too. Tried to read it twice. Did you know that Kérouac (a Québécer, aka French-Canadian) originally wrote that book in French, but he never published it because he didn’t go to school in French and wrote the language very badly. But, because he’s a celebrity now, a Québec publisher put out the original French-language manuscript a few years back, keeping all the errors and spelling mistakes (for authenticity, I guess…). www.ledevoir.com/culture/431423/kerouac-inedits
This and Stoner are two books I really didn't get along with. On The Road felt like pure pointless hedonism with no epiphany; nothing but "This happened, then we did this, and yass, yass, we drove across the country a few times saying yass, I will, yass."
If you don't care for On The Road, please give his other works a read. He is capable of visionary prose that gets to the bare bones of the truth of life and seeking satisfaction and ecstasy. His passions are manic, his depreciation true. One aspect of his prose I enjoy is the way he relates to the provincial everyman yet has obviously uncovered the cosmic giggle in a way that is very much the essence of zen thought. I recommend his novella 'Tristessa', and Lonesome Traveler. His novel about his older brother's short and sadly beautiful life , titled 'Visions of Gerard's is, imo, some of the most beautifully written prose ever fashioned. Search 'Kerouac history of bop' on RU-vid and you can listen to a great example of his genius. Said simply, I view Kerouac as having two sides. One side is the Jack Kerouac mad visionary rambler anticipating the next kick or all night jam session. The 'godfather beatnik'. The other side is Jean-Lebris de Kerouac, tender ti Jean. Ol' Jacky Duluoz of the sad Lowell's and childhoods with a Blakean heart and Huck Finn soul. The split and juxstaposition are very pronounced in my mind and lead to one whole and IS one whole, of course but, for example: He is a sexually driven person who appreciates the love of a women and gets involved in, as described in his novel 'Dharma Bums', 'yabyum sessions' which is basically a sanctified orgy and then on the other hand he is a practicing celibate Buddhist at other times. As I went through his work I was always aware of the dichotomy of his beliefs and principles. A celibate ladies man, a Catholic Buddhist, among others. He also coming from a Franco-American household and community. He spoke only French until almost adolescence. His European nostalgia and sense of tradition juxstaposed with his All-American sense of wonder and glory and American pioneer spirit is very apparent. His prose embodies his extreme nostalgia and fascination with the human condition. Everywhere he saw angels and heroes. He offered his heart and took only an understanding. His work could almost be viewed as tragic in that one of the underlying themes in his work is the Buddhist noble truth that all life is suffering. But if you understand that noble truth that to be born is to suffer you are open to receive the other three truths that; the cause of that suffering is attachment and craving. That a reprieve from that suffering is possible and lastly that salvation is achieved by practicing the principles stated in the noble eight-fold path of tender thinking and ideas, tender relations with all living beings, tender and content endeavors etc. The tragedy would be the fact that Kerouac apparently fell in to deprecation and his light seemed dim or burned out altogether. I've heard that he stated 'My zen is dead....' towards the end and I've also heard that he said that he would just commit suicide but his Catholic faith prevented him so he set to a regiment of heavy alcohol consumption to speed along his death. I personally don't think he lost any bit of himself. I believe that he just had an astronomical capacity for empathy and that his empathy was too heavy a burden and he also seemed to connect to a deep and eternal sadness. He had a vision of the voids immensity and he gathered his Roman candles and went about light seeking in that void but he knew that no matter how beautiful the flame was so alive, the void was was as ever with its finger on the pulse ready push time on and roll the shadow over. And that, he knew, was being beat. That was the ultimate beat
Interesting and to me, fairly accurate reflection on this book, and life also at the end. I agree with you, and might I add, you exemplify a wonderful compromise , using social media, internet, and not abandoning 'real life', the desires to pursue love, thrills, meaning of life, without having to sink into the depths of self destruction and utter fatalism , risking the danger of over simplifying things, of course. Good job .
I'm on my 5th round of listening to On The Road on Audible, the 50th anniversary edition narrated by Will Patton. You nail this book in your review, nice work. In the audio version by Patton, the picture he paints really makes you connect to all the characters. Full disclosure , I've never read the text version of the book. Although I was made aware of the book at a much younger age, I listened to it at the age of 39. There is also a movie, it seems to miss a lot of the book, would make much more sense if you have already read the book I feel. I can also recommend "and the hippos were boilers in there tanks" By Kerouac and Burroughs.
Cliff, first things first--- A tall order to review "On The Road" in such a short wedge of time but you pulled it off in top drawer fashion. When my friend Tom (who we'll get to in a bit) INSISTED I read the Christing thing I said, "I'm on a history bender right now what's so frigging great about this book, man?" Well, took the dog-eared copy from his hand...I began reading that afternoon...by that evening I was ready to throw some things in a duffel bag and make my split! Now, two years earlier at 16 (my mom had just died) I procured some money and went West...to Berkeley. My sole reason for picking Berkeley was because I liked how it looked in "The Graduate"! So, from Clearwater, FL (yep, another Florida boy) to Berkeley. I was starving when some kindly leftovers from the '60's took me in and I lived an awesome life for about a year and then the talking Snowman's voice from "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" (a clever exposing of capitalism with Santa as the supreme bigot and chief exploiter!). I probably should've stayed but I missed the white sands of the Gulf coast and my friends. But "On The Road" led me to Burroughs and "Junky", "Naked Lunch" and addiction. Now, getting back to my friend Tom and that house...this is a REAL coincidence; My friend Tom and I would take the 16 bus down to Tyrone Mall and eventually make our way over to "THE HOUSE". He'd say in a monotone voice, "Jack lived there...LIVED there." He'd then go on to say that one day he'd buy that house. Cut to the end---the house was for sale and Tom missed getting it by the smallest of margins...I forgot what exactly the fly in the proverbial ointment was. "Oh Well!" He enthused philosophically, "Just as well...I'd probably just talk to his drunk ass ghost all day and you'd come to the door one day and there'd be that SMELL..." Just had to share that. How do you like, er, Detroit? I thought I saw a shadow of distaste when you mentioned the city. Think you'll move back to Florida? Can I borrow .43 cents? I will subscribe and support your channel. Take care!
Interesting to hear your views on this one. I was really influenced by this book when I was younger, as you mentioned could have been dangerous for you. I guess, in some ways, it was dangerous for me. That was around 17 or 18, I think. Also, having a huge, life-long love of jazz myself, it was easy to get into. In my post-graduate years, I wrote a research paper exploring jazz and identity in American literature - specifically Kerouac and Ralph Ellison. That whole experience put me off the book, to be honest. I'd like to come back to it. I have the well-worn copy on my shelf. The prose is undeniably beautiful and singularly unique, as you said, and those scenes in jazz bars are just out of this world. Thanks for your thoughts, Cliff.
It's a book about friendship and nomadism. Neal Cassidy and his friend, (Kerouac) the main character, are travelling along the States. Working in all kind of things they're offered, their loves or flirts and adventures with no fixed destiny, are viewed as even a way of life. This gave name to the Beatnik generation. As if they could keep living in such a way forever. It was thought a bit as a let's say, kind of a philosophy. In a post war decade, the fifties may have been an easy times to live in such an aimless manner. But if you think that there's about 30 million of Americans living as nomads, in roulettes... some to avoid taxes and many because they feel better not rooted and free to change their scenary when they please... one becomes conscious that what Kerouac tells about, may also be part of the "American way of life", or what this offers. So, nomadism has to be accepted as a possible way of living, in use of your freedom. Kerouac took things from Bhudism, as well, in the sense that you have to follow the river's trend and be able to live with what you really need and nothing else. You don't have to stick too much to objects, don't stick to possessions. Don't "get in love" with what you have or not. You can be equally happy with probably much less than you have. Less is more, and this is truth. The writing style of this work is a bit careless, as if done on the spot. As it no doubt was. Although interest is well kept and it is an easy reading. As a whole, would say it is a fine book. Although perhaps not as relevant as others, it may have been overrated, can't tell. 🤗🆗👍
I read this book three years ago, when I was sixteen, and you've just made me remember it vividly. It is funny to me because I underlined the exact fragment you read for us in the video, and the descriptions about the jazz concerts had that much of an impact on me that I unconsciously began to listen to music differently from that moment on. I do love the fact that you realize that pretty much everything Kerouac says is essentially junky bullshit (beautifully written though, maybe also partly true), but I kinda feel a lack of real "critical" perspective here. I just wish your videos were longer and your covering of the books more thorough. You obviously have really sensible things to say :)
Hey, you are also the "A Father's Story" reviewer. I wish I could have seen "On the Road" through your eyes; through mine it was a melodically written exercise in pointlessness that I had to read under pressure as part of a BookCrossing ring. Trivia: Neal Cassady was an inspirational co-founder of both the beatniks and the hippies. He also features prominently in "The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test". Kerouac and Bukowski are my literary map next-of-kin. Kerouac's the one guy I've heard of who, like myself, had an imaginary baseball league. And it's Kerouac's paragraph, "the only ones for me are the mad ones" that was the only paragraph to possibly beat one of mine out in a certain reader's eyes over a period of 15 years. As for Bukowski, I was told I was a comp by another reader who mailed me a copy of "Post Office" after having called my book the biggest minduck he'd ever read. Naturally, both readers have blurbs on proud display on my current back cover, amounting to my blurb sum and substance. Tommy Walker, author and subject of MONSTROUS: The Autobiography of a Serial Killer but for the Grace of God
I was there the other day-- at the flamingo bar and a walkby of Jack's old House. A mockingbird was in Jack's oak tree in the front yard singing others' songs over and over. I personally like originals, Jack you... pure and sweet. Mary, the flamingo's barkeep, sumised you were sad back then. I think she did not understand. In swells of alcohol you often became only human.
I actually like this book a lot the first time I read it - that stream of consciousness kind of narrative and a kind of restlessness (sort of today's FOMO) that permeates the book. Second time I wrote it, well, it lost the novelty aspect of it. I do believe that the book was supposed to be read as some kind of bebop jazz jamming narrative - and you know, as is the case with jazz, it's not as interesting once you know what to expect. I read Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck a little while later and had me some pretty good times reading it.
I’m about to start this book. I’m very excited. Especially after seeing this dope review. Thank you for the recommendation, cliff. “That’s right, yes!”
After a lot of putting it off, I decided to read The Original Scroll of the book, and then right after that I read the published version. I could see why it's a classic: a thoughtful guy who decides to go on the road with a wildman. There's no way for a reader to be neutral about it, which is one of the reasons why it's endured for so long.
Great video as always Cliff. Definitely resonated with that list bit. Do you think we might see a resurgence of beat-style counterculture in the 21st century? There's definitely enough loneliness and conformity to lash out against.
Great review as always I'm not a person who would leave a comment but I just want to say thank you for opening my eyes to very important books English is not my mother language but it's my passion so thanks
This is one of my favorite books of all time, even though I despise the beat culture and I am absolutely not fascinated by all the drugs and crazy behavior, I loved the language, the style it's written in, the descriptions. Kerouac is a major talent, he write so poetically, the words just envelope you.
Listen to Jack on the Steve Allen show, beautiful stuff. He Reads some of Visions of Neil and OTR and maybe some other stuff not sure where parts come from yet but check it out. His recordings are great too. Having read most of his writing it is not for every one, I can say that now. Are you aware there's another version of this book? I'm glad you can appreciate it, he was someone with a vision.
If you like Kerouac's "On the Road," you also may like Thomas Wolfe's "Look Homeward Angel." Kerouac copped his descriptive stream of consciousness autobiographical style from Thomas Wolfe. Wolfe's "You Can't Go Home Again" and "The Town and the City" by Kerouac, similar family themes.
"When you want to read an author it means you want to spend time with them" 💡 went off so true. Read this book in high school, perfect time dealing with teenage angst and lofty dreams
Also: If you like Kerouac and jazz, you can listen to any number of his American Haiku wordjazz performances here on RU-vid. The Ocean is a fine starting place. Dive in daddy-O
there's a great book--and i might've mentioned it on your review of Post Office--that compares and contrasts the Beats to, and with, Bukowski*. i won't give away what his thoughts are, generally, but he's quoted and cited through interviews and such (this was published in the mid-2000s, so he would've been dead by now). interesting read, though.
That was totally me when I was younger from the edge of 13 or 12 into my twenties and thirties forties Maybe fly by my seat. A few things are like me. Some things I I wish I could have done.
Go! by John Clellon Holmes was published a year before On the Road; he was also one of the Beats. Go! had all the same characters (albeit with different names in his book) but is still based on Kerouac, Ginsberg, Cassidy, Burroughs and himself. I actually liked it a lot better, but I read it first, so that may have colored my opinion of On The Road. Still, Kerouac is cool and I used to walk by his mothers house in North Beach in S.F. all the time. The subversive culture in the '50's, pre hippy '60"s would have been a fascinating time and culture to have lived in.
Wow, I loved this review. I particularly appreciated the enthusiasm, which so beautifully mirrors my own visceral response to the book when I first read it in high school (although I could not have expressed it so well). Now here's a thought: "On the Road" is both bullshit and truth. Sort of like the New Testament? After all, the "beatific" Kerouac was a devout Catholic (in his own dharmic way...).
notoriously, Kerouac got drunk at The Flamingo ([now] sports) bar here in town and booed countless amateur writers off stage mid-performance. their yelp still brags about it. gag. glad youre out of town. hope there's still good techno up in detroit!
I was there the other day-- at the flamingo bar and a walkby of Jack's old House. A mockingbird was in Jack's oak tree in the front yard singing others' songs over and over. I personally like originals, Jack you... pure and sweet. Mary, the flamingo's barkeep, sumised you were sad back then. I think she did not understand. In alcohol you became only human.
I always compare this one to Tropic; surprised you didn´t get that one, having just watched your video on Black spring. Tropic of Cancer is Miller´s best book, and it´s a bomb, basically because of the things you mention in your other video, which I agree with in general. Full of poetry, and, yeah, some disposable parts, but not many I think, thanks to Anais Nin and some other friends. I wish Miller had done the same with his other books. Anyway, it shares some things with On the road. A non-existing plot, or just stupid, but LIFE through it´s pages.
I love Kerouac's style but I didn't really get this one, until they get to Mexico. Read it a couple of times, but his other books were better for me. Dr sax and Dharma bums were great
Thanks Cliff. Like yourself I never read it, passed it off as one of those cliche milestones everyone reads and raves about in their early 20s. Now in my 30s, I think it’s time... :-)
Read it just now and I'm 55. Maybe it's good I didn't read it when I was younger as my youth was wild enough for me. I love Dean's evolution in the book. Think about comparing the settings of this one, Blood Meridian, and 2666. Different times in the American Mexican west.
Didn’t like the book when I read it but I think that if there was an audio version narrated by you, I think it would work much better during the walks and such
