On the Road. Jack Kerouac.

On the Road
Jack Kerouac
New York: New American Library. 1955

Why read it? Novel. A portrait of America from the point of view of a generation, the aimless desire for experience. Just as with Only Yesterday and the decade of the 1920s, the reader is developing a portrait of the United States at a time different from the 21st century. Yet relationships exist between the two periods. And just as in Lolita, the reader is gauging the culture of the United States at a particular time. In On the Road, the mood is one of “Go!” Stay for any period of time and you will feel the urge to “Go!” Travel back and forth across the U.S. See the different social classes in action. Gather impressions of America in the 1950s. This novel is a “beat” classic, and the tempo of the book carries the reader frenetically through changing moods and experiences in different parts of the country.

Sample Ideas from the Book: “…and I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding…across the stars.” “Besides, all my New York friends were in the negative, nightmare position of putting down society and giving their tired, bookish or political or psychological reasons….” “We spent some time trying to sleep on the bench at the railroad ticket office, but the telegraph clicked all night and we couldn’t sleep, and big freights were slamming around outside.”

“The Rock Island balled by; we saw the faces of Pullman passengers go by in a blur; the train howled off across the plains in the direction of our desires.” “The floors of bus stations are the same all over the country, always covered with butts and spit and they give a feeling of sadness that only bus stations have.” “Beyond the back door was a view of the mountainsides in the moonlight; I let out a yahoo; the night was on. For life is holy and every moment is precious. But all I wanted to do was sneak out into the night and disappear somewhere and go and find out what everybody was doing all over the country.” “This is the story of America: everybody’s doing what they think they’re supposed to do.”

“Here was I at the end of America—no more land—and now there was nowhere to go but back.” “New York with its millions and millions hustling forever for a buck among themselves, the mad dream—grabbing, taking, giving, sighing, dying, just so they could be buried in those awful cemetery cities.” “Now there’s thoughts in that mind [of an old Negro driving a mule wagon] that I would give my last arm to know; to climb in there and find out just what he’s pondering about.” “He had every right to teach because he spent all his time learning.” “He began to learn ‘yes!’ to everything…and hasn’t stopped since.”

Quote: “No matter where I live, my trunk’s always sticking out from under the bed; I’m ready to leave or get thrown out.”

Quote: “And besides he knew the road would get more interesting, especially ahead, always ahead. and nobody, nobody knows what’s going to happen to anybody besides the forlorn rags of growing old.”