[ book tip by Jade Weighell ] This is a seminal novel that epitomises what became known in the 1950s as the ‘Beat Generation'.  Jack Kerouac, in this semi-autobiographical novel, portrays the endless pursuit of pleasure, kicks and good jazz that he and his friends chased. The term ‘Beat’ can be said to mean a state of euphoric exhaustion and that is evident in the characters’ ceaseless and sleepless search for an unobtainable utopia.    

The story centres on the wild and uncontrollable Dean Moriarty and the awestruck Sal Paradise who follows Dean like some kind of disciple. They travel the breadth of America with a soundtrack of sex, drugs and swinging jazz.

The novel is narrated by Sal and so Dean is portrayed as an oracle; a man who can see more than most and so lead Sal to a higher sense of truth. In fact Dean is more lost than anyone and all he really seeks is his lost father and a place in which he can really belong. 

Apparently Kerouac wrote the original manuscript for the novel in just three weeks. This is evident in the writing which is unrestrained in its style, structure and portrayal of the raw emotions felt by the characters. The writing truly comes alive in the description of the jazz, which is rich and embodies the vibrancy and unpredictability of the music.  

On the Road is actually a very poignant story. Neither Dean nor Sal can settle in their lives as they believe that their travels will ultimately help them to find some kind of self-knowledge or a sense of ‘The American Dream’ but all they find is fallacy and hollowness.  

[ Favourite quote ] 'Dean was in a trance. The tenorman’s eyes were fixed straight on him; he had a madman who not only understood but cared and wanted to understand more and much more than there was, and they began duelling for this; everything came out of the horn, no more phrases just cries, cries, ‘Baugh’ and down to ‘Beep!’ and up to ‘EEEEE!’ and down to clinkers and over to sideways-echoing horn sounds.'

[ book info ] Kerouac, Jack: On the Road. (Book language: English) Penguin Classics, USA, 2000 (1957). ISBN: 978-0-141-18267-4.