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View Full Version : December '11 / Bildungsroman Reading: On the Road by Kerouac


Scheherazade
12-03-2011, 06:10 AM
In December, we will be reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

Please post your comments and questions in this thread.
CarpeNixta
12-04-2011, 07:35 PM
In December, we will be reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

Please post your comments and questions in this thread.

First time reading this author, I'll be back as soon as I get my hands on the book
Paulclem
12-05-2011, 05:31 PM
I liked On The Road the first time. I wonder if I'll think of much of it the second.
Mutatis-Mutandis
12-06-2011, 10:44 AM
About a third of the way through, and right now I'm completely neutral as to my opinion. I don't like it, but I don't dislike it, either. The story isn't particularly captivating. There have been humorous moments, but nothing that's elicited more than a smile. The writing is good, but not really distinguishing. The strongest area of the book seems to be the character creation--they seem very real. I just hope it gets going a bit more.
iamnobody
12-06-2011, 11:30 PM
I read this book a while back and I remember thinking I might have liked it much more if I had read it when I was younger.
Sancho
12-07-2011, 08:52 PM
I know I'm starting to sound like Pete and Repeat on this thread, but I just don't have the zip to reread this book right now. But when I read it before, I dug it.
Mutatis-Mutandis
12-11-2011, 09:34 PM
I have about 20 pages to go and will finish tonight. It'd be nice if something interesting actually happened. . . .
Mutatis-Mutandis
12-12-2011, 10:17 AM
The ending scenes in Mexico were mildly better than most of the book. Not good enough though. The story was bland, the writing uninteresting, and I didn't find the characters particularly likable. Dean was kind of an a-hole. He's not loyal or helpful to his friends, goes through women, fathering children without a second thought, and is kind of an all around douchebag. None of his "philosophical" nonsense was enlightening, nor was the anything the narrator had to say. They were bums, plain and simple, and I'm not a huge fan of bums.

There were a few things I liked enough to keep me from giving it the lowest rating, though. The character creations was very good, even if I didn't like the characters that were being created. There were some good passages though, and I chuckled a couple times.