Kerouac's On The Road

[dansarm]

Maybe a question for English majors here...

There is a term that academics like to use in describing On The Road, and similar novels, which classify it as telling the story of the travels of an unlikely hero and the various hardships he/she encounters.

The term is evading me and now has me on the brink....I'm sure you can relate.

This may be completely unhelpful, but I recall that the term begins with an "S"

Please Help!! Tx

[Veho]

Hello,

I'm not sure about the word beginning with 's' but your description of what you're looking for sounds like it could be 'picaresque'.

However, I've never heard On The Road described as a picaresque novel. It is a novel from the Beat Generation, however.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

[dansarm]

Ah..I suppose the "esque" is what I recalled and morphed into "s." Picaresque is exactly the word I was looking for. Knowing it helped me look up the article I recently read that brought this whole mess about http://ecommunity.uml.edu/bridge/review4/kerouac/fox.pdf

Thanks a million!

[Veho]

No problem. :D

I guess I was wrong and OnThe Road has been described as a picaresque novel. Whoops!

[Charles Darnay]

I was thinking picaresque but OP's original definition is a bit off. But yes, On the Road can and has been labelled as such but it is a bit of a stretch. Personally, I find that picaresque needs an element of sentimentalism that On The Road lacks.