Jack Kerouac is the "beat generation's" story teller and is my kind of writer because he writes as he speaks instead of following the "rules". He has written many books, articles, etc including "On the Road". It is a novel that makes me want to go out there, seize the day, and let the road take me by the hand, well without the drugs.
Kerouac tells introduces the reader to Sal Paradise, one of his alter-egos, a young and seemingly innocent writer who is holed up in a room at his aunt's house, until he is inspired by Dean Moriarty (a character based on Kerouac's friend Neal Cassady) a crazy youth "tremendously excited with life" racing around America. From the moment their journeys begins I was is taken through the highs and lows of hitchhiking, bonding with fellow explorers, opting for beer before food, and exploring the rural wilderness, sleepy small towns, urban jungles, endless deserts- all linked by the road, the outlet for a generation's desire and inner need to get out. Kerouac made me feel their desperation and the lack of fulfillment which made them believe that "the only thing to do was go", in order to find their personal freedom in sex, drugs, and jazz.
I am sad to know that this book is one of very few entries into the world of the beat generation, but it did put the dream of hitting the road into head and look where I am at now.
Highly Recommended. (I have read 3 times as of March 2011)
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