On the Road by Jack Kerouac

[Kebbyhei]

I have heard about his pro book writing skills and I have read about his books and him he is very talented if he continued he will earn a lot of money maybe even richer than Bill Gates my shelf of books keep growing with Kerouac books I am a big fan of him I am sure I will go nervous if I ever see him

[Pkl]

From the different opinions. This sounds good book. Am out to check it

[magnoparisi]

Great book about a totally different time in America, and the world for that matter. This is as captivating of a story as anyone could ask for, told in the language of the common man.

[Bigwig1973]

I read this book a long time ago and again in college when I wrote a paper on it. The divided self kind of reminds me of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Stephen Kings' The Dark Half, but the genre is completely different, at least looking at them nowadays. I have yet to read Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Double which might also have the divided mind sort of notion, and of course, I have to think of the play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. The play is, however, a much less serious take on it and the reason to divide oneself is not necessarily to do anything wrong, but rather to take a break from life. Gogol's Dead Souls, which I have not read has a character who takes numerous identities, and also the film starring Johnny Depp, The Secret Window. Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken. I've read (in one source) that studies have been conducted using schizophrenics and others to determine that if the brain of an individual is cut in half, i.e. the connective tissue severed, then when a person is assigned a task and they try to perform the task with the wrong hand, the other hand will, supposedly push the first hand out of the way to complete the task. Supposedly. The purpose was to determine right and left brain actions. Gross.

[Twinkletoez]

What is meant in the book (about halfway through, in my copy page 117) when taking about Carlo and his Doldrums ...
“when he lived in Harlem in midsummer and at night woke up in his lonely room and ‘heard the great machine’ descending from the sky;”

What is the great machine?

[Onwuesi Promise]

"On the Road" is a spirited odyssey through America, pulsating with the rhythm of the Beat Generation's quest for freedom and authenticity. Kerouac's prose captures the exhilarating highs and introspective lows of the open road with vivid authenticity. It is so interesting.

[Nati Jiniya]

I love classics that are not cliché and have a sense of originality. I love your review and am definitely interested in the book!