Book Review: On the Road

“ ‘Let me tell you more,’ I said, ‘and only as a parenthesis within what you’re saying and to conclude my last thought.’ ” - On the Road, Jack Kerouac

I think I loved that line more than anything else, I would’ve read the entire book, even if it was horrible, just to read a line like that.

Just finished reading On the Road. It actually took me a while to get through, because I kept dipping out and reading other books. I finished three books while I was reading this. I’m glad I finally got round to reading it, and I must stress that every reader must at some point.

I won’t gush too much, but I will say it was a nice, refreshing read, and that even all these years after it was published, no one writes like Kerouac. I felt an affinity with Sal that I didn’t get with Dean, I couldn’t fully understand why Sal would rush after him and admire him so much. I liked the language and the bustle, the repetitions with words, for instance the word ‘sweat’, which may have been used more than conjunctions (I exaggerate, of course). As I got to Part Three, I did feel like the book went a bit long, but I did genuinely enjoy it and it did make me want to rush to my computer and finish all the poems and short stories and novels I was working on.