On the Road by Jack Kerouac

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Clichéd choice? Bite me. This book remains on my top ten. Why I didn’t read this sooner, I will never know. I was missing something beyond brilliant. I could not take my eyes off Kerouac’s writing. One of the beauties in his writing is how he describes such simple things such as Sal standing under a streetlight and that being something that you remember. How I didn’t just get up and leave for the States the moment I finished I’ll never know. It took will power and having to check my bank balance for sense to return. There isn’t much else to say and at the same time there is everything. Read this. Then read Maggie Cassidy. Then continue through Kerouac’s novels. Kerouac has (in my opinion) never been beaten in his style. He stands apart from the other writers, under a streetlight. Perhaps it is because of Sal’s (Kerouac’s) adventures. Perhaps we can look back to Kerouac’s description of himself as “a strange solitary crazy Catholic mystic.” (Charters A. “Introduction” On the Road, (1957) 1991 Penguin Books: London) The initial reviews focused on Dean Moriarty but now, after Kerouac’s work has gained the recognition it so rightly deserves, we can see Sal Paradise. I would recommend reading it twice. Once focused on Dean and once on Sal. Then pack your bags.