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On The Road a novel of the Beat generation by Jack Kerouac

"...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…"

Listen to Jack Kerouac read an excerpt (the last page) from his book On the Road below.

On the Road is one of my favourite novels. It's about a man named Sal Paradise who goes on a road trip across America in order to discover himself and the world around him. The work is actually autobiographical, but Kerouac's publishers told him to use different names instead of real-life names. For example, the character Carlo Marx is actually poet Allan Ginsberg.

The Beat Generation
The Beat Generation is a term which describes a group of American writers popular in the late 1950s after the two World Wars. They rejected mainstream American values and often incorporated concepts of pacifism, jazz, experimentation with drugs, sexuality and spirituality. They were called "beatniks" and can be credited with starting the hippie culture of the 1960s and 1970s. The novel really represents this group of people and the author himself actually coined the word "beat".

"They were like the man with the dungeon stone and gloom, rising from the underground, the sordid hipsters of America, a new beat generation that I was slowly joining."

Preparation for writing the novel
Jack wrote this novel in New York in just three weeks. Interestingly enough, he wrote it on his typewriter and taped together his scrolls to create one giant scroll - single spaced, with no margins or paragraph breaks, 120 feet long. He originally started writing the story in French (he was born to French-Canadian parents).

The Plot
Sal Paradise, the protagonist, is a writer with an electric group of intellectual friends. He is fascinated by Dean, a reckless man who just got out of jail - and they begin to go on a 3-year journey back and forth across the United States. They go on a series of adventures. Sal spends some time by himself for a while, and then teams up with Sal once more to travel. They even go all the way to Mexico City and have some intriguing adventures there.

The story truly shows that it is the journey, not the destination that is important. The novel is blooming with characters, various landscapes and dramas. Throughout the novel, the constant is Sal and the question of his personal development - he tries to seek happiness and confidence after being depressed for many years. He long to have the same kind of passion that his friend Dean has.

"The one thing that we yearn for in our living days, that makes us sigh and groan and undergo sweet nauseas of all kinds, is the remembrance of some lost bliss that was probably experienced in the womb and can only be reproduced (though we hate to admit it) in death."


Influence

This novel has been a huge inspiration for people such as:

• Bob Dylan (legendary rock musician)
• Jim Morrison (singer and songwriter for The Doors band, poet)
• Hunter S. Thompson (journalist and author, famous for Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)
• Tom Waits (singer-songwriter)

Many works and song lyrics allude to this book. For example, the Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace had a song called "All For You" with the lyrics 'Jack Kerouac, Kerouac, on the road, and in my head.' Even the Beastie Boys said they were "reading On the Road by my man Jack Kerouac" in the song "3-Minute Rule".

Famous film director Gus San Vant has owned film rights to this story for many years, but no movie has ever actually been produced. Famous actor Johnny Depp has read an excerpt for you here.


Images: Answers, MusicFinder, Boskolives, EbookNetworking
Reference: Wikipedia