On the Road

Contributed by Kate, grade 12 -- April 2018

 The novel On the Road was immensely enjoyable for me. As I read it, I felt truly immersed in the locations, cultures, and characters that the protagonist Sal Paradise experienced on his journeys.

Jack Kerouac’s unique vocabulary and rhythmic sentences were a delight to read.  I did, however, find it difficult to keep track of all the characters and events as I moved through the book; the plot spans three years and thousands of miles of open road, and new characters are introduced every chapter. 

However, once I stopped anxiously trying to summarize the whole plot in my head, I realized that the experiential value of the novel made people and places of a different century attainable for the mind of a 21st century youth, and I think that is a rewardable feat.

Contributed by  Yasmine, gr. 12 -- June 2018

On the Road by Jack Kerouac is an amazing and powerful tale. As its title suggests, this

book is essentially the travel diary of Jack Kerouac, but his reflections on the nature of life and love make it excitingly profound.

As Kerouac travels across America and Mexico with various friends, he is constantly searching for something he cannot quite express. Recording his spontaneous, daring experiences, Kerouac fully explores what is meaningful to him, discarding what is not. In this way, the description of a magical night at a jazz club might stretch four pages, yet the journey through 10 cities might take up only a paragraph.

Kerouac captures the human experience by showing that some fleeting moments are precious and essentially shape one’s life. The rhythmic, flowing prose compelled me to be swept along by Kerouac’s journey, feeling the pull of experiencing as much as possible while appreciating each small aspect of human life. In addition, the wide array of eccentric, complex characters -- such as Jack’s friend, Neil -- is a driving element in the story. I would highly recommend this novel to peer and adult readers.