I feel that On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a hard book to describe. In a nut shell it’s about the journey of Sal Paradise across America from New York and back several times over a few years. But that’s not all. I think it also is really the story of his friend, Dean, an ex-con who goes through waves of crazy spells from time to time.

I decided to read On the Road because I have a few friends who read it and spoke very highly of it. It is, afterall, what most people would call Jack Kerouac’s most famous novel. What it really made me want to do, though, is go cross country. However, life isn’t as it was when this book takes place in the late 1940s. I can’t just drop everything I’m doing for a road trip, no matter how much I wish I could, and items no longer cost five cents. Sal also participated in a lot of hitchhiking, which would definitely be a no-no for fear of my well being. But the novel definitely inspired me.

If you’re looking for a book about adventure without any fantastical elements and no real plot line, I suggest reading On the Road. It’s definitely an eye opener and is a book that means something different to every one who read it. In its own way, On the Road has a philosophical undertone just waiting to be dug up by the next reader.

Grade: B+