April's WRW
Join this Well-Read Weekend April 12th & 13th
The Weekenders voted and this month we will be reading…
On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
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A Modern Classic
Part novel, part thinly disguised autobiography, On the Road follows Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they road-trip across the United States at the dawn of the 1950’s. A post-WWII novel, it’s all things Beat culture and Americana.
Get Your Copy
You can find this book for purchase in print or online for free here.
You can also find it in audio form here for free.
Discussing the Book
Be sure to return to this post once you’re done reading and comment below to get the discussion started. Share your favorite quotes, the parts that spoke to you, or the elements that stood out. Did the book remind you of other classics or philosophies, history, works of art, or other curiosities? Did the story change you? Tell us below!
Your Well-Read Weekend starts April 12th.
I found this book so hard to finish, and contemplated a few times if it were truly worth finishing. While I didn't mind Kerouac's writing style, by the end of part one the whole story felt a little redundant: same thing, different city. I can see why it became popular at it's time, it fit into a larger cultural shift going on. After reading many reviews it seems like for many people it awakened a sense of carefree adventure, and now evokes a sense of nostalgia, but I struggle to consider it a classic. Yes, it defined the beat generation, but I'm not convinced it will not stand the test of time for future generations.