About the book
Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), a young innocent, joins his hero Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund), a traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat, on a breathless, exuberant ride back and forth across the United States. Their hedonistic search for release or fulfilment through drink, sex, drugs and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the limits of the American dream. A brilliant blend of fiction and autobiography, Jack Kerouac’s exhilarating novel swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion. One of the most influential and important novels of the 20th century, On the Road is the book that launched the Beat Generation and remains the bible of that literary movement.
Reviewed by Museum
None of finished this book without a great deal of ‘skipping’ Probably we were too old for it and the book is now too old for the present time. Things like the wonderlust and a search for the meaning of life were new and exciting to the young of the Fifties. I personally feel I should have read it then – when I was young too! There are passages of vivid description – but much of it now seems self absorbed and old hat”
star rating **
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