For some reason I have had great difficulty getting into this book. I have tried reading it three times and just can’t do it! Should I try again or just realize it isn’t for me?
I could barely start it and never finished. The language and sentiment was just so dated by the time I tried reading it in about 2015. Couldn’t relate.
307 pages of self indulgent wank. What Im saying is find another book to read, and maybe when your older than the universe think about looking at this one.
I did not like this book at all, but it’s one of those books people either love or hate. Sort of like The Goldfinch (loved) and Catcher in the Rye (hated) for example. I’ve never heard anyone say they sorta liked any of these.
Boring as fuck, we drove here and got drunk and wasted, then we drove there and got drunk and wasted, I had heard such great things about this book and then finally read it and was very disappointed.
Saw the original typescript of this at an exhibit in Lowell,MA which is Kerouac’s birthplace. You could feel the vibe and the energy but it sn’t for everyone. I loved it when I read it, in my 20s while working very close to where Kerouac lived. And I had just did a master’s at Columbia where Kerouac went to school so time and place was just perfect for me. Your mileage will vary.
Me too!
Then watch Easy Rider and read The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
And write an essay on a shared theme. (English teacher, here. Would love to read the essay. Is there a class on Beatnik to Hippy Lit?)
There should be!
I should be a college prof instead
For some reason I have had great difficulty getting into this book. I have tried reading it three times and just can’t do it! Should I try again or just realize it isn’t for me?
I tried years ago and couldn’t get into it. I did enjoy Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
drink first
I had trouble getting into it the first time I tried to read it and finished it years later. I just didn’t like it.
I could barely start it and never finished. The language and sentiment was just so dated by the time I tried reading it in about 2015. Couldn’t relate.
307 pages of self indulgent wank. What Im saying is find another book to read, and maybe when your older than the universe think about looking at this one.
I enjoyed it when I was young. Don’t know what I’d think about it now.
Truman Capote famously said, that’s not writing, that’s typing.
Sal and Dean’s adventures. Supposed to be an anthem for the Beat Generation. I found the writing choppy.
I didn’t like the writing. It was also incredibly depressing. I think it’s one of those books you either love or hate.
Do it!
I have loved it since I was a kid. It appealed to the beatnik in me.
Read Dharma Bums instead.
Tried to get through it; got about a third in and decided it was not getting any better! Agree with David Moss,
I did not like this book at all, but it’s one of those books people either love or hate. Sort of like The Goldfinch (loved) and Catcher in the Rye (hated) for example. I’ve never heard anyone say they sorta liked any of these.
Boring as fuck, we drove here and got drunk and wasted, then we drove there and got drunk and wasted, I had heard such great things about this book and then finally read it and was very disappointed.
It’s my bible
How about Trout Fishing in America?
I read it when I was in high school (about 1963-4) and I was enthralled … and several years later I met Neal Cassady …
How old are you? That book is better to read at younger age….till …30…?
Saw the original typescript of this at an exhibit in Lowell,MA which is Kerouac’s birthplace. You could feel the vibe and the energy but it sn’t for everyone. I loved it when I read it, in my 20s while working very close to where Kerouac lived. And I had just did a master’s at Columbia where Kerouac went to school so time and place was just perfect for me. Your mileage will vary.
…time and place! I read it in my 17s and I was on the roud …
I first read it in my late teens- great one. And I should visit it again soon.