On the Road (Unabridged‪)‬

On the Road is rightly called a Classic

I had heard of this novel spoken about as one of the alltime great American Novels. One which spoke of a generation of post war young people in search of meaning. I approached this audio novel with trepidation, curiosity and a touch of scepticism. I remember thinking "we shall see if this is as brilliant as it is claimed." Well, in short, it is superb. On the Road deserves every accolade. It is inspiring, maddening, visceral, shocking, inspiring, spiritual, carnal. It truly captures an essence and an energy and a searching that is bigger the storyline. In one sense this novel is about a few young people travelling around America and beyond but the structure and the narrative style and poetry of the words is intoxicating. There are some wonderful lines that are memorable, where the narrator runs sentences and words together in a supreme word picture, throwing in some jarring asides that are pure genius. I love this novel and i love Matt Dillon's flawless narration and characterisation. Listen to this audio novel, it will take you along for the journey. It is a melancholy journey because it struck me at times that the characters are so three-dimensional that the reader occasionally loves, loathes and is inspired by the character. It struck me that a generation of artists and writers thought that drugs might be a means to a higher consciousness; only to discover that a whole sector of that generation had driven up a dead-end road. However, the search for inspiration and enlightenment and the sincereity of the seekers is even more strinking. There are some jarring aspects to the novel, namely the characterisation of women is poor and they remain mere ciphers. I was intrigued to read that Jack Kerouc was annoyed when critics kept describing the novel whillst missing the point that this book is a spiritual ques. It might be not as obvious as John Bunyan's Pilgrim's progress this is a search for the ultimate meaning of life and human spiritual fulfilment. when the likeable and intriguing character of Dean reaches a kind of earthly zen he becomes entirely unable to speak of it. This is rightly a classic and I loved reading it.