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On the Road: the Original Scroll

Jack Kerouac,

Joshua Kupetz (Introduction),

George Mouratidis (Introduction),

Penny Vlagopoulos (Introduction)

4.13 · Rating details · 10,764 ratings · 711 reviews

The legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published word for word as Kerouac originally composed it

Though Jack Kerouac began thinking about the novel that was to become On the Road as early as 1947, it was not until three weeks in April 1951, in an apartment on West Twentieth Street in Manhattan, that he wrote the first full draft that was satisfactory to him. Type ...more

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Paperback, 416 pages

Published August 16th 2007 by Viking (first published 1957)

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Feb 14, 2009 Alice rated it it was amazing

I've been meaning to review this book for a while, but I get sort of emotional reading what other people think about Kerouac, and it has been hard to figure out what I want to say. I feel almost personally insulted by some of the more negative reviews which is totally weird and inappropriate of me. I guess I identify with Kerouac because in his heart he's not really all that unconventional, but he loves the company of wild adventurers and can be talked into almost anything.

I reread the original I've been meaning to review this book for a while, but I get sort of emotional reading what other people think about Kerouac, and it has been hard to figure out what I want to say. I feel almost personally insulted by some of the more negative reviews which is totally weird and inappropriate of me. I guess I identify with Kerouac because in his heart he's not really all that unconventional, but he loves the company of wild adventurers and can be talked into almost anything.

I reread the original (well I guess the scroll is the real original, but you know what I mean) before I read this, and they are very similar. On the Road is an amazing book & the scroll is the same amazing book minus paragraphs, plus all the sex, drugs and real names. The biggest surprise for me was that Carlo Marx was Alan Ginsberg. How did I not know that? Including the sexual relationship between Carlo Marx/Alan Ginsberg and Dean Moriarty/Neal Cassady changed the dynamic of the book's Denver portion quite a bit. Cassady's bisexuality is hinted at in the edited OTR but spelling it out the way Kerouac does in the scroll makes the whole situation more complex. In OTR as originally published, Marx & Moriarty have a weird dynamic. Marx always seemed a little jealous of Dean's girls, but I never really got why. Now it makes more sense. Another interesting bit cut out of the edited OTR is Kerouac's visit to his ex-wife. All that gossip and trivia aside, the spirit of On the Road feels the same in this version.

I read OTR for the first time when I was in high school, and every time I've read it since then I learn something different about the characters and myself. There is so much in this book I never get tired of: the motion, the adventure, the sense of an America of boundless size and possibility...

Okay, I'll stop gushing now. I guess I can understand why Kerouac isn't for everyone, but he changed my life for better or worse and helped make me the sort of person who feels compelled to drive aimlessly around the country every few years just to see what's out there. I'll never regret the road trips I've taken, and though there are many writers whose travel narratives have inspired me, Kerouac will always be my first love in that category.

I have to admit that with the exception of Dharma Bums I'm not crazy about his other books. I’ve tried to get into them, but I never could. I think Big Sur is the only other one I've managed to finish and it depressed the hell out of me. The exuberance and optimism that made me fall in love with On the Road faded quickly for poor Kerouac. ...more

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May 30, 2017 Chrissie rated it liked it

Shelves: travel, bio, audible, classics, relationships, 2017-read, usa, beat, mexico

Jack Kerouac (1922 – 1969) is the author of this book. He is considered a pioneer of the Beat generation, along with Allan Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. If you are considering whether to read the book you must decide which edition to read. The book first came out in 1957 with the title On the Road. In 2007, the 50th anniversary edition of the book was published under the title: On the Road: the Original Scroll, which is what I have chosen to read and what I am reviewing.

This, the Scroll ve Jack Kerouac (1922 – 1969) is the author of this book. He is considered a pioneer of the Beat generation, along with Allan Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs. If you are considering whether to read the book you must decide which edition to read. The book first came out in 1957 with the title On the Road. In 2007, the 50th anniversary edition of the book was published under the title: On the Road: the Original Scroll, which is what I have chosen to read and what I am reviewing.

This, the Scroll version, is a transcription of the original draft typed over twenty days from April 6 through April 26, 1951. It was typed as one long paragraph on sheets of tracing paper which Kerouac taped together to form a 120-foot (37 m) scroll. This "final draft" was not totally new, being based on earlier journal entries. The content is autobiographical and is based on real events and real people in the author's life. Kerouac writes of four road-trip adventures taken with his buddy Neal Cassady (1926 – 1968), three across the United States and one to Mexico City. The first trip was taken in 1947.

In the first edition pseudonyms were used, not so in the 50th anniversary edition, which is also said to be more sexually explicit. By today's standards though, the writing cannot be classified as graphic. The spontaneity of the text is said to be more evident in the Scroll.

Sex, alcohol, drugs, theft and other immoral behavior do make up a large part of the events described. Don't expect to fall in love with Kerouac or his friends. That is certainly not the point of the book!

What this book does draw well is the friendship between Jack and Neal and other friends too. It captures the feel of the Beat movement, which later became the Hippie movement we all know so well. I cannot say I admire Jack, Neal or their friends, but I do understand what they were searching for….even if much of the times things did get totally out of control! I am glad I read the book because it recalled for me some of the dreams I had as a youth, albeit in less dramatic form. Don't you remember that time in your younger days when you thought you would and could pursue freedom and individuality and would get every ounce of enjoyment out of life?! The belief that one could and would live life to the fullest. Then comes reality, not bad, but more down to earth.

Kerouac captures well the feel of a road trip across America at the end of the 40s. Of course not in fancy hotels, but instead hitchhiking and totally broke. That is to say really being on-the-road. What might you see? Who might you meet? How does the feel of the land change?

Some people say this book has religious undertones. I don't see that in the least.

There are portions that could definitely have been tightened. I am glad I read it, but now I am glad it is over.

The audiobook is narrated by John Ventimiglia. In his reading he wonderfully captures the spirit of the Beat movement. I have given the narration five stars. He captures well Kerouac's spontaneous prose and its intensity. ...more

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Jul 12, 2018 P.E. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: stream-of-consciousness, road-novel, treasure-hunt, characters, low-life, chemins, drugs

Finished in the original.

Matching Soundtrack :
Jubilee Stomb - Duke Ellington

I find Jack Kerouac's spontaneous prose up to the task.
On the other hand, the five "books" are really uneven, which can somewhat drag you down, however it bears credit to the extensive use of spontaneous prose throughout : the typescript is alleged to have been written in a week.

Here goes a collection of personal observations on the book :

- On the Road is reminiscent of French Blablacar, especially in its first third w ...more

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Sep 29, 2007 Tosh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Five stars is not enough for this book: it should be ten stars! This is a very beautiful book and rightfully an American classic. Stunning!

"On The Road" is the real deal. I just started reading this and it's just a fantastic read. The energy just pops out of the page. The punk rock of novels. Mr. Jack just had the 'moment' when he wrote this, and it is incredible experience to share that 'moment' with the great man. Great. ...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Beth rated it it was ok · review of another edition

I felt hungover by the time I was done reading this book. I couldn't wait for it to end and it's not because I wanted to find out what was going to happen.

While there are a few great lines like, "My mother once said that the world would never find peace unless men fell at their women's feet and asked for forgiveness...," and the famous, " ...Because the only people who interest me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that ...more

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Mar 31, 2015 K.D. Absolutely rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-core, classics, american, beatnik

What I find intriguing about this book was how it was spontaneously written: 3 months on a scroll of papers. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) did not have formal training on writing and probably he wanted to make a statement by packing up his things and write his experience while on the road with a friend, Neal Cassady (1926-1968). The book was largely autobiographical and describes Kerouac's road-trip adventures across the United States and Mexico with Cassady in the late 40s, as well as his relationsh What I find intriguing about this book was how it was spontaneously written: 3 months on a scroll of papers. Jack Kerouac (1922-1969) did not have formal training on writing and probably he wanted to make a statement by packing up his things and write his experience while on the road with a friend, Neal Cassady (1926-1968). The book was largely autobiographical and describes Kerouac's road-trip adventures across the United States and Mexico with Cassady in the late 40s, as well as his relationships with other Beat (a group of authors whose literature explored and influenced American culture in the 1950's) writers and friends.

Compared to William S. Burrough's Naked Lunch (also 5 stars), the book is easier to read and the narrative is more straightforward. Though it deals on the same subject matters, e.g., drugs, religion, counter-materialism, etc., it also deals on relationships. I particularly liked the parts when Sal (Jack) tries to work as cotton picker and he realizes that he is not for that kind of job. Young and able to explore, I wish I was able to do that when I was much younger. In the Philippines, the job that you end up after graduation normally becomes your career path throughout your working years. When you reach 30 and much more 40, it is hard to have a career change because of the bleak economic condition.

Central to the story is the strong male friendship between Sal (Jack Kerouac) and Dean (Neal Cassady). They are not homosexuals as they have the furry of women that they lived with and got pregnant. What I am trying to point out is that they are buddies, traveling together, fighting and pissing each other off. But in the closing scene of the book, when looking at the harbour, Sal uttered silently ". . . I think of Dean Moriarty, I even think of Old Dean Moriarty the father we never found, I think of Dean Moriarty." I mean it so poignant that you will think of lost beautiful relationships that you had in your life. It's like Jack Keroauc summing up what life is all about: it's about people you loved and lost that make you value those who still remain all through the years. ...more

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Sep 15, 2008 Stephen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: fans of poetic prose and searchers for an earlier hillbilly america

The continent "groans" again and again.

The night is too often "sad," the cities are "mad" or "wild" and "sad" some more. New York is the "edge of the continent," and San Francisco, too and sometimes they're the "rim of the world," or some similar allusion.

Jack Kerouac and his friends, would be considered drunks and losers by the standards of most. The author's muse and messiah, Neal Cassady, is a fellow too easily distracted, undisciplined and, by today's measurements, a candidate for depressi ...more

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Mar 07, 2012 Sheri rated it did not like it

This might be my only 1 star review on Goodreads out of 300+ I've rated here so far. Why didn't I like it? In short, it's a buddy-travel-memoir by an extremely immature and sexist 30-something written in a single paragraph. That's right. All 300+ pages of this book (and I'm not counting the 100 pages of introductions by the so-called scholars and critics who adore Kerouac and this book) are a single paragraph. About a quarter of the way through this behemoth paragraph, it was all I could do not ...more

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Apr 14, 2010 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: commuter-rail, book-project, favorites

I became a fan of the 'original' version around my second year of high school. I remember idolizing these crazy characters - to the point of writing a paper for English class on 'The Beats'. When I heard that this minimally edited version was available, I looked forward to reliving my love of this wild bunch of friends...jumping madly across the continent. Free of conformist society, traditional writing methods, and the mindless responsibilities of the new modern life.

At first I was intimidate I became a fan of the 'original' version around my second year of high school. I remember idolizing these crazy characters - to the point of writing a paper for English class on 'The Beats'. When I heard that this minimally edited version was available, I looked forward to reliving my love of this wild bunch of friends...jumping madly across the continent. Free of conformist society, traditional writing methods, and the mindless responsibilities of the new modern life.

At first I was intimidated by the visually dense pages of text - unbroken by paragraphs or chapters (except for the BOOK 2, BOOK 3, BOOK 4 titles within the lines of text), but Kerouac's energetic and often humorous storytelling made the book's 400 pages zoom by - like the cows and telephone poles along the Mid-Western highway.

Overall, this version wasn't as different as I thought it might be. It was a little raunchier - there were a few more detailed sex scenes and some homosexual moments were left in the manuscript, but it wasn't shocking reading it from the perspective of someone living in 2010. The extra material also didn't change much of the tone or path of the story. Most of the now uncut bits just provided another scene of something crazy.

I didn't read it concurrently with the established version, but I felt that the 'scroll' version was more descriptive - especially near the end of the book while the group was driving through Mexico. I enjoyed seeing the 'real' names of the characters like Allen, Neal, and Bill. I also thought that showing Jack as a guy living with his mother in the scroll was much more straightforward than placing him with some mysterious aunt in the mainstream version. It brought one of the less savory aspects of the beat lifestyle into focus. It was harder to be awestruck with the 'king of the beats' when he's a man living with his mother...in her apartment in Queens...constantly bumming money off of her.

I don't know if it's because of the decade that's passed since I first read On The Road or if this version of the book just presents the characters in a more dejected light...but I found myself feeling more saddened by the characters' lifestyles than inspired by them. Sure they were free of the daily grind, but they were also free of a way to support themselves (for the most part), free of a stable home, free of solid romantic relationships, and free of self-esteem. The fact that these characters had either failed at their relationships and jobs, or (most of the time) failed to even try at anything other than running away really struck me this time. They even reached a point where they didn't know what they were running from anymore...just go go go road is life...

Maybe I've just become a bit of a square, and I'll balance out in the next decade. As a book I still do recommend giving it a try. It's a piece of cultural history, and it's written like a letter from a close friend - who brings me into his inside jokes and trys to enlighten me with societal observations....unfortunately Jack's a friend that I used to look up to more when I was 15. ...more

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Nov 29, 2019 AC rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: kerouac

A book I first read nearly half a century ago. Thought I had outgrown it. If you have tried to read the 1957 published version and given up in disgust at its mediocrity, know that what you read was what the publishers did to Kerouac mournful prose. This is the version that quivers with all the beauty I had remembered.

What I had forgotten was how utterly sad this book was...

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May 28, 2017 Gideon rated it it was ok

Shelves: own

The road is long and winding, and so is Jack Kerouac’s writing, but it doesn’t make for a very enjoyable novel. As Truman Capote famously said, “None of these people have anything interesting to say,” he observed, “and none of them can write, not even Mr. Kerouac. [What they do] isn’t writing at all—it’s typing.”

I understand what Kerouac is trying to do here: to represent life in the wandering way that life exists, and to present two characters that don’t know quite what they’re looking for and The road is long and winding, and so is Jack Kerouac’s writing, but it doesn’t make for a very enjoyable novel. As Truman Capote famously said, “None of these people have anything interesting to say,” he observed, “and none of them can write, not even Mr. Kerouac. [What they do] isn’t writing at all—it’s typing.”

I understand what Kerouac is trying to do here: to represent life in the wandering way that life exists, and to present two characters that don’t know quite what they’re looking for and don’t find it. Does anything exemplify the post-WWII generation more? We’re still living with these consequences. Travel for the pure enjoyment of travel is good, even great. The intention of expanding yourself, and being with friends, and smelling the mountain and sea air, none of these are bad, but without any kind of connective tissue or narrative intention, it doesn’t make for a good book.

Partially this may be due to this version being the “original scroll” that Kerouac wrote on a single long piece of paper over three weeks. It’s barely edited, uncensored, and ugly in form. I have to assume the book is helped by the presence of an editor, otherwise I fail to see how this captured the minds and hearts of photo-hippies of the 50s and true hippies of the following decades.

The first part of the book, prior to the scroll, consists of introductions by scholars justifying this as a scholarly work. Much time is spent defending Kerouac's rampant racism and sexism - but why is it defended? Anyone who is not white is idolized in the book, yet they're idolized from a superiority point of view while neglecting the downsides of not being white in the 50s or before. Kerouac's tone-deafness leads him to imagine himself as an old Negro, without a care in the world.

Sure.

White women fare even worse - they're not at all idolized. Women in general are beings to be used sexually by men, and any female characters that appear have no personality (which isn't saying much, not many of Kerouac's characters do). Kerouac seeks humanity, yet fails to realize the enormity of humanity: he sees only the enormity of America.

If you’re looking for a road or travel book, I’d recommend The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a fictional, depressing novel set in a nuked America where almost no living thing exists, but hope glimmers at the edges of the waste. For something more in line with On the Road, I much preferred John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley. It’s funnier, more focused, and gives more of a feel for the United States than Kerouac ever even attempts.

If you type enough some poetry will come out, and here are some lines I liked -

- And there in the blue air I saw for the first time, in hints and mighty visitation, far off, the great snowy–tops of the Rocky Mountains. I took a deep breath.
- ...air you can kiss…
- I want to marry a girl so I can rest my soul with her till we both get old.
- God exists without qualms.
- ...she won't understand how much I love her---she's knitting my doom.
- I stood poised on the great western plain and didn't know what to do.
- Things are so hard to figure when you live from day to day in this feverish and silly world.
- Women can forget what men can't. ...more

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Jul 31, 2010 Jim Cherry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The plot to “On The Road” wouldn’t really tell you what “On The Road” is about because the travels of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarity are more existential than overt action. Yes, they drive from coast to coast, meet people, go to parties, but it’s not the action that is important but the experience Sal and Dean derive from each adventure.

The real story of “On The Road: The Original Scroll” isn’t in the book but in how Kerouac created it. The autobiographical elements that made up “On The Road,” The plot to “On The Road” wouldn’t really tell you what “On The Road” is about because the travels of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarity are more existential than overt action. Yes, they drive from coast to coast, meet people, go to parties, but it’s not the action that is important but the experience Sal and Dean derive from each adventure.

The real story of “On The Road: The Original Scroll” isn’t in the book but in how Kerouac created it. The autobiographical elements that made up “On The Road,” Kerouac and Neal Cassady taking three road trips across the United States occurred between 1947-1949. After years of false starts, Kerouac decided to lay out the whole story and write it from beginning to end on one roll of paper so he wouldn’t have to stop his train of thought replacing page after page as he finished it. Inspired by Jazz improvisation and spontaneity, Kerouac undertook to get the novel he had in his head onto the page. He got a roll of teletype paper, and with help from Benzedrine and coffee Kerouac wrote the novel in marathon sessions of writing over the course of 3 weeks. When he was done he took it to his editor, Robert Giroux, who was dumbfounded when Kerouac unfurled it in his office.

“On The Road” the version that was released in 1957 was a masterpiece and changed the rules of writing fiction, as well as inspiring a generation of teenagers that would go on the road in the 60’s in search of their own existential adventures and kicks. Reading “On The Road: The Original Scroll” you realize that the story flows much better in Kerouac’s original vision of it. Giroux as editor had with all good intentions made Kerouac’s book salable for the times, without removing Kerouac’s artistic achievements but left a somewhat clunky novel that later readers have found hard to get into. I think if they read “On The Road: The Original Scroll” they’ll find that shortcoming removed.

For the avid Kerouac fan and aficinado “On The Road: The Original Scroll” will be a revelatory look at Kerouac’s process of writing in what he had originally intended. And there’s a certain fun in reading the book with all the people’s real names intact, instead of character names that the publisher insisted on to avoid lawsuits. If you’re coming to Kerouac new, I think this original version of Kerouac’s work will highlight the spontaneity of Kerouac’s work and the reader will come away with an appreciation of the freshness of Kerouac’s work. ...more

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Jan 17, 2011 SamanthaLee rated it it was amazing

Perhaps it's because I am a 19-year-old liberal arts college student or perhaps it's because I always have and probably always will yearn for excitement and beauty and adventure, but whatever the reason may be, I absolutely loved Kerouac's On The Road>i>. Every passage drew me in deeper and deeper until I could hardly stand just how much I wanted jump in the car or on a train or bus and make it across the country to the West Coast. Even the frantic tales of endless NYC nights beckoned me to get ...more

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May 28, 2014 Maria rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: recommendations-by-friends

It seems like I don't get along well with Mr. Kerouac. Maybe some other time. ...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Yasmin rated it liked it

Well it is actually hard to say if I enjoyed this book, it wasn't terrible, but this is one of the occasions when a better word should be used. So I think three stars is fair. At first I thought to say straight away that Kerouac was a sort of son to Steinbeck's short stories like Sweet Thursday, Cannery Row, etc. etc. and that his road odyssey was him and some pals escaping death and situations they couldn't handle. But it is much more than that, in fact it was so many things that I wondered at Well it is actually hard to say if I enjoyed this book, it wasn't terrible, but this is one of the occasions when a better word should be used. So I think three stars is fair. At first I thought to say straight away that Kerouac was a sort of son to Steinbeck's short stories like Sweet Thursday, Cannery Row, etc. etc. and that his road odyssey was him and some pals escaping death and situations they couldn't handle. But it is much more than that, in fact it was so many things that I wondered at the end if I was in a deluge! It was as he said some friends went on a journey looking for something, they didn't find it but they found something else instead. Now what they were looking for and ended up by finding I would say is up for each reader to evaluate for themselves. When he writes about the country and the people over all that is when he is most like Steinbeck, unfortunately when he writes the talking points between characters that's when it gets confusing. Some could say it's for a set generation and therefore dated, I didn't find it dated because I think in a lot of ways we are all seeking our odyssey out on the road, literally or figueratively, maybe both, perhaps the methods are different but the purpose is the same. I think what spurred on Kerouac was disalluisonment and a sense of profound loss that he couldn't find a way to deal with. His brother and his father. What a great confusion it was for a great many people at the time, one war was barely ended and yet peace was out of reach. What can you do? Where can you go? When all that fighting and suffering was experienced and was it all to end in a nuclear explosion? And yet it seems to me that we have never stopped living in times of uncertainty, they are continous, but sometimes you have to get out and get away and try and find your place in the world. You may not find that answer but you may find something else. If you can remember what it is you're getting away from. There was a reoccurring theme when Kerouac said he felt like he had forgotten something, but didn't know what. Sometimes when I leave a place, even though I have all my belongings, it has felt as though I had left something behind, something I forgot. Somehow I don't think for Kerouac that feeling ever went away...but perhaps it did. What a surprise to find he was French-Canadian! His family came from Quebec originally, one great land mass to another, one identity to another, or rather attempting to find another identity. There is so much in this book that it may take me awhile to understand, I may never find that time to work it all through. He is well worth the read. ...more

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Nov 28, 2009 Jen Knox rated it liked it

I enjoyed this book far more a few years ago. I think Kerouac's tale is decent, gloriously rebellious, but over-hyped; this book is marked with a few fantastic insights but my belief is that On The Road is only popular due to timeliness and the oft-consumed glamorization of alcoholism. Kerouac was the face of the movement, not the grit.

William Burroughs was able to write about such tales while bringing to life the disease, the twisting of the gut that follows escapades similar to Kerouac's, onl ...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Reid rated it it was amazing

Shelves: literature-classics, 5-stars, review, 2012, kerouac, will-read-again, favorites, favorites-2012

I read "The Original Scroll" only, and it was great, deserving of its status... (I haven't really compared the two yet, haven't read a full paragraph in OTR, but check out the difference in GR ratings...they are much higher for the Scroll! Probably means they are very different experiences.) OK, here is my review of The Original Scroll... [Update, I've read both, both 5 stars for me.]

My opinion and experience: The only negatives for me in On the Road The Original Scroll were the second 30 pages ...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Kathryn rated it liked it

Shelves: classics

On the Road – Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical novel of the exhilarating and exhausting cross-country road trips of 20-somethings Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty – was such an enormous watershed in American culture that it seems quite fitting that its 50th anniversary should be noted by Viking with no less than three newly published books: "On the Road: The 50th Anniversary Edition," "On the Road: The Original Scroll," and "Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of ‘On the Road."

While the 50th anniversa ...more

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May 08, 2020 William Lawrence rated it it was ok

Shelves: great-literature

The intro material is 4-5 star and worth the hardcover alone, but the manuscript is just grueling. 400 pages with no paragraphs. That's just torture. ...more

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Nov 15, 2012 Roberto rated it it was amazing

Shelves: orgasmic

I first read On The Road (the non-original-scroll) when I was 15 years old and it changed my life. I was off school for the summer holidays and I read The Catcher In The Rye too, and despite not much else happening that summer, it remains vivid in my memory. It was the first book that spoke to me, or for me, and I guess it either altered my way of thinking or else it validated what was already becoming a way of looking at the world for me. For that reason I've always been reluctant to revisit On I first read On The Road (the non-original-scroll) when I was 15 years old and it changed my life. I was off school for the summer holidays and I read The Catcher In The Rye too, and despite not much else happening that summer, it remains vivid in my memory. It was the first book that spoke to me, or for me, and I guess it either altered my way of thinking or else it validated what was already becoming a way of looking at the world for me. For that reason I've always been reluctant to revisit On The Road, though I did go on to read most of Kerouac's work and I rate Visions Of Cody and The Subterraneans as right up there too. I was worried I'd misjudged it, or maybe that I'd changed. You see footage of Kerouac in his later days with those broken capillaries, all flabby, right-wing and mean and you worry that if even he could change, or if that was his true nature, then maybe I had too, and maybe that's just the way it goes.

But that's really and truly not the case, and reading it again nearly 20 years later, in its original form, has only confirmed to me that On The Road is a magnificent piece of writing. What I didn't pick up on the first time round was just how much it is a pure and a sincere hymn to America, a Whitman-ey celebration of the variety and beauty of the American landscape and its people, tinged with sadness because it is a land that even then was changing from the great country of the frontier and railroad and cotton fields. What it also does better than anything is it captures that great youthful yearning for life, that pent-up desire to just experience everything, the idea that life is somewhere right out there happening and you want to swallow it whole or just lose yourself in its chaos - that every experience is full of meaning or that maybe none of it has any meaning at all, and the great sadness of that too. Kerouac was an incredible natural and nervy writer, he writes with a relentless energy to GET IT ALL DOWN, like the act of recording events is in itself a holy act. He writes about Neal Cassidy as a kind of flawed saint, his lost brother, selfish, irresponsible speedfreak with so much charisma, energy and soul that you want to be there with him too anyway, though clearly he was a maniac who could've done with a good nights sleep. Through Cassidy, and because of Cassidy, Kerouac really found a way in to the heart of America, an America whose true nature might then have been glimpsed through the windshield of a car, or in the faces of its hungry and homeless, also in jazz and benzedrine, but for the rest of us (especially those of us living elsewhere) it can be found in this book, and always will be.
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Sep 02, 2017 Arcadia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The impact and influence this book has had on my life is indescribable. I decided to read the original scroll some 3 years after having read the novel version, book which changed my life forever. I wanted to remind myself of why I had named Jack and On the Road as pivotal in my life, why I'd named them as the explanation of my career choice, my interests, and I was promptly reminded indeed. Kerouac's way of perceiving life is one that equates life to art. The point of life is art. The point of a ...more

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Jan 21, 2012 Nicky rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

My first experience of On the Road was this quotation:

“the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.”

It was actually quoted in a fanfiction, as Axel's favourite book (Kingdom Hearts AU). It's stuck with me, ever since: not the fanfiction itself, but the q ...more

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Feb 13, 2016 Justin Groot rated it really liked it

This thing is a straight shunt into the mind of a terrifyingly good writer. The prose jitters with energy. Reading this is an amazing experience, and you should definitely do it.

Will note that the book's portrayal of women and minorities sometimes descends into stereotypes and casual prejudice that made me squirm. Sure it's from the fifties and people had different sensibilities back then yadda yadda but the fact that every female character exists only as an accessory to a man - each female char ...more

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May 07, 2020 Alex rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: popsugar-2020

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This review should be from the backlog, as this book has been sitting on my shelf for approximately 5 years, waiting to be read. However, I just finished it at the beginning of May, mostly motivated by trying to fill challenge prompts from my TBR pile. Spoilers (can you really spoil something that’s 50+ years old?) below! It’s a long one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Let me start by saying that I don’t know if I’m qualified to properly and critically review this book in 2020. I don’t have a nuanced enoug This review should be from the backlog, as this book has been sitting on my shelf for approximately 5 years, waiting to be read. However, I just finished it at the beginning of May, mostly motivated by trying to fill challenge prompts from my TBR pile. Spoilers (can you really spoil something that’s 50+ years old?) below! It’s a long one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
---————————-
Let me start by saying that I don’t know if I’m qualified to properly and critically review this book in 2020. I don’t have a nuanced enough understanding of the time period to review it through the correct historical lens. Reading it today, there are a lot of -isms peppered throughout the book that are distracting and disappointing. I’d be lost in a scene, and then come to a screeching halt up against something that if said today would be racist or sexist or homophobic, and occasionally a combination of all three. It was challenging and exhausting to read at times.
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That being said, this book was written by a privileged alcoholic white man in the late 1950s, and after acknowledging that I powered through some of the terrible bits. Kerouac has a skill for capturing manic excitement and forward movement, and the man can describe a gorgeous vista with only a few well-chosen words. The version I read was the “original scroll,” which meant 300 pages of uninterrupted text, peppered with typos and mashed together words. I found myself putting it down a few times over the course of the last week, torn between wanting to put it down forever and pick it back up. In an endearing twist, the manuscript cuts off 10 pages before the end of the book, with a note from the editors that the last few feet of the original scroll were torn off, and a note “DOG ATE [Potchky-a-dog]” was scribbled at the bottom of the page. They go on to explain that historians have confirmed the end of Kerouac’s manuscript was indeed eaten by his friend’s dog. They include a version of the ending extrapolated from other early drafts, but nothing in it is nearly as hilarious as concluding with “DOG ATE” would have been.
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A few other miscellaneous thoughts include: this man consumed a LOT of ice cream, apple pie, and nondescript meat sandwiches in his travels; I didn’t know folks were saying “yasss” before 2015, let alone in the 1940s & 50s; and I should check all future book purchases for paragraphs before buying. I think I bought this for the craggly page edges, which earned the book a star on their own merit.
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I have no idea what to rate this book. I genuinely don’t know if I liked it or hated it. On one hand, it was challenging to read for reasons listed above. On the other, even though the main characters spend most of the book either drugged, drunk, or both, Kerouac successfully captures the spirit of momentum and anticipation in prose. Some scenes left me feeling truly excited about life, which is impressive in this time of quarantine. I think I give this four stars out of 5, one of which should be attributed to the dog who ate the manuscript, half a star each to the repeated mentions of ice cream & craggly pages, and the other two to the manuscript itself for making me wrestle with some big questions as I wrote this review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ...more

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Apr 26, 2020 Jeremiah Lloyd rated it it was amazing

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Mar 22, 2017 Breinholt Dorrough rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I cannot say the original scroll is any more enjoyable or meaningful than the published novel. All I can say is the format here is slightly cooler.

After seeing what was censored by Kerouac's editors in the 6 years between his first draft and publication, which material I find relatively mild, it really is astounding to see how far literary censorship has come in the past several decades. ...more

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Jun 29, 2015 Kyle van Oosterum rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I don’t know where to start. Perhaps on the first page. In this heavily unedited, raw manuscript, there appears a remarkable misprint: “I first met met Neal Cassady not long after my father had died.” It suggests a car misfiring right before it takes on a soulful and epiphanic odyssey, which is pretty much what this novel is.

There has probably never been a bigger fan of the continental United States than Jack Kerouac. He’s intoxicated by the landscape, gets high off of the Jazz and has a profou I don’t know where to start. Perhaps on the first page. In this heavily unedited, raw manuscript, there appears a remarkable misprint: “I first met met Neal Cassady not long after my father had died.” It suggests a car misfiring right before it takes on a soulful and epiphanic odyssey, which is pretty much what this novel is.

There has probably never been a bigger fan of the continental United States than Jack Kerouac. He’s intoxicated by the landscape, gets high off of the Jazz and has a profound obsession for the road, as well as Neal Cassady. Neal is a car-jacking, possibly schizophrenic, sex-fuelled, voraciously energetic poet, who is able to convert the subtlest conversations into his own sustenance; he effectively sucks the marrow out of life. It is no surprise that Kerouac positively worships him and the way that life appears to provide him an eternal climax; a drug that keeps on giving. These two iconic characters traverse the North American continent meeting wild and rambunctious characters; leeches, poets, policemen, hoboes, musicians and many, many women. However much physical travelling went on in this novel (and I’m probably not overshooting when I say something like 10,000 miles in 3 years), the characters received equally visceral journeys into the depths of their psyches.

It is hilarious at times, sentimental even and overall there appears to be some sort of bittersweet cloud hanging over the characters, which they all deliberately ignore, which is probably for the best. All this vibrant jumping around and hitch hiking can't last forever and with each journey that Kerouac and Cassady take, this fact becomes painfully more obvious. It’s not to say that at some point you can’t just pause and try to stop life trying to bulldoze its way through you. I blasted through this novel and as much as I regret finishing it so quickly, I felt more aligned to the characters who recognised that most of life is ephemeral and short-lived, which is why they too charged on into life in the vein of that famous Dylan Thomas poem.

Halfway through the novel, Kerouac mentally sucker-punched me with this one:

“And for just a moment I had reached the point of ecstasy that I always wanted to reach and which was the complete step across chronological time into timeless shadows, and wonderment in the bleakness of the mortal realm, and the sensation of death kicking at my heels to move on, with a phantom dogging its own heels, and myself hurrying to a plank where all the Angels dove off and flew into infinity.” ...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Jason Ernst rated it did not like it

After intending to read "On the Road" for a good five years, I finally put it on my wish list and received a copy that contained two versions: "The Original Scroll" and one of the more punctuated, commonly published versions.

While I didn't enjoy either, my impression of what I read should be taken with a thick grain of salt. I am a wanderer at heart who has spend the last few years traipsing around the globe while writing copy to fund my budget travel experiences, which have included plenty of h ...more

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Dec 21, 2015 selis şen rated it really liked it

it was a really good book about self-exploration and a very unique point of view to the beat generation. kerouac's narration never bored me once (actually the only thing that bored me was that there was no paragraph indentation since it's the original scroll). i have just finished the book, so naturally my mind is a mess and i don't think i can write a proper review. maybe i'll right later, after thinking about everything about the book thoroughly. (or maybe i won't BC I'M SUCH A LAZY PERSON \m/ ...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Stop added it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed

Read the STOP SMILING review of the British edition of On the Road: The Original Scroll:

We’ve been waiting a long time for a definitive (textual) edition of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. But, alas, On the Road: The Original Scroll (Howard Cunnell, editor: Viking-Penguin, 2007) isn’t it. Yes, we have the original unexpurgated transcript with the real names reinstated and an informative if at times ill-organized introduction on the writing of the novel by Cunnell that corrects some misconceptions on ...more

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About Jack Kerouac

Jack Kerouac

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Jack Kerouac was born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac on March 12, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Jack Kerouac's writing career began in the 1940s, but didn't meet with commercial success until 1957, when On the Road was published. The book became an American classic that defined the Beat Generation. Kerouac died on October 21, 1969, from an abdominal hemorrhage, at age 47.

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