On the Road in Lex Fridman | 2023 Reading List

Jan 30, 2023 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics

In On the Road, I found myself with two 20 year old guys during the late 1940s. There is also a cast of other characters and, all are broke and don’t be able to find or keep a job. The two guys mainly hitchhike and hop trains from the east coast to the west coast several times. They are constantly high on alcohol or weed (it seems to have been called “tea” back then), always searching for a party and a good time.

But what drew me in is Kerouac’s writing. Not to mention that some of the roads trav In On the Road, I found myself with two 20 year old guys during the late 1940s. There is also a cast of other characters and, all are broke and don’t be able to find or keep a job. The two guys mainly hitchhike and hop trains from the east coast to the west coast several times. They are constantly high on alcohol or weed (it seems to have been called “tea” back then), always searching for a party and a good time.

But what drew me in is Kerouac’s writing. Not to mention that some of the roads travelled and towns and cities mentioned in the book are ones I’ve passed through. The description of those roads from San Francisco to Sacramento, Madera, Fresno, Bakersfield, Los Angeles to Tucson were all familiar. Kerouac’s descriptions were such that I could hear the rain on the car roof, see the dust kicking up in the rear view mirror, smell the tar on the road and picture the people milling about waiting for — something.

Kerouac’s description on BeBop Jazz was magical. You could almost hear the music, visualize the faces of the horn player, see the instruments and the bells of the horns reflecting the scene. You were there in that small room on a warm San Francisco afternoon and your toes are tapping and sweat is rolling down your face. You sense the horns talking to each other and you see the musicians “float in the air”.

In the road trip from Denver to Mexico City, Kerouac does something so subtly and brilliantly. It’s just a feeling you get that something is off even though it’s the same old cons. Using people and being used. Being high and always listening to music, looking for the party.

The last chapter came fast, short and abruptly for me.

Perhaps because of the use of the words, roads and paths, Yuval Noah Harari’s discussion of the Hindsight Fallacy came to mind after I finished On the Road: He writes “Ever point in history is a crossroads. A single travelled road leads from the past to the present, but myriad paths fork off into the future. Some of those paths are wider, smoother and better marked, and are thus more likely to be taken, but sometimes in history — or the people who make history — takes unexpected turns.” Harari’s words are in context of a characteristic of history. But I feel that some people we know, or like the characters in On the Road, who have taken those forks in the road, they are are the ones we remember and think about. ...more

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