What are the lessons of Kerouac's "On the Road"?

"Viking is releasing ... a new analysis by John Leland, a reporter at The
New York Times, titled 'Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of 'On the Road'
(They're Not What You Think)'.

"What do you think are the lessons of 'On the Road'?"


You can read some 370 widely contrasting comments on the subject here:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/on-the-road-at-50/


Dave

Dave Moore wrote:

> "What do you think are the lessons of 'On the Road'?"

The Great American Novel was created by one gifted in lilting language
on the page as a mosaic of young boyhood in America, an account of
actual events with zest and sparkle and an open mirror for all who
follow to see what they will in it. The writer came out of the cradle of
US industrialism and to my knowledge never mentioned it, he spent his DT
doldrums for a season at the site of Thurso's Landing of the great
Jeffers poem in the region of the Carmel poets and didn't seem to know
that either, during a sojourn in which he failed to meet Henry Miller
because he was too drunk, and now his works are plumbed for intense
interior intelligence and great ulterior overarch and whang, when it's
essentially just noise and thunder, lovely and sprightly but signifying
nothing.



--
Doubting Timus
Ubi Dubium Ibi Libertas
http://tremonius.blogspot.com/