Mrs. Dean Moriarty presents...

On the Road!

"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 that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!"

In a streak of wild rebellion (take note though, I wasn’t the most rebellious 12 year old), I used On The Road as my 7th grade book report. When I went to ask the teacher if it was okay (I know, asking permission- I was wild!) she says:
“Oh, I’m sure it’s fine. I’ve never read it, though.”
BLASPHEMY, I SAY!
I’m sure that I am a bit biased, since it’s one of my favorite books ever, but still! Isn’t it somewhat of a contemporary classic? I read it for the first time when I was in 7th grade, and have read it over a few times since then. My copy of On the Road is pleasantly worn out at the edges, the cover flexible and scratched up from being shoved into backpacks and suitcases.

Maybe it’s just a youth thing, but there’s something so amazing about it all. I want to be in those jazz clubs, I want to be roaming the streets, sleeping in Mexican jungles, talking to weird, insane, unique people- it just sounds so exciting. And I think we all have a little Dean Moriarty inside of us, and reading about his insane antics is one of the things that makes it worth reading for me.
I'm not exactly a 'glass half full' person- I'd dare to say that *gasp* perhaps I'm a bit cynical. But the way Kerouac describes some scenes makes me think that the world is still beautiful, somewhere, in the quiet hours in the morning, travelling across the country with a friend

One of the best of the Beats, is all I’m saying. Except Howl. One of my favorite pieces of poetry in the entire world is Howl. Perhaps I’ll post about that in the near future.

Anyway, if anyone really dislikes it, I’d be interested to hear why. I’ve found that it’s one of those books that people either really love or really hate, so it’s always interesting to hear the opinions on both strong ends of the spectrum.

Although, beware, if you diss it TOO much, I’ll have to kick your ass.

…well, mentally. But, you know, it’ll still hurt.

"So in America when the sun goes down and I sit on the old broken-down river pier watching the long, long skies over New Jersey and sense all that raw land that rolls in one unbelievable huge bulge over to the West Coast, and all that road going, and all the people dreaming in the immensity of it... and tonight the stars'll be out, and don't you know that God is Pooh Bear?"