Jack Kerouac is one of those American Legends, one of those legendary writers you say you wish you had read by now, and take note of the recommended books of his.
I got my hands on On the Road
1st USA Viking Press Book Cover | Source: beatbookcover.com
Jack Kerouac was a beat writer, considered by at least the media as the spokesman for the generation. Reading the fascinating introduction by Ann Charters – possibly just as intriguing as the book itself – at the front of the book explains how Kerouac changed the names of the non-fictional characters he’s written about to avoid any legalities, but [most] all of them represent real people in the movement. I think this might be why Kerouac became the voice of the movement, in a way.
For myself mostly, I’ve mapped out [ok, I stole it from Wikipedia] the characters [because I’m going to read more about each of them].
| Real-life person | Character name |
|---|---|
| Jack Kerouac | Sal Paradise |
| Gabrielle Kerouac | Sal’s Aunt |
| Alan Ansen | Rollo Greb |
| William S. Burroughs | Old Bull Lee |
| Joan Vollmer | Jane |
| Lucien Carr | Damion |
| Neal Cassady | Dean Moriarty |
| Carolyn Cassady | Camille |
| Hal Chase | Chad King |
| Henri Cru | Remi Boncoeur |
| Bea Franco (Beatrice Kozera) | Terry |
| Allen Ginsberg | Carlo Marx |
| Diana Hansen | Inez |
| Alan Harrington | Hal Hingham |
| Joan Haverty | Laura |
| Luanne Henderson | Marylou |
| Al Hinkle | Ed Dunkel |
| Helen Hinkle | Galatea Dunkel |
| Jim Holmes | Tom Snark |
| John Clellon Holmes | Ian MacArthur |
| Ed Stringham | Tom Saybrook |
| Herbert Huncke | Elmer Hassel |
| Frank Jeffries | Stan Shephard |
| Gene Pippin | Gene Dexter |
| Allan Temko | Roland Major |
| Bill Tomson | Roy Johnson |
| Helen Tomson | Dorothy Johnson |
| Ed Uhl | Ed Wall |
| Helen Gullion | Rita Betancourt |
The Book
On the Road
The book is written from the first person, from Sal’s point of view, and usually intertwines with Dean Moriarty. Dean’s crazy, and continues to get more. Dean is a man who yells out “blow, blow, blow, yea yea yea!” when they walk into the jazz clubs. Dean is the guy who commands the party with his discussions. Dean yells “lesssgo” and Dean has the schedule. Dean, in the span of the book, marries – and balances dating – three women. He marries one, then dates the other, divorces the first but still makes it with her, and marries the second. Gallivants across the world with the first, while leaving the second with a child at home, then divorces the second only to marry a third who he immediately runs from to get back with the second! But you know, Dean doesn’t overpower the book in this regard, for it’s all through the eyes of Sal, who in his own mind, loves Dean. They are brothers.
This book is a grand novel. It’s insight into a time gone, the 50s. It explores a part of the United States that is just recovering from the great depression, the America Woody Guthrie sang about. A time of rampant benzedrine use and the iconification of blue Levis and white tees. Rusty Ford jalopys, and the Rocky Mountains.
I think it’s safe to say that American culture grabbed onto this picture that Kerouac painted so.
