Critique

 

A book with repercutions (Daphnée) 

This book certainly has an important message. I finish my reading with the will to live more carefree and live a full of adventures. The main character has grown trought the book and, in my opinion, it is du to the full of crazy moments he had during his road trip. For me, what I found significant in this book is to see how the character went trought questionings on different subjects. He was on adventure and you could see he was learning trough the processe. Personally, I found the book very different from our reality now. People in the book, go on a road trip with barely anything. They dont seem to consume a lot. They have a blast because they are focused on the adventure and the memories. They lived one day at a time and did not think much abouth the future. They were just trying to make the best out of the present.Nowadays, we are more abouth money and consumming. We are also more about the futur and planing our intire life rather than just live in the moment and make the most out of every moment you get with the peaple you love and life in general that is so short to waist our time like we do.  

Xavier : 

What lessons did you draw from the novel?

Firstly, On the Road made me realize that enjoying life by chasing our own dreams is vital. Modern society puts a lot of pressure on people because everything is based on other's opinions. As a result, many people do what society expects them to do instead of discovering where their own happiness is. This lesson is clear in the novel. In the late forties, the norms were very conservative, but Sal didn't care at all. Even if he was doing the opposite of the normal standards, he lived a ton of adventures in order to find his own happiness and spiritual satisfaction. Secondly, a strong lesson I draw from the book is that consumption is not important. In On the Road, the characters have nothing, but they are surely happier than most people. It shows that what makes us happy is not what we have, but all the adventures we live. It is our job to make our life an amazing adventure. 

What element(s) was most significant for you personally?

The element I found the most significant is surely the fact that the book tells about road trip adventures. I am passionate about traveling. Everyone has an ultimate dream in their life. Mine would be to travel to every single country in the world. I think traveling is the best way to enjoy life and grow as a person. Sal's adventures inspired me in this dream.  

What was the main message of the novel in your opinion?

In my opinion, the inspiring and vital message of the novel is clearly to enjoy life. In fact, enjoying life is the main motivation of Sal during the whole book. It was also the philosophy of the beat movement in which Jack Kerouac (the equivalent of Sal Paradise in On the Road) took part. Jack Kerouac gave a voice to the beat movement in his masterpiece. It is exactly why the main message of the novel is the same as the movement. The Beats thought the average american life was very boring. It is why they went against the norms in order to enjoy life. Using this logic, almost everything the characters experience in On the Road is to have a blast. 

Do you see any links between elements in your novel and something in your world, more personally or as a society? Tell us about it

Jack Kerouac's bestseller brilliantly exposes the consumer society of the late 1940s as the characters were mostly against this aspect of american society. An interesting speech by Old Bull Lee (Sal's friend) makes us understand this element, '' They prefer making cheap goods so's everybody'll have to go on working and punching timeclocks and organizing themselves in sullen unions and floundering around while the big grab goes on in Washington and Moscow. '' This quote clearly shows that the 1940s society was based on consumption, but that the characters were firmly rejecting this idea. In On the Roads, the beats need nothing and have nothing because consumption is completely against their philosophy. Furthermore, the fact that they have nothing enables them to simply enjoy life because they have nothing to lose. A strong link between the consumer society exposed in the novel and our modern society can be established. In my opinion, On the Road just showed the tip of the iceberg. Effectively, in 2020, I feel like society is boundlessly more based on consumption. Nowadays, everything is about consuming in order to fit in the normal standards. Obviously, On the Road failed in its objective to change this terrible aspect of society. Furthermore, it also proves that this masterpiece is still extremely relevant nowadays. Many negative aspects of the late 1940s criticized in the book are still actual. Just think about the fight for black people's rights ...

Words have the power to change us (Megane)

The great David McCullough once said: "Books can change your life. Some of the most influential people in our lives are the characters we meet in books». I couldn't agree more with him. Most heroes in my life are the people I read about. I read a book about a boy with a wand whose best friends became family; they

taught me to stand up for myself and to live with a purpose always. I read a book about a girl who was a bookthief who lived under the war; she taught me to never lose hope. I read a book about a shadowhunter girl whose art can do magic; she taught me that we can all fight in our own way for what is just. They are my heroes for they showed me that I don’t need a wand or a knife, to be the saviour of my life, to be my own hero. Fictional characters were always real, in a way to me, teaching me lessons along the way. Now, Jack Kerouac's Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty can be added to that list. They didn't need to have epic adventures to show me valuables lessons. Through their story, I learned to enjoy the simplest things in life and to make the most of every day because I do not know what tomorrow will look like, we have to live in the moment and make every second an adventure. It doesn't have to be great, simply dear to us. I also drew from the book the principle that even if a relationship seems wonderful and pushes each party, ultimately you have to learn when to say goodbye. That can be applied to anything else in my opinion: there's a point where something has to become a cherished memory before it gets ruined. 

For me, On the Road is a masterpiece. I cannot identify one precise element that I liked more than the others, apart from the form of the novel itself. Kerouac was obviously very influenced by jazz culture and I'm in love with his writing style. Although maybe not as spontaneous as he'd say, there's something raw and purely beautiful about the way his sentences are formed. It feels intimate as if we had been allowed to jump in his mind and see the trail of his thoughts. He uses words carefully, each having tons of different meanings and is such a master that half a page long sentences seem simply perfect. I think that the way Kerouac showed both the best and the worst of humankind is my favourite thing: as Oscar Wilde used to say “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book, books are well written or badly written”. This one is well written and it touches on a wide array of subjects, more or less taboo and controversial but most a bit philosophical. On the Road touches your heart and makes you feel something whether you like it or not and for that, it's art. 

Art usually touches your soul and often passes a message. I think the main one in On the Road is about freedom. Individual freedom yes, but also collective, moral, sexual, spiritual... Freedom. It follows the Beat Mouvement's main ideas: why not? Just like the author did, the characters in the novel are continuously defying society's norms and conventions. The book is about individualism, making your own way and enjoying every moment for you, not for appearances, not for others, for you. Many passages in the novel reflect that principle: words denoted that unrestrained hope for freedom and everything at once. The road itself can be seen as a metaphor for freedom: it's open and can lead you wherever you wanna go.  

Albeit published in 1957, On the Road's theme are still very relevant for today's society. The craving for emancipation and liberty is actual nowadays too and issues like inequities amongst social classes are sadly still present. The main link I see between the novel and our modern society is that craving for adventures that lots of people, I included, have. Just like in the book, and especially during quarantine lots of us want to be able to simply enjoy every little second of life. Also, people are still protesting regarding various issues that were also present in the book: human rights movements like Black Lives Matter are on every lip. Moreover, On the Road was a lot about denouncing what had to change about society and we, in 2020, are still in that era, an alternative one where movements rise and try to be heard and where art, just like jazz in the book, are used as mediums to tell stories, touch hearts and bring awareness. 

Do what you enjoy while you still can. (Derek) 

   After reading it, the book showed me that you should enjoy life every day and not care so much about what others think of you. For example, Jack Kerouac demonstrates this very well when he jumps on numerous road trips and does crazy things simply to have fun. After all, there is no defined purpose in life. We are the ones who decide what we want that purpose to be. The book teaches us that we should make that goal more centred on what we like, our passions, and not things that don’t truly matter like money and materialistic things. 

What lessons did I draw from the novel? 

   I learned that we should not be scared to pursue our goals even if people want you to be someone else than your true self. You shouldn’t follow a path in life that you don’t like simply because someone else wants you to follow that path. It also made me realize that you can accomplish much more than you think you could do with more money. In general, in the novel, they often manage to do what they wanted even without much money.  

What element was most significant to me? 

To me personally, I really liked the way Jack Kerouac described the landscapes with a lot of detail, which made us feel the ambience of when he was listening to jazz and all the people he met. 

What was the main message of the novel in my opinion? 

In my opinion, the main message of the novel is that we should learn to find joy and happiness even if everything is not going as we planned. We should try to let things flow freely without planning too much because it can be exciting and give us a sense of fulfillment. 

Do I see any links between elements in the novel and something in my world, more personally or as a society? 

In the novel, the main characters enjoy their life with barely any money or material things which teaches us a lot about life and our perspectives. I think that in our current society too many people make their goal centred on making a lot of money and not necessarily about what they like.