Couldn't get more than 50 or so pages into it. This one just wasn't for me.

I really wanted to like it. I had also hoped to find the characters engaging, interesting. Instead I found them irritating. I was not a fan of the overall dismissivness of poor behavior. I did not finish the book. Although, perhaps someday I will. Today is not it.

Wow, I can't believe I put off reading this book for so long. I thought it was a travel book about a guy crossing the country looking for the American Dream, when in reality he finds it in everyone he meets on the way. For the main character it's depressing but if he only opened his eyes once in a while he would see it right in front of him. I loved the conscious stream of thought method that the book is written in, in other words, the fact the author was drugged up for 3 weeks and wrote this whole novel on a typewritter with no punctuation. If you enjoyed FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS or TRAINSPOTTING this is a book for you.

I *hated* this book when I first read it as a teenager - no plot, no believable charaters etc. But I tried it about 10 years later and loved it - the language is wonderful and it succeeds in being both a realistic, yet engaging portrayal of everyday events and an enduring call towards an alternative mindset...A classic for sure (though I personally prefer The Dharma Bums.)

This is a story of friendship and life on the road in late 1940’s to 1950 America. Although the moment in time, the places they pass through and people they meet are of particular cultural significance to the story of central characters Sal and Dean, the search for the big answers, passion and excitement in life are pursuits relatable to many – no matter where we live or what decade it is. Best read with the likes of Miles Davis, Charlie Parker or Tom Waits in the background!

From what I'd heard from other readers, I was under the impression that this would be the "book of all books." Unfortunately, I found myself bored and underwhelmed. I felt like this was a sort of coming of age story, but one where none of the characters actually discover themselves. A lot of lost souls aimlessly travelling around in search of what? A whole lot of nothing apparently.

Perhaps I'm from the wrong generation (born in the early '60s) but this book didn't engage me. I was surprised to find how much of it was not what I expected. I guess that with a classic one starts to get certain ideas about the kind of book it is and I'm not sure even where all of those preconceived ideas came from. It was less a travel book (I expected a book about America, similar perhaps to Steinbeck's Travels with Charley) and less a book about a certain group of people from a certain generation. I was surprised as well about how much non-conformist behaviour occurred priot to the sixties. Sal's parents are actually a little before my own and yet seem so much more radical. I was put off by Sal's friend Dean and his behaviour. He never really seemed to take responsibility for his actions and his treatment of the women he met was definitely demeaning. I'm glad I read it, and it made me think about some things in a different way, but it is definitely not a favourite.

My all time favorite book. It is one of the few that I have read where I am truly happy while reading, rather than just "enjoying" it. Fantastic! I am however very dissapointed that they are making a movie out of it, especially since Kristen Stewart is playing Marylou.

Film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road in production in early 2011. Directed by Walter Salles, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Sam Riley (Sal Paradise), Kristen Stewart (Mary Lou) and Garrett Hedlund (Dean Moriarty).

I wish I had read that book before ! this is an amazing story about free spirits... yes it's kind of sexist and racist, but let me remind you that book was written in the 50's which is quite another time.