Ok, so its 50 years since the publication of On the Road by jack Kerouac, which in my mind was one of the greatest novels of the last century. Not only did it start the whole Beat Generation with the Beatniks and hippies that followed, but it was also that the youth of the world really stood up and where noticed by the wider society as a whole.
However it does sadden me that the message of the book seems to have been lost of millions of people. Most people seem to go ‘yeah, its great, loads of drug taking and sex and dropping out of main stream society’, but to me that’s not really the point the book is trying to make. It’s about the journey of self discovery, and looking for something spiritual or fulfilling in your life. It’s about making the decisions in your life the way you want to and not settling for what is expected of you. It’s about challenging society’s expectations and following dreams. Its about seeing the good in people, and the bad in society.
I think from reading it, it gave me a huge travel bug. I still dream of visiting every country in the world, which I knows probably unlikely. Im only 18 countries down, which leaves about 180 still to visit. I still love travelling, just sitting back watching the world fly by.
However for Kerouac it wasn’t to last, by the time On the Road was actually published he had lsot his love of travelling, the whole ‘beat’ scene didn’t appeal to him. He was fed up by the new people who only wanted to look cool, and talk cool, but weren’t really digging what it was that made them ‘beat’. By the time the book was published he had settled into living with his mother, until his death in 1967, 10 years later, but he still managed to write some other excellent works. Its true to say he was ahead of his time, with his worrying over state of the planet, and animals.
The man was a visionary, and I just hope his works are still as important in another 50 years
