2 quotes jumped out at me:
- "Keep your overhead low"
But it can also be interpreted in a broad, almost spiritual way. Keep yourself and your needs simple. Don't over-extend yourself. Its the only way to really be free.
- "You realize that a man can take a train and never reach his destination, that a
man has no destination at the end of the road, but that he merely has a starting
point on the road—which is Home."
I would add to this that the destination point is also Home. No matter where you go, what you study, who you meet, it always leads back to you. You can only know yourself through others, and through experiences.
At this point I should admit that I never finished On the Road. My older sister loved the book and so I tried to read it, but I think I was too young to understand it. I was probably like 12 when I attempted it and I had a short attention span for what I considered rambling stories.
I think I could appreciate it now, so I will pick up a copy and read it- finally. I know, its really late...
When I read it I will blog my thoughts on it. The way I see it, either I will either be completely disappointed by it after having anticipated it for more than a decade, or I will adore it and berate myself for not having read and re-read it earlier. My main goal is to begin and complete it.
3 comments:
I have a copy of this book if you want to borrow it. Warning: It was written in the 50's and was definitely influenced by the racist and sexist ideas of the time. I myself haven't read it since I was about 16, and at that time I didn't analyze it in the same way I probably would today. What I remember coming away with most profoundly is that people don't have to be limited by the neighborhood or town that they are born into. The idea that you can go against the grain and seek out experiences (alternative life styles and ideologies) that will enrich your life in the end, even though they might also bring you heartache and struggle in the process.
thanks for the warning- I realize that it will be both sexist and racist and I hope that won't stop me from finishing it this time.
At the very least, it will give me something to blog about it.
I had always discussed it, but never read it. I finally bought the audio book version narrated by Matt Dillon and listened to it as I drove west on the I-10 from Texas to California. It has left a significant impression. I went out and bought the book and have read it for the first time.
I can now highly recommend it as a realistic anti-myopic and self-flattering male view of the United States in the immediate post WWII era.
Jaime
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