On the Road by Jack Kerouac

I’ve just realised that I’ve only been writing about theatre recently, and haven’t told you about any of the books I’ve been reading.

The most recent one I finished was On the Road by Jack Kerouac. This is an incredibly vivid evocation of a time, a place and an attitude. So much so that you almost feel as if you’re experiencing it yourself.

Except that there are jarring points for a 21^st century reader. You rush along with it up to a certain point and then you think – oh, hang on, that’s not on.

This is especially true, for me, in the depiction of and attitudes towards women. I’d be really interested in reading a Wide Sargasso Sea kind of novel from a female character’s perspective. Maybe one of Dean’s wives, or one of the Mexican prostitutes, or even Sal’s aunt. What are their stories?

But On the Road is about capturing one man’s impressions of his travels and of his friends and of the people he encounters. And what it sets out to do, it does perfectly. You can definitely see why it’s called a classic.