...Sept. 5, 2007, marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of On the Road, the novel by Jack Kerouac that gave voice to his generation's postwar experiences. With its energetic portrayal of the thrills and confusions of being young in the early years of the Cold War, it also helped usher in the "Beatnik" movement and many of the radical changes in American culture that took place in the 1960s.
I must confess that I never read "On the Road" but I do know that my son Jeremy was profoundly moved by it.
Read "On the Road". The summer of love was but a bastardized echo of Kerouac and Ginsberg and Burroughs and the rest. Better yet, check out "Dharma Bums". You really get a sense of why people from that era are known as the Greatest Generation.
ReplyDelete