On the road ( One the Road ) (1957) is certainly most known of the Romance S of Jack Kerouac. It was one of the novels founders of what Kerouac named the “itself Beat generation”. “Happy” means at the same time beaten, but also happy: on standby of revelation. The happy one is also the rate/rhythm of Jazz (and of the music in general).
However the term of Happy Generation was before a whole convenient short cut which made it possible the media to institute moving literary what was especially the conjunction of singular individuals: even if they share a taste for spontaneous prose and the Surréalisme, the writing of Jack Kerouac does not resemble that of Allen Ginsberg, and that of Ginsberg is itself distant from that of William Burroughs.
On the road , its most known novel, tells in a quasi autobiographical way the adventures of the author (named Sal Paradise in the book) and of a fellow traveller, Neal Cassady (named Dean Moriarty in the novel). One also crosses there Allen Ginsberg (Carlo Marx) and William Burroughs (Old Bull Lee).
In what we could call the Kerouac myth, this book was written of only one jet, in 3 weeks, on a paper roller 36 meters length, in long sessions of Spontaneous Prose; it creates a completely personal style of writing thus, partly inspired by its love of the movement Jazz Be Bop and of its improvisations. This Tapuscrit was typed on sheets of paper with Japanese penmanship, stuck end to end with Scotch tape Types and not on a paper roller with teleprinter. This original manuscript was sold with the biddings 2,2 million dollars in 2001. The editors, however, refused this first outline massively, wondering what there was to do with this text very difficult to follow, written in a nonconventional way… Kerouac had to work its account during six years before an editor agree to accept the account. In 2001, the drafting of the American Modern Library includes On the road in its list of the 100 best novels of the XXe century in English language. The success of this book, one decade after its drafting, signed finally the end of Jack Kerouac, initiating a depression which he did not survive. It moves away from his friends writers happy like Allen Ginsberg and to a lesser extent William S. Burroughs. It reproaches Ginsberg too much for seeking the attention of the public and for betraying the happy spirit . Even needing money, it does not turn any more to them and does not answer any more the invitations of the media. It is also irritated by the development of Buddhism of mode, for which it is partly responsible.
Adaptations
With the cinema
Francis Ford Coppola has the rights of film adaptation of On the road since 1968, the scenario was written by Russel Banks but the turning envisaged with the forever started autumn 2001. The December 21st 2005, on the American site IMDb, one can read that the film is planned for 2009.
With the radio
In 2005, Radio France adapted On the Road in radiophonic serial.Data sheet of the serial:
- Adaptation and Traduction: Catherine de Saint-Phalle
- Realization: Christine Bernard-Sugy
- Distribution:
- Jacques Gamblin: narrator (Jack Kerouac/Sal Paradise)
- Patrick Catalifo: Dean Moriarty
- Quentin Baillot: Sal Paradise
- episodes: 20 episodes of 20mn
- 1st diffusion: April and May 2005 on France Culture
External bonds
- the card of (future) film on imdb
- geographical Enrichment: a " google map" way followed by Jack Kerouac with comments and extracts of the work.
- ⇒ Jack Kerouac One the Road Map
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