What did YOU think about the motion picture adaptation of 'On the Road'?

I read Jack Kerouac’s 1957 beat novel “On the Road” over a decade ago and a few days ago I watched the 2012 movie adaptation of the book. I thought the movie was OK, and while it wasn’t an entirely faithful adaptation of the book, it was not without its merits. If you’ve read the book, you’ll probably like the movie.

Published by Viking Press in September 1957, “On the Road” is based on Kerouac’s travels throughout the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Although Kerouac changed many of the names in his book, real-life characters described within its pages included William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. The book was ranked No. 55 on the Modern Library’s 1998 list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century and was also included in Time Magazine’s list of 100 Best English Novels published between 1923 and 2005.

The motion picture adaptation of the book was released in December 2012 and was directed by Walter Salles. Jose Rivera wrote the screenplay, and the cast included Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen and Steve Buscemi. It’s rated R and 124 minutes long.

Fair warning, this book and movie probably aren’t for everybody, especially the movie, which was a lot more graphic than the book. If you’ve read “On the Road” and liked it, you might want to check out some of Kerouac’s other books, many of which were published after his death in 1969. They include:

- And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks (2008)
- Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings (1999)
- Beat Generation (2005)
- Big Sur (1962)
- Book of Dreams (1960)
- Desolation of Angels (1965)
- The Dharma Bums (1958)
- Doctor Sax (1960)
- Good Blonde & Others (1993)
- Lonesome Traveler (1960)
- Maggie Cassidy (1959)
- Orpheus Emerged (2002)
- Pic (1971)
- Satori in Paris (1965)
- The Sea is My Brother (1942)
- Some of the Dharma (1997)
- The Subterraneans (1958)
- The Town and the City (1950)
- Tristessa (1960)
- Vanity of Duluoz (1968)
- Visions of Cody (1960)

- Visions of Gerard (1963)

- Wake Up: A Life of the Buddha (2008)

The first time I ever heard about “On the Road” was in the Jim Morrison biography, “No One Here Gets Out Alive.” Kerouac had a huge influence on people like Morrison, who was the lead singer for The Doors, and other writers like Hunter S. Thompson and musicians like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. In my opinion, Thompson was a better writer than Kerouac (more entertaining, if nothing else), but you can see Kerouac’s heavy influence in many of Thompson’s works. “On the Road” also reminded me a lot of John Steinbeck’s travel classic, “Travels with Charley,” which was also highly entertaining.

In the end, how may of you have read Kerouac’s novel? How many of you have seen the movie adaptation of the book? What did you think about them? Let us know in the comments section below.