On the Road: Part One, Chapter Four - wanna ride?

Hello friends and fellow Kerouac fans! Happy New Year to you and yours. Hopefully your holidays were as fun and busy as ours!


It's been busy times around KL. Our very own Lorabell has been busy as a Stew loving bee baking up some delicious Mean Apple Pie. Check it out. Oh, and if you make any our recipes or have any suggestions, let us know!  I've also added a new tune or two to the On The Road playlist. Listen along and get inspired.


I also want to take this opportunity to thank you guys for reading along with us and for your awesome participation! It makes us super happy! Stew would love it (we think...)!


Let's go on with it; shall we? Let's see who Sal gets to encounter on the road... It's going to be an interesting, ah, ride...


Exes and Ohs...
LettieLou

Read along with us HERE

You gotta double-pump the clutch ;)

Chapter Summary: 
Our guy Sal is getting ready to take the "ride of his life" hitching a ride on the back of a flatbed truck driven by two cornfed farmboys. They don't discriminate against who they pick up and so Sal encounters some of the coolest cats west of the Mississippi. He becomes attached to some members of this rag tag group and has a few laughs along the way. Ever hopeful, he has his precious Denver in his sights.




Breaking it down - an excerpt:


Lorabell: of course!
but his interactions with characters are more than fleeting glances here
we get to sit and chill with them for a bit


LettieLou: he loves them
he attaches to them


Lorabell: even if still briefly


LettieLou: like he might actually miss them


Lorabell: yup, he’s sad to see them go


LettieLou: exactly
his descriptions of the characters come to life more here. it's actually nice to not only hear about one or two people.


Lorabell: the story its-self is coming to live here - it's funny
trying to take a leak off the back of a truck...


LettieLou: oh god i know!
and i love how he said he did it "just fine" before
LOL!


Lorabell: and the two drivers with their big smiles
zigzagging all over the road


LettieLou: can't you just see them??
i can feel the wind whizzing around my hair

Read the full convo after the cut...

On The Road: Part One, Chapter One - Breaking it down, chatting it up

As a first read, we Kristen's Lit Girls agreed that On The Road was the place to start.

Not only are we stoked to see the film finally release in 2012, but LettieLou actually wrote her dissertation on Kerouac's scroll and I... well I just have a thing about reading the books before watching the movies!

Call me OCD - I'm largely inclined to agree with you - but mostly I just think it's respectful to the story :)

So... road trip, anyone?

Go HERE to read along with On The Road

Chapter summary:


On The Road opens as with our protagonist recalling his first memories of Dean, our supporting character who was "actually born on the road".

Dean arrives for the first time in New York with his new (and occasional) wife, MaryLou and we're hit with his high energy and inconstant focus.

Dean meets his match in Carlo before returning to the road with our hero quick to follow in his footsteps wanting "to know Dean more" and experience what his wanderlust entices...


Breaking it down - an excerpt:

Lorabell: Speaking of, we're introduced to MaryLou in chapter 1. Now, I've read Kristen saying something like how she realized that MaryLou wasn't this two-dimensional character she could have been played as and when I say "realize" I don't mean "came to think" but "made happen" as it were.

LettlieLou: Yeppo. His intro of characters is genius. He sets the tone for them ALL in this first chapter.
The majors anyway. He gives you a sense of them right off the bat. With a line. A word.
Not just what they look like.

LettlieLou: I got the impression from her that she really GOT Marylou

Lorabell: And of course all these characters, no matter how briefly we meet them, were people with lives and backgrounds and hopes and flaws.

LettlieLou: True. And I think it's fascinating to see them through Kerouac's eyes.

Lorabell: But because we DO meet them so briefly, I could see how it would be too easy for the performances of some to come off flat.

Lorabell: And especially with MaryLou who's almost a supportive role, a translation to screen could be shallow. 


LettlieLou: I think even though we get a brief glimpse here, he is so brilliant in how he weaves them into the tapestry of the entire story. Like he wants to give them the credit in the story for the profound effect they had on his life. No matter how brief

Click to read in FULL after the cut...