On the Road by Jack Kerouac
This novel follows the story of a young man and his friend as they embark on a series of cross-country road trips across America during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The protagonist, driven by a desire for freedom and a quest for identity, encounters a series of eccentric characters and experiences the highs and lows of the Beat Generation. The narrative is a testament to the restlessness of youth and the allure of adventure, underscored by themes of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
The 42nd greatest book of all time
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- Published
- 1957
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Medium
- Pages
- 310
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(3.4)
- Alternate Titles
-
- En el camino
- Na Estrada
- Na ceste
- Na cesti
- Na drodze
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This book is on the following 64 lists:
- 1st on Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World (Literary Hub)
- 5th on The Ideal Library (Book)
- 14th on Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 15th on 100 Best Western(United States) Works of Fiction (San Francisco Chronicle)
- 15th on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 19th on 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 (Counterpunch)
- 23rd on Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century (themodernnovel.com)
- 24th on Edmonton's Top 100 (Edmonton Journal)
- 31st on Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe Publishing Course)
- 38th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
- 39th on Books Of The Century (Library Journal)
- 42nd on The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Readers' List (The Modern Library)
- 48th on The Greatest Books of All Time (Reader's Digest)
- 55th on The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels (Modern Library)
- 67th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century (Le Monde)
- 71st on The 100 Greatest Novels (greatbooksguide.com)
- 80th on My Favourite Book - Australian Big Read (Australian Big Read)
- 87th on The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read (Telegraph)
- 89th on Our Users' Top 100 Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 90th on The Big Read (BBC)
- 92nd on The 100 Best Books from 1900 to the Present (Yedioth Ahronoth)
- 93rd on Big Read (Bulgarian) (Bulgaria)
- 94th on 100 Essential Books (Bravo! Magazine)
- 101st on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
- 115th on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List (1,000 Books to Read Before You Die(Book))
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- 100 Best 20th-Century American Books (Hungry Mind Review)
- 100 Best Novels Written in English (The Guardian)
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (USA))
- 100 Most Influential Books of the Century (Boston Public Library)
- 125 Books We Love for Adults (NY Public Library)
- 150 Great Reads (The Spokesman-Review Spokane Chronicle )
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- 222 Best Books of All Time That Deserve a Spot on Your Bookshelf, With Picks from Bestselling Authors and Indie Booksellers (Parade)
- 50 Best Cult Books (Telegraph)
- 50 Books to Read Before You Die (Barnes and Noble)
- A Century of Reading (Lithub)
- A Century of World Literature 1925 - 2025 (Der Spiegel)
- Best Foreign Work of Fiction Chosen by Francophone Writers (French literary magazine Transfuge)
- Books That Shaped America (Library of Congress)
- Books that Shaped the Century (LOGOS 20th Century Books Project)
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Books of the Century, 1900-1999 (Daily Telegraph)
- David Bowie's Top 100 Favorite Books (David Bowie)
- Everything You Should Read without Being a Library Rat (Book by Luiz Carlos Lisboa)
- Fifty French Writers Choose Their Favorite 10 Books - Honourable Mention (On en garde 10 ! Pour la littérature)
- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher (Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher)
- "Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century -- Honorable Mention ( January Magazine)
- Select 100 (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
- The 100 Best Novels Of All Time (Runners-Up) (The Guardian)
- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- The 100 Greatest Novels (Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Russian Newspaper))
- The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
- The 100 Novels You Must Read in Your Lifetime (Esquire)
- The Best Classics (The Times)
- The Graphic Canon (Book)
- The Great American Novels (The Atlantic)
- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 (The Modern Library (Book))
- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century (New York Public Library)
- 'The perfect library': the 196 books selected by 133 personalities (XLSemanal and Zenda)
- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)
- Top 100 Books (Lincoln Journal Star)