On the Road

I just finished reading Jack Kerouac's famous novel about young people on the road in search of meaning and excitement. I'd heard a lot about this book; it always seems to be on lists of top 100 American novels. I suppose part of this is not just due to actual content of the book, but to the historical significance it possess. That being said, I'll say that although I enjoyed parts of it, I didn't particularly care for the book as a whole.
The book chronicles the travels of Sal Paradise, (commonly thought of as Kerouac himself), as he travels across the US throughout several years. Before I read the book, I thought everything in it took place during one trip, but it is actually a few different trips which Kerouac made over several years of his life.
In the book, he often has little money or way of transportation and has to make his way as he goes. Although some people, like myself, would not enjoy this, Sal flourishes in this type of lifestyle.
He frequently travels with his friend Dean Moriarty. Sal has an intense respect and love for Dean. Dean, perhaps more than anyone else in the story, is just looking for a good time. Though he is portrayed as kind, he is also irresponsible, and, I thought, a bad husband and father, a fact which he himself acknowledges at one point. I think one of the book's themes was the pull that life on the road exerts over these men, even managing to lure them away from their families and responsibility. By the end of the book, I was somewhat frustrated with Dean because he often comes across as selfish.
However, I also enjoyed this book in some ways. Despite what I've said about Dean, I liked his excitement for life and humanity. One can't be too negative or critical of him because he's so positive about everything life has to offer. I guess he's the type of guy that's hard to really dislike for a long time. This definitely seems to be the case with Sal, who always finds himself back with Dean.
This book can take some time to get through. Although it's only around 300 pages, most of those pages are dense with words and Kerouac's detailed descriptions of nearly everything he encounters. Overall, pretty good book but not exactly my thing.