I apologize for being MIA this week; I had to go to North Carolina for my new job, which was a great experience but rather exhausting. Interestingly, those hours (and hours) of driving got me thinking about the myriad of books that revolve around being on the road, so I decided this week's top three would be dedicated to such works--restless and wild and searching works that use the road as a metaphor.
1. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
I know, beyond obvious, but I also don't think there is any way to not include this beat generation classic. Like many dreamy high schoolers who yearn but don't yet know what for, I fell in love with this book's rhythm, the wild aching pulse that propelled Kerouac's words into some strange mix of story and sound. Certain lines still stay with me today when I get in the car, like: "What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?--it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-by. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies."
2. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson
'Solace in excess' ala The Great Gatsby. Not going to say I loved it, and not going to say I read it twice (I actually prefer Thompson's Rum Diaries), but again this book uses driving as a way to move away from the present so that we might see it better--from afar.
3. You Shall Know Our Velocity, Dave Eggers
I know what you're thinking: Eggers was on last week's top three list! But he's just great, so here we go again. Strictly speaking, this isn't just a road trip book, but it is about two young men who set out on a round-the-world odyssey to give away $80,000 through ridiculous means, and cars are occasionally involved. Uncertainty, loss, confusion--all major themes in this books, and so well represented through travel.
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