Big Sur vs On The Road: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Autobiographical fiction, Beat generation, Fiction
Big Sur
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Big Sur is a novel written by Jack Kerouac, that was published in 1962. The books perspective is told from Kerouac's alter ego Jack Dulouz. The novel describes Kerouac's frustration that he has with his fame of being a…
On The Road
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Described as everything from a "last gasp" of romantic fiction to a founding text of the Beat Generation movement, this story amounts to a nonfiction novel (as critics were later to describe some works). Unpublished…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Big Sur highest: Big Sur 3.8 · On The Road 3.6.
- Big Sur has the widest readership — 38930 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Big Sur | On The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (38930) | 3.6 (24482) |
| Hardcover | 3.6 (57) | 3.0 (1) |
| Google Books | — | 3.5 (19) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (57) | 4.0 (621) |
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Reception
| Big Sur | On The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 38930 | 24482 |
| Editions | 38 | 152 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 369710 |
| Reading it now | — | 2451 |
| Written reviews | — | 24482 |
| Wikipedia attention | 3031 | 24106 |
| Pages | 210 | 255 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Big Sur or On The Road?
Big Sur has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Big Sur 3.8/5, On The Road 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: Big Sur or On The Road?
Big Sur is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Big Sur (210 pages, ≈ 3 h 53 m); On The Road (255 pages, ≈ 4 h 43 m).
Which is harder to read: Big Sur or On The Road?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Big Sur: Challenging; On The Road: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
Big Sur: 1 film adaptation; On The Road: 3 film adaptations.