50 years later, new version of “On the Road” released
For most of us, fifty years is a long time. In the literary world, if a book is still being read and discussed fifty years later, then it’s probably sliding into the realm of a classic. One of those books is Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. A new version of the infamous novel will be released, and according to reports, this version will be uncut. According to a Yahoo! news article, the new release will be much more revealing:
Now, 50 years on, the tale of disaffected youth struggling to find a place in post-war America is to be re-released in its original form, unedited, cruder and more erotic, and with the real names of Kerouac’s traveling companions restored.
As the story goes, Kerouac wrote the novel in three weeks, keeping himself going on coffee and other drugs (don’t try that at home, kids). And, the original script isn’t even in your typical manuscript form:
The script is typed on a 36-meter (120-foot) scroll of paper, single spaced and without paragraph breaks.
For the reader, the new release of On the Road, will be a more genuine experience for the reader and hopefully be closer to Kerouac’s on vision of the novel:
The new edition represents the first time average readers will have seen the original manuscript, presented in a "less conventional, more spontaneous" style than the originally-published version, Vlagopoulos explained.
The broader issue here is how the changes a novel goes through between drafts, until it’s finally published, can affect the reading experience. While publishers try to maintain the manuscript’s integrity, a lot of times the decisions on what changes to make are fueled by marketing.
No one can really blame the publisher, as they are investing in these books and want a good return on their investment. But they, nor anyone else for that reason, can really predict how popular a book will be and if it’ll still be read fifty years later. So it appears that the publishers, editors and even the authors are walking on a fine line, trying balance commercial viability with literary integrity.
I hope that made sense. Anyway, if you’re a big fan of Kerouac then it might be worth it to check out this new version. If you do, leave a comment and let us know how it compared to the version we’re all used to.
Check out the Yahoo! article here:
Uncut edition of Kerouac’s "On the Road" issued fifty years later
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