Book was enjoyable. For some reason I seem to be drawn to books that involve the sea, or at least the sea is a topic that comes up in a lot of literature. The sea is a theme I am always fascinated to read about and this book scratched some of that itch. This was my first novel by Kerouac and was his first novel. It could have been more polished, but from what I can tell that wouldn't be very 'Kerouac'. This book contains snippets of greatness in some of the characters and some interesting thoughts to reflect upon about experience and condition, but at times the book is shallow. It's semi autobiographical and in being so you get a window in Kerouac's early life but it seems to not be honest enough.