Currently finishing reading On the Road, and this is something that really flew over my head in the book. On many an occasion, both Sal and Dean fall in love with a random stranger they meet, make plans to run away together, then lose contact with the person and sleep with the very next girl they see. Is it just a detachment complex? An unspoken rule of the time that holding yourself to one person is wrong? Should I be reading more beat history to appreciate why they acted this way? Or are they all just uncaring jerks with sociopath tendencies?
I remember reading on the road just prior to going to university. I also remember it being an amazing read, are you enjoying it thus far? I don't know much about the Beats, but I do think that their style of living or at least Kerouacs style may be vastly overrated. After all, the guy died from internal bleeding from alcohol abuse… Doesn't sound too romantic to me.
You really should, it's a great read. I also enjoyed his book the Dharma Bums.