I read about the gap in time between events and thought “wow that’s really long” but never framed it the way you just said regarding the “modern day” and let me say thank you for drawing that comparison. From our perspective it’d be as if some ancient Egyptian or Roman king turned out to be living underground and all of a sudden wanted his artifacts back - really changes my perception of the outlook the characters would have had during their adventures!

OC thrives on 2 groups: old people looking for a quiet vacation, and families with young children looking for a family-friendly vacation. Loud teens vaping/getting drunk/smoking weed on the boardwalk are not only not part of either of the 2 groups mentioned, but those 2 groups tend to reallllly hate loud/obnoxious teens. Makes sense OC wants to put a stop to it

On the Road. I’m very into the classics and 20th century lit but I’ve tried this one several times both in physical and audiobook formats and can never get past the narrative style. I’m sure it was innovative when it came out but is so plain by today’s standards that I can’t get into it. I know it’s plain bc everyone copied Kerouac’s new format to the point that it’s no longer interesting, so kudos to him for that, but my modern perspective can’t get into it