The Wayward Bus
- ISBN13: 9780142437872
- Condition: New
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Product Description
Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America’s greatest writers and cultural figures. Over the next year, his many works, beginning with the six shown here, will be published as black-spine Penguin Classics for the first time and will feature eye-catching, newly commissioned art. Of this initial group of six titles, The Wayward Bus is in a new edition. An imaginative and unsentimental chronicle of a bus traveling California’s back roads. This allegorical novel of pilgrimage includes a new introduction by Gary Scharnhorst. Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readers—and to the many who rev… More >>
I hated this book, but I couldn’t stop reading it, so I give it 5 stars. I never cared much for Steinbeck, but this book intrigued me. There is virtually no plot, but the character development is wonderful, and leaves you thanking God that you’re not as stupid as you could be.
Rating: 5 / 5
Sadly, this story tells of the evils that each human posseses. Steinbeck takes a dramatic step by interwining his visualizations into a city bus and its passengers. It is brilliant. The story starts slow like when a bus gets going and speeds up with every passenger, then stops to let off one and invite another where it repeats the pattern again. I suggest this to be read for what you are, and to realize what you aren’t.
Rating: 5 / 5
I really enjoyed this book!
Among other things I like about Steinbeck, that all persons have faults as well, even the ones you like. And they are very interesting characters. And its very easy to read.
Rating: 5 / 5
In a rundown bus on the back roads of California, a group of passengers bad their lives changed on the Wayward Bus named “Sweetheart”. Authored by John Steinbeck, The Wayward Bus exhibits an understanding of the personal lives of these characters. While delving into lust and passion, these characters realized that they weren’t simply on a bus ride, but that they were on a search for identity; this is what they all shared- an experience to help find themselves and to grow from.
As Juan Chicoy may have simply seemed like the normal bus driver, we saw that deeper problems brewed in the distance. Though not a religious man, The Virgin of Guadeloupe helped to provide him with guidance and in turn helped him make the decision to return back to the bus after having broken down.
The Pritchard Family provided the classic image of a wealthy family with discrepancies in happiness. As each member found their nature to be of some concern, these self-reflections provided the reader with understanding deeper than the material problems they displayed.
Though I am aware of the implications that each character plays on the story, Mr. Van Brunt’s sickness at the end questioned me at first. I then came to realize that since he was depicted so harshly, he too needed a weakness (his secret strokes) to slow down in his search for identity.
I would most definitely recommend this book because more so in this sense, when the plot is more restricted, one dwells on the personas of the characters much more; this sets a better stage for reflection and philosophy to shine through without being engulfed by the plot.
Rating: 3 / 5
In a style all his own John Steinbeck has written a classic story of the soul’s search for meaning in The Wayward Bus. Following a group of travelers on their way through California, it details the lives of several characters and their hopes and dreams for what the future holds. As with any good character though, as he shows us rather well is that underneath all of their apparent differences, they are all human in their own flawed ways. One character that I remember really stood out was a night club dancer who gave off a very vivid picture in my mind of a very independent woman, who was also very sexy. A particular memory of her stripping and climbing into a giant martini glass was emblazoned on my mind, not only as being very erotic, (and tastefully done without being crude) but also was indicative of the kind of view of many people’s taboos about sexuality during that time period. One thing that I thoroughly enjoyed in this book was the author’s use of descriptions of the scenes passing by as the bus ride went along, and his transitions between character’s thoughts flowed very nicely into one another. I’ll have to read this one again!
Rating: 4 / 5