Travels with Charley in Search of America:
- ISBN13: 9780142000700
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
With his dog Charley, John Steinbeck set out in his truck to explore and experience America in the 1960s. As he talked with all kinds of people, he sadly noted the passing of region speech, fell in love with Montana, and was appalled by racism in New Orleans…. More >>
Steinbeck seems to have a rather elitist attitude in this book. His ego is on full display. Example: he doesn’t like the transformation of the American infrastructure from highways to interstates because you lose touch with the real America because of all the billboards, efficient truck stops,lack of scenery, etc, etc. John would’t be happy unless we were all farmers living in old mother Russia telling stories around a fire. Sitting around a fire because we didn’t invent electricity because it might elevate us socially above our neighbor or possibly rob us of the joys of sitting around a fire telling stories; all while eating raw potatoes and drinking water out of a hole in the ground. While I have always thought Steinbeck could write beautifully, his books seem to be little more than propaganda to further his socialist desires for society. But who am I? I guess I’m just more of a Hemingway kind of guy; I didn’t get a college degree in something that only offers a job teaching the same subject as my diploma.
Rating: 1 / 5
When i first started to read Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, i thought that it was going to be an interesting book to read, considering that we where going to have quizzes on it, but as i went on to reading the book it was the worse book i have ever read in my life,the book was boring and long,and It also ramble on and on. i personally didn’t see any plot or even a well plan of organization going on. As i continued to read the book i was completely loss and confused, he would talk a lot about he’s french poodle dog that spoke french; i thought that he was very weird, i also thought that he had major issues. Also when ever he was traveling he would meet all sorts of people and conversate with them,and before you knew it he was conversating with someone else completely different. I would strongly emphize that i would not recommended this book to anyone, because this book would really discourage people from wanted to read anymore of his book. For me personally i would not read another book written by John Steinbeck, and maybe if i decided to give another of his book a chance i would be really cautious.
Rating: 1 / 5
In “Travels with Charley” Steinbeck takes a break from the exploitation fiction that made him famous and hits the road. He and Charley, well, travel. That’s it. Along the way there are plenty of things for him to offer opinions of, mostly negative. One gets the feeling that Steinbeck is out looking for more pathetic people to exploit, er, uh, I mean downtrodden subcultures to champion. But in the end, it is clear that Steinbeck concludes that the America of 1962 wasn’t such a bad place. Gee, thanks Mr. Steinbeck, hey eveybody, we can get on with our lives, John Steinbeck thinks we’re okay!
Overall “Travels…” reads like a supreme testament to Steinbeck’s ego. One can almost hear him saying, “My opinion of this truck is 100% relavent, I am, after all, John Steinbeck.” What’s more, it is a “personal experience” and nothing dates faster than a “personal experience.” I can see how in 1962 rambling around the country offering sporadic opinions might have been the height of literature (it was right in between “On The Road” and “Easy Rider”) but America has changed a bit in the past 40 years. So why is this book still in print? Apparently, because it was written by John Steinbeck. Although this vidicates his superhuman ego, it does make one grateful that Steinbeck’s publisher did not get a hold of his grocery list. Otherwise we would be subjected to “Truffles with Chutney; The John Steinbeck Diet.”
Rating: 1 / 5
Travel with Charley is the most awful book I had ever read in my life. The plot of story is like going nowhere, he keeps telling the same occasion over and over again. He can tell a second of moment into two or three pages. Describe his stupid truck into more than a page. There is nothing interesting in his journey. He said he prefer went through the countryside road than the highway almost every time in the book.Travel with Charley makes me absolutely lost my interesting in reading novels. I think this would be my last novel to read if I don’t have to read it. I’m not going to insult John Steinbeck’s books; probably someone out there would like his books to death. I’m not discouraging people not to read his books, but this is my comment after reading it.
Rating: 1 / 5
I am completely indifferent to Steinbeck, no biases, nothing, but I would have to say that this is by far the worst novel that I have ever read. Long, dull depictions of possibly the dryest parts of America dominate this book, along with not-so-clever interactions between Steinbeck and his dog, Charley. Though for a novel this book may be short, it certainly could have ended about 200 pages before it did and we would have gotten the message: geography and people influence each other, and it is obvious that Steinbeck traveled only through the wastelands of America.
Rating: 1 / 5