Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #453458 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Customer Reviews

Steinbeck regards his country with a dispassionate eye.
Predating Bill Bryson by a couple of decades (and saying in a single chapter more than Bryson could in a whole book), John Steinbeck looks for America. The book details the time he spent travelling through his country, alone (save for Charley, his dog) and anonymous, no mean feat for a writer of Steinbeck's stature. This anonymity allows him to settle in more easily with other men and find out what is felt at the heart of Americans of the day. He seeks to identify and analyse traits in the national soul, and succeeds to a large extent, finding basic friendship and goodwill in many cases. He is unafraid to criticise other humans when he wishes to, especially when faced with racial prejudice, and this gives the book a convincing structure. He is also unafraid to criticise his country as a whole, therefore making the book more credible to non-USA readers. The book contains some wonderful descriptive passages of his interactions with Charley, lending a humour not visible in his other writings. It is very easy to read, and contains a number of very evocative descriptions of scenery and people. The reader feels he is meeting the people Steinbeck meets, or seeing his sights through his own eyes. A wonderful piece of travel literature, showing the author's usual talent for identifying with his readership.

An enduring classic that is a joy to read
This is my favourite Steinbeck book. I originally read it 22 years ago whilst living in the USA. Its themes and insights are as pertinent today as they were then,and as Steinbeck saw them in '62, when this book was written.

It's easy to read, beautifully written and full of keen observations. And the relationship between the writer and his dog is an engaging one throughout.This book is often marginalised by his great fiction, but it really is a gem of a book.

My original US edition features uninspired cover art, but this Penguin classic issue is also worth buying soley for the superb cover shot of 'one man and his dog'.

Travel Along!
“Travels with Charlie” is the delightful narrative by a master story teller of his 1962 journey across America with his pet poodle, Charlie. Feeling a need to become reacquainted with America, Steinbeck purchased a custom made mobile home which he outfitted, by his own admission, to excess, before setting out on his travels. Although warned that his fame and familiarity would prevent him from maintaining his anonymity, Steinbeck was able to meet America at its own level. From sea to sea he was recognized only by friends and relatives. This anonymity permitted him to drift in and out of American society, tasting and testing, interacting and remembering. From New England to California and back to New York, we are admitted to his conversations with taciturn Yankees and French-Canadian migrant agricultural workers. Traveling west, we read of border guards, the representatives of the government bureaucracy, state specific highway designations and Steinbeck’s observations of topography. His roadside visit with an actor and his entertainment by rich friends in Texas provide a sharp contrast in outlooks and behavior of different Americans. During his return to his hometown of Salinas, California, Steinbeck learns the truth that “you can’t go back home again.” Home has changed, his friends have changed, and Steinbeck had changed. It is sad, but true.

Steinbeck dreaded the South but knew that he could not be avoided. Traveling in 1962, Steinbeck saw some of the dramatic events of the Civil Rights movement while he sampled the prevailing racial attitudes of Southerners of the day.

At the start, Steinbeck was looking to become reacquainted with America. I was hoping that the would finish with some wise conclusions gleaned from his experience. He did conclude that Americans were more united as Americans than they were divided as residents of different regions. He is amazed to find the degree to which diverse immigrant groups have amalgamated into a new nationality in less than two centuries. I passed this on to a distant cousin in France with whom I have been discussing themes in American and French history. Beyond this, we are left to draw our own conclusions from the facts reported.

I wonder how many of the people to whom Steinbeck referred have read and recognized themselves in this book. How many of us, who did not meet Steinbeck, see ourselves or our acquaintances reflected in its pages?

This a a hard book to put down, so don’t try. Pick it up, free your mind and enjoy “Travels with Charlie.”