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4606 ratings, 4.00 average rating, 525 reviews
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published
January 31st 1980
(first published 1962)
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
binding
Paperback, 288 pages
characters
isbn
0140053204
(isbn13: 9780140053203)
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 ...more
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avg 4.00
I think high school curriculum planners might be better served by using this John Steinbeck book rather than The Pearl or Grapes of Wrath to introduce young people to this Nobel Prize winner for the first time. Yes, yes, I know - this isn't a novel - but Steinbeck's distinctive American vernacular is just as fine here, his delineation of people is just as nuanced. Ah well, nobody asked me - but I still like the idea.
In 1960 John Steinbeck decided to reacquaint himself with A...more
In 1960 John Steinbeck decided to reacquaint himself with A...more
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5 comments
Read in January, 1990
recommended to Grip by:
No one recommended this book to merecommends it for: people who enjoy Steinbeck, travelogues, standard size poodles!
I hadn't expected to enjoy this book as much as I did. It was my first travelogue, and I only read it because, a) I was bored and b)I figured I couldn't go wrong with Steinbeck - a writer I already enjoyed reading (still do).
But I have a wicked streak of wanderlust in me, too, and Steinbeck really caught me at a good time. It was Summertime, and I was already in a daydream-y mood. That mood lasted all through the book.
I managed to get through the whole trip with the cranky writer, and he...more
But I have a wicked streak of wanderlust in me, too, and Steinbeck really caught me at a good time. It was Summertime, and I was already in a daydream-y mood. That mood lasted all through the book.
I managed to get through the whole trip with the cranky writer, and he...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Shellie by:
book grouprecommends it for: people who don't like "classics"
I have a feeling that if I had read Travels with Charley back in high school instead of The Grapes of Wrath or even Of Mice and Men, I would have actually liked Steinbeck rather than merely appreciated him.
Part of my Steinbeck indifference was obviously influenced by my teenage attitude. At 15 there were other things I'd much rather have been doing than reading novels about the great depression. Also, I had that "what does this have to do with me" attitude I saw so frequentl...more
Part of my Steinbeck indifference was obviously influenced by my teenage attitude. At 15 there were other things I'd much rather have been doing than reading novels about the great depression. Also, I had that "what does this have to do with me" attitude I saw so frequentl...more
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recommends it for:
anyone who liked Fast Food Nation
Really loved this book. It's basically Steinbeck's cross-country musings about his travels with his big poodle, Charley. What I loved about it was that it lacks Steinbeck's usual heavy-handed doom and gloom. It's not lighthearted, just thoughtful. It's interesting to see how the US was becoming what it is now, McDonaldland. There's a really great section where he describes the growth of cookie-cutter hotel rooms. In the South, he speeds by someone who mistakes his big black poodle for a bla...more
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Read in May, 2008
Recently our Sunday paper travel section had a list of recommended travel books so that's why I tried this one. Plus I like Steinbeck and think he's pretty funny when he's not writing "Grapes of Wrath" or "Mice and Men." This was written about 1960, when he was older and grumpier. But it's a great take on his ideas about America at that time. There's a quote near the end of the book which really resonated with me.
"In the beginning of this record I tried to explor...more
"In the beginning of this record I tried to explor...more
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Read in October, 2007
This is what Clive James would call an ancillary work by Steinbeck. It is an engaging, sloppy narrative of a round-trip Steinbeck took in a cabined pick-up truck in 1960. For me it began with two strikes: conversations with his dog, a named vehicle, but I survived both of those personal irritations and enjoyed long stretches of the journey and some parts of it immensely. Some of the dialogue, I must say, seems manufactured here and there. If not manufactured, then it is at least translated into ...more
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Read in December, 2007
A quote I really like, as it captures what Steinbeck and I share in our hearts.
For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard or too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not a punishment. I did not want to surrender my fierceness for a small gain in yardage...I knew that...more
For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard or too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not a punishment. I did not want to surrender my fierceness for a small gain in yardage...I knew that...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
reluctant lovers of america
I loved this gentle, open-eyed drive through the US (and a bit of Canada), which Steinbeck made in his later years, after he was famous and settled down comfortably in a house on Long Island. His reason for the trip was that he felt that he'd lost touch with the country which he had become so renowned for knowing and describing. He goes incognito in a pickup truck modified for sleeping one man and one dog. I love the gray French poodle, Charley, especially his adventures in French Canada, where ...more
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Wanderlust is a pervasive, seemingly incurable "virus of restlessness." Not contagious in any clinical sense, you either have it or you don't. John Steinbeck did, in spades. As the 1960s commenced, Steinbeck, according to his oldest son, sensed his impending twilight, and thus set out with his French poodle, Charley, to see his country a final time. Spanning nearly 10,000 miles — from New York, through New England, across the northern U.S. border, into the Pacific Northwest, down thr...more
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Sometimes serious writers write about their dogs. And it always turns out terribly. It happened to Thomas Mann. Here it has happened to John Steinbeck. It actually isn't so much about his dog, to be honest. But it's dated, and uninteresting, and I don't understand why anyone would read this rather than, let's say, Terkel's Working or Jean Baudrillard's America or any number of good sociological tours of America that are 100% poodle-free.
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I absolutely loved this account of Steinbeck's journey across the States with his dog, Charley. Towards the end of his life he decided he wanted to get out and see his country, and the people in it - so he took a camper truck in 1960 and off he went. It's quite melancholy and reflective in parts and as a bit of an Americophile (is that a word?*), I loved it.
*It is, yes: I just checked.
*It is, yes: I just checked.
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Read in July, 2008
Steinbeck said in the beginning of the book that everyone has this desire to travel across the country with no real destination in mind. And while reading this book, I felt the same way. This book introduced me to places I've never been and some places I've grown up with. I particularly enjoyed the passage about the Redwoods. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
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recommends it for:
all Americans
What I learned from this book...
Anyone who calls himself/herself an American has a duty to explore this country, by car, bus or train, to see it change, to hear the different voices and learn who we are, who we were and who our countrymen are. Read this book, listen to "This Land is Your Land" and go outside of your usual "area of occupancy" to find America.
Anyone who calls himself/herself an American has a duty to explore this country, by car, bus or train, to see it change, to hear the different voices and learn who we are, who we were and who our countrymen are. Read this book, listen to "This Land is Your Land" and go outside of your usual "area of occupancy" to find America.
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I really dig Steinbeck. I didn't think I would, but I do. A lot of people on this site don't seem to like him very much. That's too bad for them. This is a great road-trip book, post-Kerouac, look at America as it used to be right before some major upheavals.
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Mortality begets humanity. Faced with his own death, Steinbeck hit the road to see and be what it means human in the modern America he helped create.
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I found this book pretty interesting. John Steinbeck spends several months driving through America with his dog, Charlie, observing the different cultures and scenery, and meeting different people. I enjoyed reading about his view of what he sees and learns along the way. It makes you want to pay more attention to the country we live in and the differences, quirkiness, and beauty around us. (Some parts get a bit slow, and you can also hear a tone of tiredness and disappointment in some of his en...more
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Took a while to get through this book- and nearly each time I picked it up- it took a while to get into the rhythm of Steinbeck's writing. A nice book though. Made me want to get out on the road in my own camper. I liked that he was traveling during the off season- winter basically. That added a warm- comfortable element to the story. Traveling through NH- ME- and VT just when the frost is starting to appear and the tourists are disappearing. The most satisfying time of year- in my opinion...more
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Read in September, 2008
Every fall, I read a John Steinbeck book. I've read about all of his fictional works, so I decided to go with his travelogue - Travels With Charley. Steinbeck put a big mobile home like camper on a truck and with his poodle Charley, drove across the U.S. in the early 1960's. Most of the book is about his trip across the northern states to California where he used to live and some of his best works are set - Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath. He goes across the southern U.S. and through a...more
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At age 60 Steinbeck wanted to travel around America in a pickup and camper with his dog, Charley, and rediscover the people and the land. I read this book 35 years ago and liked it and wanted to read it again. It was in the Library, unabridged on CD. So I converted it to MP3 and put it on my iPod. If I could write like anyone I would like to write like Steinbeck. His descriptions and dialogue and impressions are very good in this book.
This trip took place in 1960 before we had the majo...more
This trip took place in 1960 before we had the majo...more
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Read in October, 2007
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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"I am happy to report that in the war between reality and romance, reality is not the stronger."
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