I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this brilliant book by John Steinbeck and I really do recommend it should anyone want a good read which isn’t too testing!
Published in 1962, Steinbeck tells of his travels throughout the United States, in a camper that he named Rocinante after Don Quixote’s horse!
He begins his travels in Long Island, New York and then he roughly follows the outer border of the U.S. from Maine to the Pacific North West, into his native Salinas Valley in California, across to Texas, through the Deep South and then returning to New York. This journey took in approx 10,000 miles and all in the company of his poodle, Charley.
I don’t want to divulge too much but just to say that Steinbeck’s writing is excellent and indeed is particularly good when he describes Wisconsin:
I just love the imagery in ‘…the summers may reek and rock with heat, the winters may groan with dismal cold but when I saw it for the first time, in early October, the air was rich with butter - coloured sunlight, not fuzzy but crisp and clear...’
You can sense the writer’s delight as he experiences Wisconsin in early autumn!
‘ The land dripped with richness’, reinforces Steinbeck’s excitement as he invites the reader to share it with him. I love this type of writing and I cast my mind back to his book, ‘Of Mice and Men’, another superb read which I taught my GCSE students for many years; this book also has some wonderful description.
‘Travels with Charley’ is definitely a book to be read slowly ( which I have!) in order to really enjoy and savour the flavour!
'fat cows and pigs gleaming against green' - I like that. Thank you for the recommendation.
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