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Summary: I highly recommend that anyone who can read this book.
Review: For easy reading and lessons about life, I strongly encourage anyone who has the chance to read this book. Steinbeck, the most brilliant man, stops and makes the reader think about life and how simple it could be. He takes ordinary circumstances and finds humorous things arising from them. It astounds me how anyone could jump into a vehicle and travel across the United States learning about the different cultures and personalities of the American people. If you are in for an adventure and challenge for life, I strongly suggest reading this book. The easy, flowing style of writing makes it understandable and enjoyable to read. I guarantee that every reader will be satisfied with the lessons they learn from Steinbeck. J.N.E.
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Summary: This book ranks high on the T.C. scale of approval :-)
Review: This is one of the few books I was required to read for a school assignment that I actually enjoyed reading. I believe that it was the style of writing that captured my attention. Steinbeck wrote in a manner that was conducive to quick, flowing reading making the book enjoyable and thought-provoking at the same time. With every turn of the page, Steinbeck brought forth a new and inventive way of looking upon the world around him. The way that he offers new outlooks on such a variety of subjects was enticing to me and kept the book in my hand and the pages turning. Therefore I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting a new challenge and aspect on life. Travis C.
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Summary: wonderfuly crafted novel about unattainable in life
Review: The past few weeks I have been reading Travels with Charley. But before I tell how I ranked it, first we must examine the parts that make up this book. No story line and a plot headed nowhere, like the winding roads, pretty well describes the writing style John Stienbeck used in his novel. This technique defines no barriers of pages, for Stienbeck's writing is not only words, but thoughts strung into ideas, which create the essence of memories. "When the radio was on, music had stimulated memory of times and places..." (74). This book worked in much the same way. If you haven't read Travels with Charley it begins with an incurable itch "to be someplace else" (3). Stienbeck was infected and had been so for as long as he could remember. Neither time nor maturity could cure him. So, against the will of his friends, he set out on a journey too not only cures his itch but also to rediscover America. All of his experiences on the road are common, everyday feelings like fear, loneliness and even the sheer joy of escape. I'm not sure that Stienbeck ever did find America, but he found something even better. He found the stuff that America is made of, people. Every where he went, he went out of his way to meet someone new and see America through someone else's eyes. "I cannot commend this account as an America that you will find. So much there is to see, but our morning eyes describe a different world than do our afternoon eyes..." (60). Nevertheless, I don't think that the point to his book was the journey. I think the point is taking a chance that he took. Everyone has an itch inside to do something or become something. This itch may be your destiny or your fate just waiting to be found. Taking Roctaine out on the open road all alone with only his old dog Charlie was chance that Stienbeck knew he had to take. I loved how whatever chances he took in life; he willingly faced the consequences. That was courageous and commendable. His irony ended the novel perfectly because after so long on roads he had never traveled when he finally reached the roads he knew he was perfectly lost. I guess you could say there's no place like home. Well, I definitely give this book a 10 because it was wonderfully written and a treat to read.
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Summary: I would read this book in my spare time I'd otherwise waste.
Review: John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley earns a rank of seven for provoking much thought and entertaining the reader with his experiences. This book deserves a reading if you aim to relax by journeying not figuratively across the United States; but through Steinbeck's mind, meandering from a remembrance to an analysis to an aimless thought. Oddly enough, this disjointedness facilitated the reading since no intricate plot line demanded attention and no details lay strewn about for the reader to assemble. Rather, Steinbeck abandoned each thought line to pursue the next; more often than not, the connections came together nicely, but two adjacent stories seldom relied on each other for coherence. The reader must keep an open mind while Travels with Charley exposes and discusses human foibles and cultural differences, since it occasionally identifies and criticizes the reader's own characteristics. Steinbeck nevertargets any specific group or individual other than himself in hisreproaches, yet every reader will discover some fault of humanity in his own soul as Steinbeck censures what he notices along the roads of America. This allows for offence, self-evaluation, or dismissal by the reader; however, it nearly always elicits some contemplation. The most worthwhile aspect of Travels with Charley lies in its ability to expose the humor in events most people allow to pass by unnoticed. Steinbeck dissects every conversation during his trip, recounts every event of discussional merit, and assigns endless personalities and opinions to Charley, his poodle. With his attitude, a close encounter with a grizzly bear provides an opportunity for open laughter; and from his mental perspective, the psychology of a flock of turkeys requires a close evaluation. Travels with Charley induces only one disappointment since Steinbeck doesn't measurably accomplish what he introduces as the goal of his book Steinbeck sets out "to try to rediscover this monster land" of America, but instead he honestly admits that he found no succinct and presentable truth about this country (5). "This monster of a land...turns out to be the macrocosm of microcosm me" Steinbeck states in his only attempt at a generality derived from his journey (159). This inconclusiveness may disappoint the reader who expected an endpoint rather than a surrender presented with an assimilation of the author's ideas. When expecting not a neat summary of America, but anticipating only an amusing and diverting presentation of its component territories and people, Travels with Charley will lend much satisfaction to the reader.
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Summary: Book Review - Travels with Charlie
Review: Book Review Travels with Charley While reading Travels with Charley, all of my preconceived notions were shot and my mind frame changed. When I chose this book it was nothing like I assumed it to be. I never thought it would be so full of lessons and insights into life. This book rates a ten on my list. Very few books have moved me and I have to say that Travels with Charlie definitely has. He lets his readers know that the world does not represent an evil place. There is still some good in life today. He gives insight into life in general as well as his own. His generalizations about how he feels inspired me to change the way that I live my life. I could quote a million phrases, but to really understand his words, one has to read the entire novel. I never expected a book about a man traveling around America to grab me with so much intensity. In my copy, I took a highlighter and marked every sentence that meant something to me. Travels with Charley not only added to my literary knowledge, but about the knowledge of fellings that I found within myself.END
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Summary: A great story of a man's journey to rediscover America
Review: In Travels With Charley, Steinbeck journeys through America wanting to redetermine what America is - its people and their dreams and beliefs. He provides deep insights throughout his adventure which he shares sometimes humorously and sometimes with sadness. Travels is not just a collection of events, but a wonderful saga that may be called the mosaic of America.
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Summary: a basic review of Travels With Charley, by John Steinbeck.
Review: John Seinbeck, the author of Travels With Charley, has set out on a journey. His mission is to find out more about the American people. Although he wrote about them, he felt he didn't know enough about them. The book shows how the average life of someone in California would be compared to the average life of someone living in New Hampshire. With Charley, his faithful dog, by his side, he seemed to feel very comfortable meeting people of high and low financial status, people from his very own home town and people from places he had never visited before. Although the story seems to bore the reader often, a lot of information about the American people can be fofound out by simply reading this tale of America.
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Summary: A very detailed book, although too much so in some spots.
Review: This book provides an incredible resource for the American people and tells us about our history, however not in the way that we would usually recognize a history book. It could even serve as a traveler's guide for the U.S, because it discusses the actions and lives of various American communities. Aside from that, it shows us just how little we know about ourselves and the area in which we live. Everyone that Steinbeck comes across during his journey serves as a window to a completely different (yet still in some ways very 'American') world. Steinbeck does a great job of putting the reader into his travels and allowing the reader to learn much about the real, everyday America.
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Summary: A captivating story about a man on a mission to find America
Review: A story about the author's travels through the United States in search of America, accompanied by his poodle, Charley. On the way he meets any people and visits many places which characterize America. This is a good book which uplifts your spirits and which gives an insight into America and all who llive there.
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Summary: Travels With Charley is a commentary on America Today
Review: Travels With Charley is an account of John Steinbeck's travels through the states, rediscovering America all over again. Readers are given an account of the raw details, the nice people, the grumpy, short-spoken people, and the plastic-covered hotel rooms that litter our country. He shares his impressions of the land itself and the characteristics it has inspired within the people who live in those lands. John Steinbeck tells a true rendition of the country, the good, the bad, and getting lost near home. He puts his feelings into his words, and shows America from a whole new perspective.
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