Travels with Charley in Search of America Review

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Travels with Charley in Search of America ReviewI have read somewhere that what makes a novel a "classic" is that it must contain some fundamental truths that can withstand changing fads, cultures and eras. I know that "Travels with Charley" is not a novel but a memoir. However, this memoir contains so much truth that it deserves--and has acheived--almost instant "classic" status.
It is about John Steinbeck's trip across America. He begins in New York, drives up through Maine, across the midwest, through Montana to Washington, down the Pacific Coast, through Texas and finally through the American southeast. He was 58 when he took this trip, and his only companions were his loyal dog Charley and trailer Rocinante. I appreciated the way that Steinbeck respected Charley, gave him human characteristics, and looked for Charley's observations on mankind as well as his own.
I have heard this memoir described as an "angry" book, but I think this only describes a small portion of Steinbeck's experiences on the road. Steinbeck was certainly troubled by certain things--chief among them the horrifying "witches sabbath" that occurred in New Orleans. He also looked with sadness upon the "progress" that has diminished our cultural identities and ravaged our beautiful land. However, he was wise enough to know that older people often cling to the past simply because it is familiar, but not because it was superior or even good. He recognized that trait in himself and challenged it.
Some individual passages in this book were so wise I read them several times to try to appreciate the full extent of his wisdom. For example, the passage where Steinbeck remarks that too many older people turn in their exciting lives for healthy and safe ones. He wrote that he was not willing to exchange the quality of his life for slightly more quantity. As I read this passage, I considered that he died less than 10 years after writing this book. Sad, but how many people do a solo, cross-country road trip in their twilight years?
I also appreciated, but was wounded by, his descriptions of racial unrest in the south. The witches sabbath brought tears to my eyes, as it described the young black students as ultimately less pitiable then their tormenters. The students were going places and had their whole lives before them; their tormenters were ugly, twisted people clinging to a past that they cherished simply because they feared the future and the unknown.
Ultimately, "Travels with Charley" is about embracing life. Though Steinbeck saw much that troubled him, he saw much more that was beautiful, like the migrant farmers in Maine, the kind veterinarian in Amarillo, the wonderful tire shop owner in Portland. As Steinbeck remarks, the America that he wrote about in this book doesn't exist anymore. If we followed his exact route today, we would encounter something entirely different--both because of the passage of time and because of our varying perspectives. However, while the America he wrote about no longer exists, the Americans do, and Steinbeck's memoir is a love song to them.Travels with Charley in Search of America Overview

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