Travels With Charley, by John Steinbeck

This is the second book in my Library Book Discussion Group's "Steinbeck Summer."   Next month we are reading and discussing The Pearl and Cannery Row.


Travels With Charley
Characters:
John Steinbeck
Charles le Chien - "Charley" - French poodle
Rocinante - camper truck


For Discussion:
NOTE: All page numbers are from the Penguin paperback edition printed in 1986.

1. As he was starting out, Steinbeck wrote about people's reaction to his trip and how many of them had a "look of longing."  Would you like to go on such a trip?  Why or why not?
2. Would you be able to survive in a dwelling as small as Rocinante?  What would you need to pack to be happy or content on the road?
3. He also wrote about the amount of litter he saw along the roads and how in other countries these items would have been reused in some way.  Has anything changed?  Do you see as much litter as your used to?
4. Steinbeck made a lot of observations about what he encountered on the trip.  One was that people didn't seem to be talking about politics (31).  Later he wrote about the same topic, "I believe this [talking about politics] was going on all over the country in private.  It must have been only publicly that the nation was tongue-tied" (199).  Has this changed since 1962?
5. Are you a "mapifier" or a "roamer" who enjoys being lost (70-71)?
6. Many in our group have traveled widely and/or have moved frequently.  What do you think about the idea of having roots vs. being mobile(101-104)?
7. Steinbeck also lamented that our country is losing  the unique speech patterns and vocabulary (106-107).   Do you agree?  If you have lived in different places in our country, what unique speech patterns and vocabulary have your experienced?
8. One of his last stops was in New Orleans where a school was being integrated.  He stopped there to observe a group of female protesters nicknamed The Cheerleaders.  His conclusion was, "These blowsy women, with their little hats and their clippings, hungered for attention. They wanted to be admired" (258).  What did you think about this episode?  Was he correct in his assessment of the women's motivation?
9. Steinbeck wrote, "I came on this trip to try to learn something of America.  Am I learning anything?  If I am, I don't know what it is" (139).  What did he learn about America?  Did you learning anything about America from reading this book?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassocaition.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.