Monday 25 January 2010

Travels With Charley

In about 1960 John Steinbeck decided to travel around the USA for a few months in a pick up truck with just his poodle Charley for company. Its an lovely combination of Mr Steinback reflecting on his own wonderlust, witty and affectionate social observation and beautiful descriptions of the landscapes he drives through. Perfect armchair travel.

"...the air was rich with butter coloured sunlight, not fuzzy but crisp and clear so that every frost-gray tree was set off, the rising hills were not compounded, but alone and separate. There was a penetration of the light into solid substance so that seemed to see into things, deep in and I've seen that kind of light elsewhere only in Greece. I remember now that I had been told Wisconsin is a lovely state, but the telling had not prepared me."

1 comment:

Apron Thrift Girl said...

This is one of my all time favorite books. I love the part where he introduces Charlie to a redwood tree and says something like "it's the tree of all trees".