Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1961) by John Steinbeck #NonFicNov25

🐩 When the itch of travelling came to John Steinbeck in the 1960s, he began a plan for a road trip journey around America. A camper-truck was made specially for him, which he named Rocinante - after Don Quixote's horse. For a companion, he brought Charley, his old French poodle (his real name was Charles - pronounced in French). The purpose of the trip, is to get to know more of his country, which he has written a lot, but not quite sure he has captured the true nature. Steinbeck started from Long Island, New York, then followed the outer border of the United States. In total, he encompasses 10,000 miles.

🐩 After furnishing Rocinante with everything he might need to be comfortable during the journey - he ended up bringing way too many - he started right away. The first transit was Maine. From there, he headed towards the Pacific Northwest. One of his (and mine) favorite is White Mountains 'with the prettiest villages in the whole nation'. While in Maine, Steinbeck observed that mobile homes was a new trend, he found many of them, parked on the open country (immune from town taxes). The park men only charged small ground rent plus fees for water and electricity. Steinbeck invited one of his 'neighbor' camper, a performing street actor, for a cup of coffee, and they had a very interesting conversation. He did that several times during the road trip, conversing with people, to get to know their views on many things.

🐩 Another interesting observation made by Steinbeck was how the writing of city signs reflected the character of the city. But his more important discovery was the lost of regional speech with local accents. He blamed television and radio broadcasted to the whole nation as the cause. People everywhere heard the same accent, and it immersed in theirs. "For with local accent will disappear local tempo. The idioms, the figures of speech that make language rich and full of the poetry of place and time must go. And in their place will be a national speech, wrapped and packaged, standard and tasteless." 

🐩 Although Steinbeck's main desire was to learn about America, he also made a not less important discovery. It's about Charley. I loved Charley! For me, he is the main attraction of the book (sorry, Steinbeck!) I loved the way he said 'Ftt', while waking up his master or attracting his attention. A truly French gentleman he is, always polite, gentle, and dignified. It was painful for him (physically and mentally) when he got prostatitis. It must have been humiliating for him every time he needs to pee, poor Charley! Anyway, Steinbeck got to learn an unknown side of Charley after an encounter with bears on Yellowstone National Park. It was a quite tensed moment. I, too, have had an interesting discovery. If you have read East of Eden, you might remember a secondary but not the least important character: Lee - the household old Chinese intelligent servant. Lee was actually the name of Steinbeck's childhood cook!

🐩 At last, Steinbeck's travels with Charley went beyond Steinbeck's dream (whose travels ever match one's expectation, right?) He wanted to learn about America, but could he conclude in the end, who, what, or how America was? It's not that easy. Steinbeck experienced one last shock before ending his travel; he experienced first hand the intense racism towards Negroes in the South. The amount of hatred he felt was enough to disgust and enraged him to, finally, soured his journey to and end, long before he arrived home. For me, the travels provided a first hand glimpse to America in the 1960s, but what pleased me the most is John Steinbeck's writing - incisive, eloquent, and witty.

Some quotes:

"It seems to me that Montana is a great splash of grandeur. The scale is huge but not overpowering."

- John Steinbeck fell in love with Montana!

"You can't go home again because home has ceased to exist except in the mothballs of memory."

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe (1991) by Bill Bryson #NonficNov25

🎒 Bill Bryson is an American journalist and writers; he wrote a lot of travel books, and Neither Here nor There is his travelogue focusing on Europe. Bill had been backpacking to Europe twenty years before, as a student, together with his friend (disguised as Katz in this book). And this journey he took in the 1990s was partly retracing his former one. Along the journey, he'd stopped at the same place he had visited, comparing notes (then vs now), observing the people or city's characters, tasting the foods, visiting the landmarks, and sometimes elaborating a little on the historical, cultural, or political sides of it. Then he wove them into a caustic hilarious narration.

🎒 Bill started his journey from the north, in Hammerfest, in Norway, to catch the Northern Lights. It appeared to be my most favorite part of this book. Looking at it from Bryson's point of view, I think I would love to visit Hammerfest. The people might be slightly cool, keeping-themselves-to-themselves kind of manner, towards tourists. But hey, you go to Hammerfest for the atmosphere, not the people, right? I say, the Northern Lights would be one of the most serene and magical experiences I would have ever had in my life. It would be an unforgettable one. And I think I would love to stay in Hammerfest for a while.

🎒 This book was daubed as funny by some people, and though I don't appreciate Bryson's caustic humor, the early part of the book was indeed funny. The funniest one is when in Oslo, he found a bottle of chemical liquid at the hostel, confused of its function, and decided to wash his clothes with it. Apparently that was a toilet-bowl cleaner! People who're passing him said to each other: "You know, that man smelled like toilet-bowl cleaner" - and that's the kind of humor Bryson should have kept in the book, not by putting minor 'slights' to places he visited after that. One of these is when he grumbled about Brussels - he found nothing interesting there, and all he could say about it was: "The best thing that can be said for Brussels is that it is only three hours from Paris". Isn't it rude? He also observed "Thousands shops selling chocolates or lace (and they appear to sell nothing else in Brussels)". I wanted to yell at him: that's because they are famous for that! I would love to go window shopping for the lace, or is there a live demonstration of lace making one can watch or even try? And maybe buy some for me or souvenirs for my friends (who would appreciate the artistic beauty of handmade lace). And I'd love to suggest him to have a day of Comic Strip Trail - it would have been fun! Fortunately he loved Bruges and Spa (would love to visit those two if I would ever set my foot in Europe again!)

🎒 Bryson didn't appreciate France too. When in Paris, he grumbled about rudeness of the people. And that made me think about what John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley: In Search of America (currently reading): 'Two people can be in the same city at the same time, yet the city that A had seen is completely different from B's version.' He's totally right, because my experiences about Paris was totally different from Bryson. I went there in 2000 (only several years after Bryson), and the French people I met were mostly amiable - at least in three occasions during my three days visit to Paris. People at the bistro when I had my dinner on the first night were very friendly, they politely asked me where I'm from, and things about Indonesia. We had a friendly chatting during the meal (though I'd have preferred to be left alone while tasting the first steak I've ever had in France). Maybe the key is always trying to speak in French, though imperfect (I spoke half in French and sometimes in English when I couldn't find the right word; which they patiently listened to me, and corrected me if I pronounced it wrong). I also didn't like how Bryson's friend Katz grumbling when they visited the Louvre - that it's paintings and paintings. Well, what did you think you'd find in an art museum? clothes?? That attitude always annoys me in people - but I let it go because Bryson and Katz were too young at that time. 

🎒 All in all, this is a book you'd like to read if you want to travel in Europe. Bryson did not plan the journey at all, and just following his instinct and needs with go-with-the-flow attitude. I think it only works when you're young and carefree. For a man his age, you'd need at least a little planning, booking the hotel in advance, for instance. But honestly, I won't give this book more than casual browsing, since I think Bryson isn't a person who would appreciate European as it deserves. He's too American at heart. Anyway, from the countries he visited - Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Yugoslavia (as green as England and as stunningly scenic as Austria, but almost wholly untouristed), Bulgaria, Switzerland, and Turkey were among them - I think the place I was most attracted to are Bern in Swiss (cultured town with antique shops, art galleries and antiquarian bookstores, fine homes and small parks), Capri in Italy (would have wanted to visit if I'm not middle aged; the hike up the hill would kill me), and Bruges and Spa (would love to visit those two I'd I ever step my foots in Europe again).

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by: Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Book Pairings #NonficNov25 Week 3

The prompt for the third week of Nonfiction November 2025 is Book Pairings, hosted by Liz. My choice is my second book for this event:

Seven Years in Tibet is a memoir of Heinrich Harrer, a mountaineer and Tibetologist. It tells his experience of his escape from war-camp prison in British-India during Second World War and his subsequent stay in Tibet for seven years, including his friendship to the Dalai Lama.

As I have mentioned in my review, I've always been fascinated by Tibet. It started, I believe, after reading Tintin in Tibet, a graphic novel by Hergé, in my childhood. And accordingly, that's the first book I'm pairing with Seven Years in Tibet. 

Tintin In Tibet is about the triumphant salvation of a Chinese boy by the strong friendship and loyalty of his European friend. Chang, Tintin's friend, was the only survival of a plane crash on the Himalayas. While everyone was skeptical, Tintin was sure he's alive. From Tintin in Tibet, I learned about the rough lives of Tibetans amidst the cold weather and high altitude. About their staple food of Tsampa (Tintin and Captain Haddock were served this dish on their first night on Himalaya). Also about putting out one's tongue as a way of formal greeting (Captain Haddock took it as insult, which, as usual, triggered him to anger and comical result 😁). And, it was from Tintin, that I heard about Sherpa; Tibetan mountaineers with superior climbing skills and extreme endurance for high altitudes, whom foreigners hire as guides. And yet another thing that I remembered as I uploaded the book cover here - the Yeti. Had I not been reading Tintin in Tibet, I wouldn't have had any idea what the 'ugly beast' that Heinrich Harrer had mentioned referred to, would I? I think Tintin had taught me more about the outside world more than any geography I've ever studied in school!

The second book in this pairing is my second read of Tibet during my college days: The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa.

It's a story about a boy who was trained from childhood to be an Oracle (it's NOT an autobiography, as was mentioned in the cover). A "third eye" was operated on his forehead, which enabled him of clairvoyance, aura deciphering, astral projection, and the like. It is from The Third Eye that I first learned about butter tea, a staple warming brew of Tibet; and of their butter making. If I remember correctly, it is made of yak's milk, put into a bag made from yak's skin turned inside out. A combination of hard shaking and low temperature, changes it into curdles, which would form the butter. At least that's what I remember, I might forget any little details, but that's the gist of it. And of course, the book opened my views about living in a monastery, of dedicating one's whole life to religion in a clustered place.

However, its most interesting connection with Seven Years in Tibet is the fact that there had been doubts whether it was truly written by a Tibetan Lama. Heinrich Harrer had in fact made enquiries on the case, and found out that the real author was actually an Englishman called Cyril Henry Hoskin, who claimed that his body hosted the spirit of a Tibetan Lama called T. (T for Tuesday) Lobsang Rampa, and who had probably never even been to Tibet. Nevertheless, his book has helped me understand more about Tibet, its culture, and its simple people. No doubt too, that this book helps many people to acknowledge Tibetan's cause for freedom. And the Dalai Lama himself had previously admitted that 'although the books were fictitious, they had created good publicity for Tibet.' [source: Wikipedia]

An honorable mention should be granted to The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie, which I have read for #ReadingtheMeow2025. Here's my review. When Heinrich Harrer mentioned, in Seven Years in Tibet, about some Regents who were called Rimpoche (meaning 'precious'), I was instantly reminded to the cat who was adopted by Dalai Lama in this book. He was also called Rimpoche by a cafe owner in Lhasa.


And that is my book pairings, it's amazing how one's reading of nonfiction is enriched by so many fictions, is it? How about you, have you read fiction books related to nonfiction? Have you read any of my books?

Seven Years in Tibet (1953) by Heinrich Harrer #NonficNov25

🗻 If you've been following my blog long enough, you might probably know that, besides France, Tibet is a country which I've always been fascinated. And so, for my second read for #NonficNov25, I picked Seven Years in Tibet, which I've been excited to read after three times watching the movie adaptation, starring Brad Pitt. If I have loved the movie, I loved even more the book from which it's been adapted. The book is a far cry from the romanticized version of the movie. Only bits of real facts that actually penetrated into the movie; the rest is Hollywood's doing. Believe me, if you want to know about Tibet and the early life of the Dalai Lama (yes, the current one), just start by reading this book!

🗻 The book expands from Heinrich Harrer's escape from the British war-prison in India, at the outbreak of Second Word War. Then he was an Austrian Nazi SS sergeant and a world renowned mountaineer, who always loved mountains and freedom. After several failed attempts of escape, with several different companions, he at last succeeded to flee towards Tibet. Harrer had read many books about Tibet before, and was fascinated by this mysterious country. But succeeding to flee did not bring automatic safety for these men (he was with several friends when starting the journey). One by one the member collapsed, either from physical or mental weaknesses. In the end, it was only Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter, an Austrian mountaineer, agricultural scientist, and geographer, who made it across Tibet after grueling hikes in the roughness of Himalayan cold weather and high altitude. But the simplicity and generosity of the people they've got to know along the way, compelled them to take whatever way to reach the Forbidden City of Lhasa.

🗻 Following Harrer and Aufschnaiter's journey for the first half of the book, I was fascinated by the Tibetans' kindness and generosity. They received these two strangers clothed in rags and must looked like tramps, with warmth and sincere. True, there were some who're malice, but mostly they were pure-hearted, merry people, almost childish at heart. Their devotion to their religion was a striking feature of these people. And they smile and laugh a lot; they could even laugh at themselves, and were rarely offended by other's mimicry, for instance.

🗻 Tibetan's respect for all religions is also an admirable feature. The biggest monastery in Tibet is The Tsug Lag Khang, and while inspecting it, Harrer found a bell hanging from the roof with inscription "Te Deum Laudamus". The building had been a Catholic chapel many centuries ago, and only due to their  respect of other religion, that it was preserved. Christianity and Buddhisn have much in common, anyway - this is from Harrer's view. "They are both founded on the belief of happiness in another world and both preach humility in this life".

🗻 One of the most attractive features in Tibetan life is a habit of going to meet, and seeing one's friends. "When anyone goes away, his friends often put up a tent on his road several miles out of the town and wait for him there with a meal to speed him on his way. The departing friend is not allowed to go till he has been loaded with white scarves and good wishes. When he comes back the same ceremony is observed. It sometimes happens that he is welcomed at several places on his way home. In the morning, maybe, he first catches sight of the Potala; but on his way into the town he is held up at tent after tent by his welcoming friends, and it is evening before he arrives in Lhasa, his modest caravan swollen to stately proportions by his friends and their servants. He comes home with the happy feeling that he has not been forgotten."

🗻 The second half and the most interesting part of the book is of course, when Heinrich Harrer has finally got to meet the Dalai Lama, then a fourteen-year-old boy. Here we could see the Dalai Lama not as a God-King, but a mere boy. An exceptional and very intelligent boy, as Harrer shared his observation when the Dalai Lama asked him to build a home theater: "I observed then, for the first time, that he liked to get to the bottom of things instead of taking them for granted." Though the 14th Dalai Lama used to be boyishly excited about new stuffs, his passions are not of the usual things that fascinate boys; but always ones for the improvement of his people. From this we learn from the very beginning that he IS the perfect choice for Dalai Lama. His "appointment" was of another amazing story that Harrer had got to learn. Strange as it was for us, the boy proved to be the perfect Dalai Lama. And how wonderful it is that the 14-year-old boy that we read in this book IS the Dalai Lama we currently see on news or television.

🗻 I have found a 1992 YouTube video of an interview between the Dalai Lama and Heinrich Harrer, many years after their first meeting at Potala. They kept their friendship, and Harrer kept being a Tibet enthusiast until he died in 2006, aged 93. Here's the link to the video.

🗻 Needless to say, this book is going to be my all time favorite nonfiction book. Not only that it is about Tibet, but also due to the profound depiction of the serene and peaceful way of Tibetan by Heinrich Harrer, combined with his concise but beautiful writing style. It is a wholesome book; realistic, but with a magical sense.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read for:

Nonfiction in November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Notes from an Island (1996) by Tove Jansson & Tuulikki Pietilä #NonficNov25 #NovNov25

🐚 For thirty years Tove Jansson, the Finland author who's famous for the Moomin series and The Summer Book, spent her live together with her partner on an island. This 96 pages book is a memoir of that phase of her life, illustrated by her beloved partner Tuulikki Pietilä, or Tooti, a graphic artist.

🐚 Tove and Tooti, who longed to have a simple and peaceful live, decided to move onto an island. The first island they chose, Bredskär, was a perfect one, 'leafy and welcoming'. The way Tove described it, you'd think they have lived in paradise; 'with a little forest with a woodland path, a little beach with a safe place for the boat, even a little marsh with some tufts of cotton grass'. But unfortunately, they boasted about it to friends and relatives, and soon enough, people were coming to their island on holidays, and their live began crowded once more. The only solution is to find another inhabited island which would give them the solitude they had been craving. They found it in Klovharun, a skerry in the Gulf of Finland, that's 'shaped like an atoll', complete with a lagoon in the middle. For me, it is less inviting than Bredskär, and I wonder whether Tove and Tooti had not regretted that they didn't keep secret about it in the first place - I would! Anyway, to make Klovharun habitable, they need to build a cabin. Problem aroused, they need permission from the Government to build, so they erected a tent meanwhile - it could be long to come, or didn't come anyway.

🐚 Then enter Brunström, who would help them building the cabin, and proved to be their true friend for thirty years. Brunström told them not to wait for permission, but start building anyway, which they did. The book consists of logs by Brunström and Tove, telling us how the cabin progressed. Midway building, the permission finally arrived, which they celebrated together. Later on Tove brought her eighty-year-old grandmother Ham to live with them on the island. I was afraid at first, it's hard for an elderly to live a rugged living on the island. But Ham is a bad-ass grandmother. I chuckled reading how, when the tent where she lived was flooded, she just laughed while wading ashore. 🐚 My favorite part is when Tove and Tooti took a helicopter to another part of the island to experience the breaking-up of the ice - 'Unbelievable tabernacles floated by, driven by a mild south-west breeze, statuesque, glittering [...] And they changed colour whenever they felt like it - ice blue, green, and in the evening, orange. Early in the morning they could be pink'. It must have been a once-in-a-life-time experience, and it felt serene and magical. Pity they didn't witnessed the moment when the ice did crack. But maybe it would have been too much for them. They lived on the island until their seventies, when Tove realized that she was becoming afraid of the ocean and its power. It's time to say goodbye! Though living on that island doesn't seem attractive for me - too demanding - this little book is realistic and unique, written and illustrated wonderfully.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read for:

Nonfiction November 2025

hosted by Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb

Novellas in November 2025

hosted by Cathy and Rebecca

My Year in Nonfiction #NonficNov25 Week 1

The yearly Nonfiction November is one of annual bookish events I'm looking forward to this year. It's currently hosted (or co-hosted) by these five wonderful women: Heather, Frances, Liz, Rebekah, and Deb. They would alternately host each week from 27 October to 30 November 2025.

To kick Nonfiction November 2025 off, here's the first week prompt (hosted by Heather):

My Year in Nonfiction

I'm not an avid nonfiction reader; fiction always has more appeal to me, as it enables me to be immersed into another universe. So for me, #NonficNov25 is a good opportunity to explore more of non fiction.

What books have you read?

I haven't read many nonfiction this year, because I keep most of it for #NonficNov25 😁. The two books I have managed to read were all for #ParisInJuly2025:

A Year in Provence

by Peter Mayle

Peter Mayle is perhaps the pioneer of the sub genre of foreigner-falls-in-love-and-moves-to France. There are so many similar kind of memoirs out there nowadays. A Year in Provence is the first of a series. It's quite entertaining; I rather liked Mayle's dry humor. But one thing's for sure, I won't read any of this genre again for the time being; one or two is enough, they are all almost the same in gist.

Garlic, Mint, and Sweet Basil

by Jean-Claude Izzo

It's an essay on Jean-Claude Izzo's (a native Marseilles poet and noir novel writer) love for Marseilles: its sea, its cuisine, its people and culture; and the subject that made him famous: Mediterranean Noir. It's probably the most charming nonfiction I've read lately.

What was your favorite?

I must say Garlic, Mint, and Sweet Basil. Izzo wrote it so passionately, that it's impossible not to fall in love a little with Marseilles!

Have you had a favorite topic?

Isn't it obvious that everything about France, I would devour with gusto? 😃

Is there a topic you want to read about more?

Birds and Nature are two subjects which I am interested right now, besides traveling. But the latter is probably limited to countries or regions that I really want to explore.

What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November?

To induce myself to the love of nonfiction, of course. Also to find more interesting nonfiction from other participants, to wider my choices.

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Would you participate in #NonFicNov25 too?