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

CC Spin #34: The Red Pony by John Steinbeck

🐴 The Red Pony is a compilation of four novellas. It follows the life of Jody Tiflin, a little boy of ten, who lives in a ranch, owned by his father Carl. Unlike his stern, cold-hearted father, Jody is a kind-hearted, sensitive boy.

🐴 The first story (The Gift) is about a red pony his father gifted Jody - the one which inspired the title. Jody named the pony Gabilan, and he adores him so much. With the help of Billy Buck, the ranch's reliable hand, Jody takes good care of Gabilan - feed, clean, and train the house regularly.

🐴 One rainy day, due to weather miscalculation from Billy Buck, Gabilan was out in the field, exposed to downpours. He (Gabilan, not Billy) caught a cold. A severe one, in fact, which exerted Billy's whole efforts to cure the horse. Will he succeed?

🐴 The third story, "The Promise", is also about horse. Carl thinks it's time for Jody to have more responsibility. He asked him to bring their mare Nelly to be "serviced" at a neighbor's farm, and Jody can raise and train its colt. The foaling, however, isn't a smooth process, but Billy Buck has promised Jody to give him a colt. Can he keep it?

🐴 The rest two stories are about two outsiders. The one is an old Mexican who claims he was born in that ranch long before the Tilfins bought the land. The other is Jody's grandfather who keeps re-telling same stories about how he used to lead a wagon train across the plains. These stories bored Carl and Billy, but fascinated Jody, who consoles his weary grandfather by stating that he, too, wants to be a leader.

🐴 As a whole, this book is about Jody's journey to adolescence, through responsibility and experience. Steinbeck wrote these stories while tending her ill mother in the hospital, and his anxiety reflected throughout the stories. Not a fun read, but Steinbeck wrote it quite beautifully.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

The Pearl is a novella about a poor Mexican-Indian pearl fisherman called Kino. He lives a happy, simple, peaceful life with his family: Juana, the wife, and Coyotito, the baby, in a bush house (hut) in a rural village of La Paz, California. The story (parable is more fitting) begins with an image of a humble but fulfilling live of the family, which is symbolized by The Song of the Family that Kino hears inside his head, while Juana sings softly:

"Juana sang softly an ancient song that had only three notes and yet endless variety of interval. And this was part of the family song too. It was all part. Sometimes it rose to an aching cord that caught the throat, saying this is safety, this is warmth, this is the Whole."

Then, in the midst of this peaceful image, comes a scorpion, hangs on the rope of Coyotito's bed, and stings the baby. The scorpion is like a stone that is plunged into a calm water, sending ripplings of trouble - an evil entity that sends trouble to a happy life: "The Song of Evil, the music of the enemy, of any foe of the family, a savage, secret, dangerous melody, and underneath, the Song of the Family cried plaintively."

Juana sucks the poison, but the wound keeps swelling, so Kino and Juana brings the baby to the doctor. Now the doctor is another "evil", a white man with greedy nature: "This doctor was of a race which for nearly four hundred years had beaten and starved and robbed and despised Kino's race." The doctor, seeing that Kino is poor, rejects attending to the baby without payment.

The next day Kino dives into the water hoping to get pearls to pay the doctor. And being in the best of luck, he finds the hugest and finest pearl he - or even the neighborhood - has ever seen, that he dubs as The Pearl of the World. Kino sees inside the Pearl the things he had wanted for a long time, but had forgotten because of the impossibility. Now it all comes back to him: a marriage in the church for his wife, nice clothes and good education for Coyotito, and a rifle for himself. And as usual with the finding of a treasure, greediness begins to float on the surface of its surroundings. The neighbors, the doctor, the priest, the pearl dealers - the greediness touches them all. And as greediness is the root of all evils, with it, comes envy, stealing, cheating, and even murder.

That night a thief comes to steal the pearl, but Kino throws him away. The next morning he goes to the town to sell his pearl to the dealers. For years the pearl fishermen have been deceived by the dealers, who are actually owned by one owner, but act as if they compete with each other, so that they can control the low price. Kino is offered a thousand pesos, for a pearl he believes amounted at least fifty thousands. He rejects it and will sell to the capital instead. However, more thieves come to Kino's bush house, and he is forced to kill one man. At this point, Juana tries to warn Kino that the pearl brings evil, but Kino, already grows ambitious and greedy himself, refuses to let it go. The last night before their departure, a group of unknown men vandalize Kino's canoe and burn his house. There's no coming back now, the pearl becomes their life or death. Along the dangerous journey, the Song of the Evil keeps its melody, becomes stronger every moment, drowning the Song of the Family.

So The Pearl reflects upon the cycle of human life. There's peace for several years, but then comes "the enemy", one critical moment that shakes the peacefulness. But the novella's center point is the perpetual battle of good and evil. The Song of the Family and The Song of Evil, which are playing alternately in Kino's head, symbolizes the good vs evil in us. The evil might be sleeping for years of peaceful living, but one critical incident might awaken it from its slumber, and, who knows what path it will lead us to.

This story also shows the complexity involved in the battle of good vs evil. Kino's poverty in the first place, came from hundred years of oppression of the other race (the whites) against his. There's always this hatred and suspicion against the whites in his heart, planted by his ancestors. The scorpion sting is only the trigger. Without it, Kino, Juana, and Coyotito might have lulled by their contented life, despite of their poverty. But the scorpion sting awakens the ancient hatred and suspicion. The pearl triggeres his greediness to take everything that has been robbed by his enemies. He could have accepted the thousand pesos offered by the dealer at the town, but the long suspicion and hatred burns his greediness and hatred further to the utmost.

And lastly, The Pearl reminds us that good and evil are always existed, they live side by side since the beginning of world, to its end. We can't avoid them; it's a perpetual struggle, and that the best thing to do is always try to do good (listen to our Song of the Family), and avoid evil (ignore the Song of Evil). That's all we can do.

I think I have found a new favorite: The Pearl. It's so beautiful in writing and poignant in capturing the essence of life.

Rating: 5 / 5

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

After East of Eden last year, I didn't think I'd get to another masterpiece from Steinbeck so soon. Yet Cannery Row has got me stunned! It was really a diamond; short but full of hidden meaning, straightforward yet poetic, quiet and warm.

What is Cannery Row anyway? Steinbeck wrapped it up beautifully in his opening line:

“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, s quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row is the gathered and scattered, tin and iron and rust and splintered wood, and chipped pavement and weedy lots and junk heaps, sardines canneries of corrugated iron, honky tonks, restaurants and whore houses, and little crowded groceries, and laboratories and flophouse. Its inhabitants are, as the man once said, "whores, pimps, gamblers, and sons of bitches," by which he meant Everybody. Had the man looked through another peephole he might have said, "Saints and angels and martyrs and holy men," and he would have meant the same thing. “

So Cannery Row is about a few blocks of fish canneries in the harbour city of Monterey, California, drawn from Steinbeck's memories when he stayed there. This is a tale about its remarkable inhabitants. Who are they? Mostly, a bunch of good-for-nothings. There's Mack and the boys, a gang of unemployed losers, whose only ambition was contentment without working. They occupy an empty building owned by a Chinese grocery store owner - whose 'wealth' mainly consists in the piles of tit bits in his shop, and in the debts of his customers - called Lee Chong. Mack and the boys named their 'house' the Palace Flophouse. Then there were Dora Flood who runs a bar and whorehouse called The Bear Flag. All these people were expelled from their families, works, and even society.

The Cannery Row nowadays

Then we meet our main protagonist: Doc, a marine biologist, whose character was borrowed from Steinbeck's real friend Ed Ricketts. Doc is a loner, collecting sea creatures from the coast to be sold to universities, museums, or laboratories. He preserves them in his laboratory. Doc is the smartest and the most kindhearted man in Cannery Row. People love him because, in contrast with the world's cold acceptance towards these people, Doc willingly bears with them, listens to them, treats them with dignity, never criticizes, but instead, imparts small wisdom to them. In short Doc accepts them as they are, for which, these people indebted to him, and always feel that they 'must do something for Doc'.

Mac and the boys got an idea, they’d throw a surprise party for Doc. But as Doc was coming home very late that day, they got drunk and eventually crashed his property while waiting for him. So instead of making him happy, they broke all his belongings, and made him miserable. I was literally crying when they were breaking Doc's treasured phonographs! I imagined Doc, after a day of serious working, the classical music is all he has to cheer him up, something to warm his lonely life, the way family does a man. And this only luxury he can afford was crashed by the guests! That punches Doc gave Mack are well deserved.

Ed Rickett's laboratory which is depicted as Doc's

Actually Cannery Row does not have much of a plot. It evolves around the Flophouse boys' efforts to give a nice present to Doc. After the first failure, they intended to do a better one. And along with it, Steinbeck unrolled the lives and struggles of each character, and some seemingly unrelated ones.

The most interesting of the later is Frankie, the 'unseen' boy - nobody seems to realize his quiet existence, and he is literally 'useless' - in Doc's phrase: "There wasn't a thing in the world he could do". When he single mindedly 'decided' to get a beautiful antique clock for Doc's birthday - by stealing it - and got caught, and when Doc asked him why he did it, Frankie looked a long time at him, and his earnest answer was: "I love you" which really broke my heart! Oh that boy... what would become of him when he's grown up? He might be good for nothing, but he is capable of loving... and abundantly too! And the only thing he needs in return is to be loved! Oh, if only we are not too much into ourselves, we will be able to realize of this gem of humanity!

Another sweet and sad story is of Mary Talbot, a loony - or I prefer to call her a 'dreamer'. She likes to throw parties, but instead, as her husband doesn't earn much, she encourages others to give parties, of which she can manage. Sometimes she even gives parties to cats, yes, cats! And she takes the business seriously. Let me show you one of the scenes:

“Kitty Randolph was sunning herself by the front fence. Mary said, “Miss Randolph – I’m having a few friends in to tea if you would care to come.” Kitty Randolph rolled over languorously on her back and stretched in the warm sun. “Don’t be later than four o’clock,” said Mary. “My husband and I are going to the Bloomer League Centennial Reception at the Hotel.”

I really thought at first that Mary was talking to another woman, but then at “Kitty Randolph rolled over languorously on her back and stretched in the warm sun” I realized it was cats she has talked to - LOL!  Some of the many funny bits you'd find in Cannery Row. Isn’t it sweet? And her husband is so sweet to go into her scenes.

On the whole, there's a quality of vagueness, dreamy, unreal in the existence of Cannery Row, but in fact it might be the truest of humanity. The most curious bit of it is the old Chinese man who is often seen flip-flapping on the street in the evening “just at dusk between sunset and the lighting of the street light” - Steinbeck called it the ‘small grey period’. I feel that it represents something which is floating over human existence, something which never changes, always there, a continuity. It’s on the other side of the society – it seems desolate, lonely, poor. But in fact, it is the truest, the fullest, the richest of humanity – it is where love and affection rules, instead of money and fame. It is where everyone is treated equally as a dignified human being. It is Cannery Row.

What a treasure! What a beautiful book! The most beautiful of the three I’ve read so far: this, Of Mice and Men, and East of Eden. Now I can’t wait to delve into the sequel: Sweet Thursday – is it going to be as sweet as Cannery Row? We’ll see!

Score: 5 / 5

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

While reading East of Eden last month, my caption on an Instagram post was: "Sometimes a novel can explain the Bible better than a priest." And that was true. Seldom before this, have I ever been questioning why Cain was evil, while Abel was all good, in the Book of Genesis.

If you have not been familiar with the story, East of Eden is following the lives of two families in Salinas Valley: the Trasks and the Hamiltons; though along the way I felt that the Trasks were the center of this book, while the Hamiltons only its satellite. It was within the Trask dynasty that Steinbeck imitated the Book of Genesis, by naming its member (and drawing their destinies) following the symbol of good versus evil: Cain and Abel (C & A). The first generation siblings were Charles and Adam. Like Cain, Charles envied his brother Adam because, loving his father so much as he was, the father preferred Adam's birthday gift than his. Ironically, Adam did not love his father, even almost hated him for forcing him to be a soldier; while Charles loved his father silently, and longed for his affection, but never got it. At one point Charles tried to kill Adam, but failed. And from then on he grew sour in life.

Fast forward. Adam had two sons—twins—who he christened as Caleb and Aron (again, C & A). I don't have to mention which was the symbol of evil and which the good! The envious relationship between brothers was repeated here. Aron was a lovely child, and since birth has effortlessly won everyone's affection, including his father, which made him a spoiled child. While Caleb was a brooding and sinister child. But luckily, this new generation has had a loyal servant in their houshold; an intelligent Chinese man called Lee. It was Lee who first brought up the famous "Timshel" issue onto the surface.

Timshel is a Hebrew word for "thou mayest" in Genesis 4:12: "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." (KJV) There were many discussions among Lee and several scholars concerning this particular verse. Different English translations had their own interpretations of this word. But the scholars offered different point of view. The more perfect translation should have been "thou mayest", which could be interpreted as choice, instead of order ("do thou" in other versons) or promise ("thou shalt" in King James Version). This threw a different perspective concerning the original sin we inherited from Adam and Eve. It meant that being good or evil was not rooted from our ancestors, but was all in our OWN choice. We may be good if we choose to.

Back to the story, like Cain, Charles and Caleb were both tainted with the same evil mark. Unfortunately, Charles didn't have a "Lee", who in Caleb's case has totally changed him and, I believe, many lives around him, by giving Caleb a second chance to be better.

Speaking about inherited sin, I have not mentioned the "Eve" aspect. Like in the Book of Genesis, here we have Cathy—Adam’s wife and Caleb and Aron's mother—a woman who seems—if it is possible—to be born with neither heart nor conscience. At first I thought Steinbeck might have used her only as a symbol of evil; for how could a human being be such heartless? But after following her until the end—and reflecting on the “timshel”, I think Cathy was as normal as you and me. She could have chosen the good path, but she took the evil. One thing still puzzled me though. I wonder, do you think the balance between good and evil in us is the same for each person? And is it only love (and the absence of love) that makes the difference? I see the proof in Cathy, Charles, and Caleb (the “C” club), and perhaps Aron too. Adam, however, is an interesting case for me. He did not feel his father’s love; he actually loathed Trask senior. Then how could he grow up an honest, forgiving, incorruptible man? Well…. I guess this is the part where we should say: “It’s God’s mystery…” So, I will end this post by granting 5 of 5 stars for this magnificent book—the magnum opus of Mr. Steinbeck! There were actually more layers of the story to dig out, but this post is already too long, and I think I’d prefer to save them for my future reread, anyway. :)

Of Mice And Men

Yang paling menarik dari buku ini adalah kalimat-kalimat pendek yang berhasil dirajut dengan indah oleh John Steinbeck menjadi sebuah kisah yang indah pula. Ini sebuah bukti bahwa untuk bertutur dengan indah, kita tak selalu butuh kalimat panjang yang penuh metafora. Inti kisahnya juga sederhana dan alurnya pun mengalir dengan nyaman.

Of Mice and Men bertutur tentang sepasang pengelana yang, meski amat berbeda satu sama lain, namun tetap memiliki saling keterikatan satu sama lain. George adalah pria bertubuh kecil yang cerdas namun nasib tak berpihak padanya untuk meraih sukses. Salah satu kendalanya adalah Lennie. Lennie, seorang pria dungu bertubuh besar, sangat memuja George. Ia selalu menuruti perkataan George dan begitu takut mengecewakan George. George sebenarnya merasa terbeban dengan keberadaan Lennie yang seolah mengikatnya, namun ia tetap menjaga dan melindungi Lennie.

Kedua pria ini tak dapat memiliki pekerjaan yang tahan lama karena Lennie yang dungu selalu mengacaukannya. Bukan dengan sengaja tentu saja, tenaganya menjadi sangat kuat ketika ia ketakutan, dan ia tak mampu mengendalikannya sehingga akhirnya membahayakan orang lain, dan juga masa depannya dan George. Sebenarnya George memiliki impian memiliki rumah sendiri di atas tanah sendiri dan hidup mandiri berdua Lennie. Ketika bertemu Candy, lelaki tua cacat di peternakan tenpat kerja baru mereka, tampaknya impian itu akan dapat terwujud. Candy yang galau akan masa depannya, ingin bergabung dengan mereka, patungan membeli tanah. Namun sebelum semuanya itu terwujud, banyak hal akan terjadi dan kemungkinan Lennie membawa kekacauan sangatlah besar. Dapatkah George menolongnya kali ini?

Kisah ini mengingatkan aku bahwa cinta itu butuh pengorbanan. Makin besar cinta kita, makin besar pula pengorbanan yang dituntut dari kita. Berjuang demi kesuksesan dan kebahagiaan orang yang kita cintai mungkin biasa, karena kelak kita akan mengalami kegembiraan bersamanya. Namun bagaimana dengan orang yang selalu membawa kesulitan dalam hidupnya? Mencintainya berarti bak terborgol tangan kita bersamanya sehingga ketika ia jatuh, kita tahu bahwa kita pun akan ikut jatuh. Dibutuhkan cinta yang sangat besar untuk tetap mencintai orang seperti itu. Ketika kita dapat dengan bebas memilih, dan kita meninggalkan impian kenikmatan demi cinta itu, itulah cinta sejati. Sulit? Sangat!

Buku ini sangat enak dinikmati, namun aku tidak setuju dengan ironi yang ditawarkan Steinbeck sebagai endingnya yang menurutku terlalu dangkal. Menurutku, kisah klasik ini akan dapat lebih menyentuh pembaca jika Steinbeck mau mengeksplorasi kedalaman cinta. Seringkali pemecahan masalah sesaat bukanlah jawaban segala prahara hidup ini. Masalah tak selalu dapat dipecahkan, namun cinta akan mampu membawa kita melewatinya dengan baik. Bukankah itu juga yang diteladankan Tuhan pada kita?

Jadi maaf saja John, aku hanya bisa memberikan tiga bintang saja pada karya klasik yang telah kautulis dengan begitu indah ini.. Bagi yang sudah membaca, silakan menanggapi penilaianku ini asal jangan sampai memunculkan spoiler bagi yang belum membaca ya...

Judul: Of Mice And Men

Pengarang: John Steinbeck

Penerbit: Ufuk

Cetakan: Desember 2009

Tebal: 238 hlm