Travels With Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
Travels With Charley in Search of America is an autobiographical novel by the American author John Steinbeck. While many of Steinbeck’s books are fiction, this book documents Steinbeck’s real-life journey across America during the 1960s. Steinbeck, who grew up in Salinas, CA, was living on the east coast at the time, and embarked on this journey across the country to experience the entirety of the country firsthand.
I read this book a few summers ago and something that stuck with me is his descriptions of the rapid modernization of America. This discussion of the effects of modernization on the country, nature, and society is a prominent theme throughout the book. In the second section of the book, Steinbeck writes, “The new American finds his challenge and his love in traffic choked streets, skies nested in smog, choking with the acids of industry, the screech of rubber and houses leashed in against one another while the townlets wither a time and die. …where the logs are ground up, the air smells of chemicals, the rivers are choked and poisoned, and the streets swarm with this happy, hurrying breed” (Steinbeck, p. 56). Given that this book was written close to sixty years ago, I wonder what he would have thought of the even more modernized state of the world today, as well as the effects of climate change on the planet.
To me, Travels with Charlie connects to the themes discussed in Bernard Moitessier’s book The Long Way. In his book, which documents his journey sailing around the world, a main theme is a longing to find peace amidst the busy world. Moitessier shares, “…Many trees used to grow along the quay, barely three years ago. But they are building a five-lane highway to replace the quite little road that runs along the sea. So the trees that made the port so charming and pleasant are being cut down” (Moitessier, 176). Steinbeck expresses a similar feeling in Travels with Charlie. He comments, after driving on a freeway, a new invention at the time, “These great roads are wonderful for moving goods but not for inspection of a countryside. … When we get all these thruways across the whole country, as we will and must, it will be possible to drive from New York to California without seeing a single thing” (Steinbeck, 70).
Both of these books tell accounts of travel in search to find something more, to find meaning amidst todays chaotic world. Moitessier sails for an island in hopes that there he will find what he has been searching for, yet there too he finds that modernization and human impact is present there too. Steinbeck shares stories about the rapid industrialization of the world and the effect it has on experience nature and the country. Finally, I believe that in a way both offer keen insights into the impacts we as humans have created on this earth.
Songs for An Ocean so Deep by Max Mabry
(This video is a recording of the piece by the Delgani String Quartet, at some point I will receive the recording of my quartet performing this piece…I occasionally post my music videos on instagram at alpine_meadow_02 :))
Songs for An Ocean so Deep is a composition for string quartet written by one of my colleagues at the music school. I had the opportunity to work on and perform this piece during this term. While working on this piece, I noticed connections with the themes in this class in that through the music, this piece brings awareness to the need to protect whales. For me, music is a powerful way to communicate and bring about change, and I feel this piece does just this.