On the Road With John Steinbeck

Favorite passages from
Travels With Charley:
In Search of America, 1962

by John Steinbeck
(February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968)
From previous post
And a New One Just Begun

1. "I thought I might do some writing along the way, perhaps essays, surely notes, certainly letters, I took paper, carbon, typewriter, pencils, notebooks, and not only those but dictionaries, a compact encyclopedia, and a dozen other reference books, heavy ones. I suppose our capacity for self-delusion is boundless. I knew very well that I rarely make notes, and if I do I either lose them or can't read them. . . . And in spirit of this self-knowledge I [packed] enough writing material to take care of ten volumes. I also laid in a hundred and fifty pounds of those books one hasn't got around to reading -- and of course those are the books one isn't ever going to get around to reading. . . . I judge now that I carried about four times too much of everything" (11, emphasis added).

2. In this passage, Steinbeck is being detained at the American - Canadian border and having to endure a pile of hassle. He doesn't sass back, but later he thinks about it . . .

"Before I went to sleep I went over all the things I wished I had
said . . . and some of them were incredibly clever and cutting" (88; cf. L'esprit de l'escalier).

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From Previous Post
A Kind of Dream Farm

"Long ago at Easter I had a looking-egg. Peering in a little porthole at the end, I saw a lovely little farm, a kind of dream farm, and on the farmhouse chimney a stork sitting on a nest. I regarded this as a fairy-tale farm as surely imagined as gnomes sitting under toadstools. And then in Denmark I saw that farm or its brother, and it was true, just as it had been in the looking-egg. And in Salinas, California, where I grew up, although we had some frost the climate was cool and foggy. When we saw colored pictures of a Vermont autumn forest it was another fairy thing and we frankly didn't believe it. In school we memorized "Snowbound" and little poems about Old Jack Frost and his paintbrush, but the only thing Jack Frost did for us was put a thin skin of ice on the watering trough, and that rarely. To find not only that this bedlam of color was true but that the pictures were pale and inaccurate translations, was to me startling. I can't even imagine the forest colors when I am not seeing them. I wondered whether constant association could cause inattention, and asked a native New Hampshire woman about it. She said the autumn never failed to amaze her; to elate. "It is a glory," she said, "and can't be remembered, so that it always comes as a surprise" (36 - 37, emphasis added).

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From Previous Post
Anyplace Away From Here

“I saw in their eyes something I was to see over and over in every part of the nation -- a burning desire to go, to move, to get under way, anyplace, away from any Here. They spoke quietly of how they wanted to go someday, to move about, free and unanchored, not toward something but away from something. I saw this look and heard this yearning everywhere in every state I visited. Nearly every American hungers to move. . . . nearly all Americans move away, or want to” (10, emphasis added; 99).

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From previous post
Memorial Day Mural

I wish any two states could get together on a speed limit. Just about the time you get used to fifty miles an hour you cross a state line and it’s sixty-five. I wonder why they can’t settle down and agree. However, in one matter all states agree — each one admits it is the finest of all and announces that fact in huge letters as you cross the state line. Among nearly forty I didn’t see a single state that hadn’t a good word to say for itself. It seemed a little indelicate. It might be better to let visitors find out for themselves. But maybe we wouldn’t if it weren’t drawn to our attention" (42).

"We know, of course, that each of our states is an individual and proud of it. Not content with their names, they take descriptive titles also — the Empire State, the Garden State, the Granite State — titles proudly borne and little given to understatement. But now for the first time I became aware that each state had also its in dividual prose style, made sharply evident in its highway signs. Crossing state lines one is aware of this change of language. The New England states use a terse form of instruction, a tight-lipped, laconic style sheet, wasting no words and few letters. New York State shouts at you the whole time. Do this. Do that. Squeeze left. Squeeze right. Every few feet an imperious command. In Ohio the signs are more benign. They offer friendly advice, and are more like suggestions. Some states use a turgid style which can get you lost with the greatest ease. There are states which tell you what you may expect to find in the way of road conditions ahead, while others let you find out for yourself. Nearly all have abandoned the adverb for the adjective. Drive Slow. Drive Safe" (79 - 80).

On Amazon

Full Text

Swimmingly

Swimming books for the upcoming season:

Haunts of Black Masseur
by Charles Sprawson

Swimming as Meditation: Part memoir, part art history & literary analysis: “a scholarly look at the true character of swimmers – isolated souls that somehow find fulfillment in a lonely sensory-deprived act.”

“At a very young age, I began to form a vague conception of the swimmer as someone rather remote and divorced from everyday life, devoted to a mode of exercise where most of the body remains submerged and self-absorbed. It seemed to me that it appealed to the introverted and eccentric, individualists involved in a mental world of their own.” (5)

Why We Swim
by Bonnie Tsui

"The breaths, then, make swimming like moving meditation. We take a breath. We hold. We pull, and glide. We take another breath. In between breaths, the thinking happens—about each stroke, each kick, each breath. As we become better swimmers, there is less conscious thinking about swimming and our thoughts are released, free to wander as they may. All the while, the body works. We notice things: how the water moves, what the temperature is like, whether the swimming feels easy or difficult. We are at once hyper-aware and loosed from our bodily constraints.

. . . one thing that distinguishes swimming from all other forms of exercise . . . People enjoy it a lot more . . . this is where swimming has a huge benefit and advantage. . . . people place the highest enjoyment in swimming . . . people keep swimming because they like it. Swimming is the second most popular recreational activity in America, outranked only by walking. But swimming is the one that quite literally takes us out of our element. . . . Swimming is a way for us to remember how to play." (108-09)

When the Emperor Was Divine
The Buddha in the Attic
Swimmers
all 3
by Julia Otsuka

Okay, Emperor and Buddha are not about swimming, nor is the second half of Swimmers; it's about dementia and assisted living.* Still, I suggest that you read these novels as a trilogy. They are short, and you will enjoy their cohesion and relish the swimming segments in the first half of:

"The shock of the water -- there is nothing like it on land. The cool clear liquid flowing over every inch of your skin. The temporary reprieve from gravity. The miracle of your own buoyancy as you glide, unhindered, across the glossy blue surface of the pool. It’s just like flying. The pure pleasure of being in motion. The dissipation of all want. I’m free. You are suddenly aloft. Adrift. Ecstatic. Euphoric. In a rapturous and trancelike state of bliss. And if you swim for long enough you no longer know where your own body ends and the water begins and there is no boundary between you and the world. It’s nirvana." (17-18)

"If you run into a fellow member of the pool unexpectedly . . . you may find yourself blushing awkwardly, as though meeting for the first time, even though you may have seen this person every day, sopping wet, practically naked, for more than ten years. I didn't recognize her in her clothes, you may think to yourself." (24)

~ Heart-Shaped Pool ~

At the Villa Independente
In the south of France

*From Part Two of The Swimmers

"Things from your life before that you will have no use for at Belavista include: your expired Ralphs Rewards card (you will not be going grocery shopping again anytime soon), your oversized reinforced umbrella with the white clouds on the underside (nor will you soon be encountering 'real weather'), your wedding ring (guaranteed to go missing within days), your quilted nylon jacket (indoor - living attire only . . . ), your prized collection of bits of string (no comment) and your week At - a Glance day planner . . . ." (113).

To Create a Space for Women's Creativity

A post for the conclusion of
Women's History Month,
in recognition of the woman of Kenya
who are sharing their narratives
of struggle, progress, and hope.

Thanks to my friend Mumbi Gakuo
and to her friend Lydia W. Gaitirira
for sending these three books, each one a project by
AMKA -- Space for Women's Creativity
and Goethe - Institut Kenya

AMKA (meaning "wake up" in Kiswahili)
is an NGO, based and registered in Kenya,
concerned with pushing and encouraging creativity,
and facilitating and nurturing women writers.
1. Fresh Paint: Literary Vignettes by Kenyan Women (Volume 1, 2011) opens with an explanation of the need

" . . . to harness creative talent in girls and women in a hitherto male dominated socio-economic domain. This anthology of poems and short stories . . . will hopefully contribute to the discourse on whether socially created patriarchal attitides continue to dominate the thinking of society or whether these have been changed by the women's movement."
~Lydia W. Gaitirira, Director

2. Similarly, in Fresh Paint: Telling Our Stories into the 21st Century (Volume 2, 2015), Gaitirira explains the ongoing effort to allow women to speak for themselves in their own voices:

"A lot of work remains to be done to improve the lot of women in Kenya. Even with the rising number of women in Parliament, county assemblies, and other decision making organs, the impact is far from satisfactory. Loyalty to political parties led and owned by men continues to influence their choices negatively when they need to put women's concerns first."

3. The most recent volume, Resilience is a series of interviews by young women journalists, with women of all ages who work in the street markets of Nairobi, selling fresh produce, prepared meals, snacks and beverages, used clothing, home decor, handicrafts, toilet tissue. Others earn money by shining shoes or helping people compute their height, weight, and BMI. The essays showcase both the creativity of the entreprenuers and that of the writers:

"While there are different perceptions held of the hawkers and their trade, this collection shows that they are essentially honest citizens trying to eke a living in bad economic times. . . . Creativity also has another dimension that is well represented in this collection: that of writing and telling stories, or retelling them in heart-warming ways, and with empathy for their subjects."
~ Lydia W. Gaitirira

Volumes 1 and 2 of Fresh Paint are filled with numerous narratives that are fresh and refreshing, alongside others that are disturbing and distressing, all of which deserve the reader's thoughtful attention on the journey to a raised consciousness. Of the many selections from which to choose (e.g., see more examples on my post Maganjo), here are two that capture the spirit of speaking truth to power:

excerpts from
The Poet's Voice

A poet's voice --
With innate articulation
And deep expression
Of intense emotion,
The swirl of words
And the use of tense . . .

In time we are spun
Into the future from the past
To the secrets of history
And the promise of the future . . .

The beauty of the woman
The chivalry of the man
The innocence of the baby
The cruelty of the thing
The fate of life
The smile of luck
The kiss of death
Are all intertwined
For it is
With a poet's pen
That the feeling is felt.

~ by Wanjiku Mwaurah (in volume 1, 42 - 44)


It's Our Time

Speak now! Or forever be silent.
The aged ones have spoken
and some are long gone
into timeless silence.
They had their time
and spoke their lines.
They read their part
in faithful loyalty to their era.
Now it is our time to say
what's been silently witnessed,
Carelessly overlooked,
unfairly veiled,
or only half-told.
The blooming edges
of this wonder world
are almost bursting
at the weight of demand
that more must be told.
We must go forward
To churn up new waves of truth
And fight old fears that inhibit the mind.

~ by Edna Aluoc (in Volume 2, 32)

In closing, please remember that
not only during Women's History Month,
but throughout the year, the motto of AMKA remains:
To Create a Space for Women's Creativity

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An old favorite of mine from the U.S.A.

JUST TO BELIEVE IN THE STORY OF ONE'S LIFE. (just that)
to always believe in your voice. (just that)

"Literary Women on Paper"
by Graphic Artist Janeen Koconis
Card by KOCO NY

Lanterns & The Missing Mother

Girl with Lantern
Otto Toaspern, 1863-1940

Combining a few things I've read this month:

Tom Lake
by Ann Patchett

which opens with a dedication:

"For Kate DiCamillo
who held the lantern high"

&

You Could Make This Place Beautiful
by Maggie Smith

which opens with the epigraph:

"I am out with lanterns, looking for myself."

~ Emily Dickinson ~
[from an 1855 letter to her friend Elizabeth Holland]

&

Good Bones
by Maggie Smith

which contains the following thematically related lines

from the poem "Where Honey Comes From":

" . . . Honey
is in the hive, forbidden lantern

lit on the inside, where it must be dark,
where it must always be. Honey

is sweetness and fear. . . . " (p 44)

&

from the poem "Splinter":

" . . . Now she comes in alone from the pasture

at night, raised lantern swaying. She lies
a long time with the child, whisper-singing

some lullaby he's never heard into her hair. . . ." (p 66)

&

from the poem "Transparent"

"The girl wonders: If she held a lantern
before the woman until she went

transparent enough to read through,
would she see the child inside

like a letter full of secrets? . . ." (p 76)

[emphasis added]

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Additional Connection:
The Missing Mother Figure

Smith, in the following poem, and Patchett, in her novel, have each captured the disservice to women that is inherent in this annoying theme, so prevalent in popular culture. How many movies have we seen where the mom is conveniently dead or missing from the family? How gratifying to read these well-respected writers calling out this nonsense:


Poem found in the collection
Good Bones by Maggie Smith

If Anyone Can Survive

it's the motherless children in my daughter's books,
orphaned or abandoned or garden - variety alone
with their chipped cups mied from the dump,
their day-old bread squirreled from the bakery,
their milk chilling in glass bottles behind
the waterfall so it doesn't sour. They've learned
to sew their own clothes from rags. They can tie
their own shoes, a sailor's knot, a tourniquet.
They can snare and skin a rabbit, strike rocks
into fire. Speaking of fire, where are their fathers?
At war, in jail, or fly-by-night -- what matters
is the mothers, who must be dead for any rising
action to happen. Nothing is as freeing as grief.
Motherless children -- what do they have to lose?
They're camped in the glacier-hollowed canyon,
whose ice melted millions f years ago. Even
the canyon where the motherless sleep is motherless:
an orphan is anything that outlives what made it. (p 57)


Passages taken from the novel
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

"Emily seemed able to treat him as her father while at the same time endlessly declaring that someone else was her father. She wanted them both. Two fathers and no mother would have been the dream." (p 35)

"Despite his complete lack of experience, Duke turns out to be a miracle of a father, teaching the children to read and love the lad and master carpentry. The most disappointing scene in the movie is when his wife finally shows up to rescure them from paradise. Disappointment, the children learn early on, is embodied by the mother." (p 41)

"Hugged by Uncle Wallace! [a "Bachelor Father" / "Family Affair" kind of sitcom character] Oh, but I had loved him as a child. The gruff and tender caregiver of sister's orphaned brood. The carefree bachelor, dashing in middle age, had risen to the challenge, leaving children all aross American to wonder how much better their lives might be if only their parents were dead." (p 87)

Ein Rücksichtsvoller Junge ~ A Considerate Boy
Otto Toaspern, 1863 - 1940

More connections to follow . . . "

How Many Should I Pack?

If you could only bring one book . . .
but, no worries, you can bring them all!

Illustration from
I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf
By Grant Snider

It's not alway about "How many can I read?"
Sometimes it's about "How many do I need?"
QUESTION: Hey Kit. I’m purging my books again for the last time before I move and I need some advice. Do you regret moving any of your books? The ones I have left I’m rather attached to and I will have bookcases flanking the fireplace so I will have a place to put them. But still there’s a lot of them.

This last week I have been going through old sentimental papers and there was a lot of stuff I didn’t need to be reminded of from the past. However, when I went through my books again I remember reading every one of them and that brought back great memories!!

ANSWER: Our books were by far the costliest item of our move, but worth every penny. I culled a few donation boxes for the library before we moved, but not many. And I have tossed a few in the goodwill bag since we got here — but only a few.

I am very happy to have them and see them all around me, even though most of them I will never reread. Still, it feels important to have them in the background, and you never know when you might want to track down some slight reference to something that crossed your mind.

For example, over Christmas, a reference popped up to an article in Victoria Magazine, December 1992. I went straight to my Christmas magazine section, where I had saved several complete years of Victoria subscriptions, only to be filled with the dull and sinking recollection that I had donated them all to the West Lafayette Public Library fundraiser.

Why????? did I do that? I hope some sentimental soul scooped them up for a few mere dollars to complete her collection and now loves them as much as I did. But honestly, I am still grieving, well into the New Year, over that mistaken decision. It would have cost me nothing extra to have included those magazines in the move, and they would take up only a few inches of shelf space in our new house, and they would have been there waiting for me at that stray moment when I needed them.

But no. I’d had them in my life for over 30 years, and now I don’t. Sigh . . .

Most stuff -- clothes, household decor, dishes, even our wine glasses! -- I would say let it go. But books are different!

The Year is Going

Something cozy and a little odd
to read on New Year' Eve.

If you can't locate a vintage copy such as this,
the story is also included in
Everyman's Christmas Stories

Companion volume to
Everyman's Christmas Poems.

Never the old year ends
but what you wish you had read more books!

I admit to slacking off toward the year's end,
but here are a couple of fun things that
I read between Thanksgiving and Christmas:

Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

and

Banyan Moon
by Thao Thai
I love it when fate directs my reading, as it did one morning, a couple of months ago, when a facebook friend shared a deeply heartfelt and convincing recommendation for Lessons in Chemistry. That afternoon, I went to swim my laps, and there was someone sitting beside the pool reading it! Twice in one day -- a sign! I should have ordered a copy that very moment but delayed until the title came up at a dinner party a week or so later. I could wait no longer!

So glad I joined the crowd who are currently enjoying both the book and the mini-series. I am happy to give it my vote as most insightful novel of 2023.

I am classifying Lessons in Chemistry as a feminist manifesto, right up there with The Woman's Room (1977) by Marilyn French (1929 - 2009). I have re-read French's novel many times and can safely say that it was my introduction to the concept of feminism and has informed my thinking continually since the first time I read it. All these decades later, I'm putting Bonnie Garmus (b 1957) in the same category. She gets it! In fact, she gets what everyone should have got back in the 1970s but still has not! And, as my friend Liz asks, WHY NOT?!?!

Uniquely Magic

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King

“I'm not saying that you have to be a reader
to save your soul in the modern world.
I'm saying it helps.”

~ Walter Mosely ~
[Thanks Chris Jarmick]

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"I consider reading the greatest bargain in the world. A shelf of books is a shelf of many lives and ideas and imaginations which readers can enjoy whenever they wish and as often as they wish. Instead of experiencing just one life, book-lovers can experience hundreds or even thousands of lives. They can live any kind of adventure in the world. Books are their time machine into the past and also into the future. Books are their "transporter" by which they can beam instantly to any part of the universe and explore what they find there. Books are an instrument by which they can become any person for a while — a man, a woman, a child, a general, a farmer, a detective, a king, a doctor, anyone.

"Great books are especially valuable because a great book often contains within its covers the wisdom of a man or woman's whole lifetime. But the true lover of books enjoys all kinds of books, even some nonsense now and then, because enjoying nonsense from others can teach us to also laugh at ourselves. A person who does not learn to laugh at their own problems and weaknesses and foolishness can never be a truly educated or a truly happy person. Also, probably the same thing could be said of a person who does not enjoy learning and growing all their life." [pronouns adjusted for inclusivity]

~ Gene Roddenberry ~
from Letters to Star Trek
[Thanks Lynn Zentner]

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Allowed to read during church
-- those lucky kids!

See also:
Power of Reading