Lifestyles of the Rich and Nameless
by Daniel Tucker
Review: Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (Viking, 1962)
The way Steinbeck wrote about attempting to disappear and reject his fame, his professional as well as his personal responsibilities struck me a very dated. In a way that makes me nostalgic for something I never knew.
Writing in 1960 while he travels the country, he recalls a time when he was young when contact while traveling was non existent. He admits that even though he downplays it (how much he downplays it is a different story all together) that “three times a week from some bar, supermarket, or tire-and-tool-cluttered service station, I put calls through to New York and reestablished my identity in time and space. For three or four minutes I had a name, and the duties and joys and frustrations a man carries with him like a comet’s tail” (p.88).
Part of Steinbeck’s ability to disappear was linked to the wealth he had accumulated towards the end of his life. He really had no responsibilities but to write and innovate within that field. This is not reproducible for people with other forms of financial or familial responsibility.
When I travel I am unable to make breaks in communication. That is not an option anymore with the state of telecommunications. That “identity in time and space” is always present. This means the experience of traveling has dramatically changed: No longer can you disappear into exploration and adventure. This changes the nature of travel writing and travel in general. With the option to conceal and re-establish your presence in the world having been taken away, how will authors convincingly tell stories of immersion in the unknown?
by Daniel Tucker
Review: Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck (Viking, 1962)
The way Steinbeck wrote about attempting to disappear and reject his fame, his professional as well as his personal responsibilities struck me a very dated. In a way that makes me nostalgic for something I never knew.
Writing in 1960 while he travels the country, he recalls a time when he was young when contact while traveling was non existent. He admits that even though he downplays it (how much he downplays it is a different story all together) that “three times a week from some bar, supermarket, or tire-and-tool-cluttered service station, I put calls through to New York and reestablished my identity in time and space. For three or four minutes I had a name, and the duties and joys and frustrations a man carries with him like a comet’s tail” (p.88).
Part of Steinbeck’s ability to disappear was linked to the wealth he had accumulated towards the end of his life. He really had no responsibilities but to write and innovate within that field. This is not reproducible for people with other forms of financial or familial responsibility.
When I travel I am unable to make breaks in communication. That is not an option anymore with the state of telecommunications. That “identity in time and space” is always present. This means the experience of traveling has dramatically changed: No longer can you disappear into exploration and adventure. This changes the nature of travel writing and travel in general. With the option to conceal and re-establish your presence in the world having been taken away, how will authors convincingly tell stories of immersion in the unknown?
Wow! That's quite elegant. Feels like a published review. Do you review books? Ending with a question is a nice move.
ReplyDeleteYes, I review lots of books! Thanks for reading!
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