Truth

Hey Lincoln205!

Hop into your '85 Delorean and push that baby to 88 mph because we're heading back to the first/third week of class to talk about Travels with Charley. Or at least I am.

Throughout our class discussion I couldn't shake the feeling that I was alone in thinking that the fact that Steinbeck fabricated some/much/all of his "non-fiction" travelogue wasn't much of a big deal. This was no Million Little Pieces. Steinbeck was already a recognized ("oh what's my nobel prize doing over here, silly me!") author. Steinbeck was in failing health and really a dying old man should be allowed to do what he's always wanted to, even if he had to make it up.

Stephen King famously said that "fiction is the truth inside the lie." So Steinbeck is writing fiction- telling the truths that he wants to tell the best way he knows how. What's important is the message, right? The "truth" is what is important.

But the other truth? Meh. I'll take emotion, thought, passion and introspection over being a slave to the other truth. The "truth" is what is important here. Are you following me here?

No? Good. As long as we're on the same page.

As a journalist I'm appalled, but as a writer, I'm going to go with cranky ol' John here. I mean, he wrote The Grapes of Wrath. That should give him a little leeway.

It's like when I accidentally watch a Based On True events movie. I know it's not the whole truth (read: all made up), but goddamn if Denzel Washington and Chris Pine didn't stop that Unstoppable runaway train. THAT SHIT REALLY HAPPENED.

I apologize for comparing Travels With Charley with Unstoppable, a movie about a train that CAN'T BE STOPPED. But I enjoyed that movie. And yes I am aware that that statement just invalidated all of my past, present, and future opinions.

Anyway, people lie. Sometimes lying is good for you (this is what I tell myself so I can sleep at night).

Sorry for rambling, thanks for playing!


Best,
Christopher James