Brown County Bookstores

 

Whenever I travel I tend to find bookstores. A recent trip to Brown County in southern Indiana introduced me to two new ones. The first, Viewpoint Books, was in Columbus, IN. It's a little corner shop with a decent selection. If you find yourself in the area make sure you head all the way to the back to check out the small section of used books! I found a copy of a Steinbeck travel memoir that I hadn't read yet.

 

 

The second shop was in downtown Nashville, IN. The town is an adorably sweet tourist spot with tons of little shops. We wandered and did some Christmas shopping for an afternoon.

 

 

The best thing about The Book Loft was the excellent selection of antique books by Hoosier authors.  I bought a copy of James Whitcomb Riley's poems from the early 1900s for only $10!

 

Let me know if there are any great bookstores near you! I'd love to visit them if I'm ever in your area.

 

Photos by moi.

In Dubious Battle

In Dubious Battle

by John Steinbeck

★★★☆

 

In my experience there are two kinds of Steinbeck novels. There are the character-driven stories that are often entertaining (think Cannery Row) and there are the moral tragedies where big lessons are learned (think Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl.) This definitely falls into the latter category. Two men join a group of apple pickers in the 1930s with the goal of getting them to strike for better wages.

 

Mac and Jim are the men behind the cause, recruiting the local leader, London, to gain the trust of the workers. Jim is new to the world of unions, but not to injustice. He is naive at first, but grows stronger as he focuses on his purpose. The battle escalates and the belief that the men perpetuate is that the ends justifies the means, no matter who is hurt along the way. The men, who are actually fighting for the cause, are often the manipulated pawns of bigger men with bigger goals. The character of the Doctor gave some interesting perspective to the motivation behind Mac’s work.

 

It's good; the writing is crisp and vivid. But I feel like it's a precursor to greater work. The partnership and friendship that grows between Jim and Mac is better personified between George and Lennie in "Of Mice and Men." The strike for higher wages and the struggle for a better life for the workers are better demonstrated in "The Grapes of Wrath." In Dubious Battle is a good story and a tragic one, but it didn't dig quite as deep for me.

 

BOTTOM LINE: It’s not my favorite Steinbeck, but he’s written so many that I love. As with his other work this story gives a voice to an often overlooked group of people and I think it would have been particularly powerful during the time in which it was originally released.

 

“There’s no better way to make men part of a movement than to have them give something to it."

 

“It seems to me that a man has engaged in a blind and fearful struggle out of a past he can’t remember, into a future he can’t foresee nor understand. And man has met and defeated every obstacle, every enemy except one. He cannot win over himself.”

The Classics Club: August Response

Lately I haven’t been the best at commenting on blogs and visiting all you lovely people. A big reason why is the wonderful Classics Club Blog which is now up and running. I am so excited that we have so many new members and reviews up, but it’s also been pretty time consuming keeping everything up to date, so I’m sorry! But on the plus side, here’s one of the wonderful new bits, the club is hosting a monthly meme question and here’s the first one…

"What is your favorite classic book? Why?"

There are so many books that have found their way into my heart over the years; To Kill a Mockingbird, Great Expectations, Rebecca, Little Women, A Moveable Feast, Jane Eyre and so many more. So it’s difficult to answer which one is my absolute favorite, but here’s what I came up with:
 
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Unlike much of his other work, Travels with Charley is not fiction and it’s not depressing. Let’s face it, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men might be powerful books, but they’re also serious downers. Over the decades Steinbeck's books have been lauded by critics and readers alike and he has written some truly remarkable books, but "Travels with Charley" hit me on a completely new level. 

It’s different from almost any other classic I’ve read and I think that’s why it has stayed with me for so long. 

It's a nonfiction book written later in Steinbeck's life. After having written about the underdogs in America for years he realizes he has grown out of touch with his beloved country. He decides to take his dog Charley and travel across the United States in a camper. The book is about the people he meets and the thoughts he has along the way. The book combines so many things that I love; great writing, travel memoirs, a deep love for pets.

It’s also a beautiful look at connecting with the place you’re from and the people who live there. It’s easy to reduce a country, (even your own) to a cliché. Traveling through it reminds you of both the good and the bad, but in my experience it’s usually the good that stands out. I think this book where my love of road trips was born. When you fly from one city to the other you miss so much along the way. Steinbeck captures the feeling of really connecting with a place and the unexpected friendships you can form along the way.

Image from here.

Steinbeck Tour: Sweet Thursday

Sweet Thursday
by John Steinbeck
★★★★★

Sweet Thursday is the sequel to Cannery Row, one of my favorite of Steinbeck’s books. I’ve read the epic masterpieces, like East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath. I’ve read the shorter morality tales, like Of Mice and Men and The Pearl. Yet after all of those brilliant works, my favorites remain his road trip memoir, Travels with Charley, and Cannery Row. I may get more depth and inner turmoil from his other works, but these are the ones I relate, the ones I want to return to.

Sweet Thursday quickly made its way to that top bracket as I read it. Steinbeck takes us back to Cannery Row and all of our favorite characters. We return shortly after the end of World War II and learn that Doc has been away, serving his country and Mack has been holding down the fort. The grocer, Lee Chong, is long gone and there are some new characters in the town.

Steinbeck gives us some of my favorite literary characters in this book. Doc, Mack and the others won a place in our hearts in Cannery Row, but the new additions are just as wonderful. There’s a selfish con artist named Old Jingleballicks and a Mexican man who runs the grocery store named Joseph and Mary (often referred to as J and M). Suzy, a young woman looking for guidance, provides a unique spark to the story. Her transformation throughout the book is one of the most rewarding I’ve read, because you can’t help but root for her.

**SPOILERS**

I loved that Steinbeck didn’t throw Doc and Suzy together immediately. It felt so right that Suzy had a chance to get her life together before ending up with him. She needed to find her own balance and believe in herself before committing to another person. Once she had a room of her own, she finally had pride in herself and once she had that, she had something to offer someone else.

**SPOILERS OVER**

Of course, you can’t forget Hazel, one of Steinbeck’s greatest creations. He’s naïve and sweet, and devoted to his friends. When he’s in trouble or being taken advantage of, his friends step up and we see the best in everyone around him as they protect their friend. Hazel becomes a key player in this novel. He’s put to the test as he tries to work out the best way to help Doc, the man he admires so much.

One of my favorite chapters is called “One Night of Love,” which chronicles Suzy and Doc’s first date. The two couldn’t be more different, but there’s an unexpected sweetness that we witness when they both let their guards down. That private moment is beautiful.

Sweet Thursday was everything I hoped it would be. It’s touching, funny and profound in an unexplainably simple way. It makes you wish you lived on Cannery Row and could share a beer with Doc and his friends. It reminds you of the goodness the lies within every person and the fact that sometimes you just need the right situation to bring it out.

“I love true things,” said Doc. “Even when they hurt. Isn’t it better to know the truth about oneself?”

“S-l-o-w-ness it gave meaning to everything. It made everything royal.”

“No one knows how greatness comes to a man. It may lie in his blackness, sleeping, or it may lance into him like those driven fiery particles from outer space. These things, however, are known about greatness: need gives it life and puts it in action; it never comes without pain; it leaves a man changed, chastened, and exalted at the same time – he can never return to simplicity.”

I read this as part of the Steinbeck Classic Circuit Tour.