I Wrothed Some Grapes

It´s been windy for the last 30 hours or so, and since I hate wind, I decided to read a book. When I was in Florida, I picked up John Steinbeck´s book "Travels With Charley: In Search of America." I just thought I´d mention that this book was really great, and that you should read it if you´re looking for a good travel-themed book. Although the book was written in the early 60s, it´s surprisingly not very dated, and it´s very interesting. I especially like the author´s observations while in the southern U.S., which was already beginning to erupt in racial tensions when he visited.
I´m not sure why I´d not really read much by Steinbeck before. I know that he´s considered one of the Great American Authors, but then again, so is Faulkner. And after reading about half of Faulkner´s "The Sound and the Fury," I wanted to dig him up and reanimate his corpse just to beat him with the shovel I used to dig him up.
But all joking aside, I do seriously remember reading Steinbeck´s book "The Pearl" in either elementary school or junior high and not liking it. I´m not entirely sure, but I think that the main character might have died at the end, and that´s one thing I kind of hate in books (Oh God...if only I could warn Little Elementary School Ryan Sitzman that if he was looking to avoid books with depressing endings, he should probably steer clear of studying German Literature full time in graduate school!). Plus, "The Pearl" was likely assigned reading for an English class. That pretty much condemns any book to being hated by schoolchildren, no matter how good a read it is. It also makes me wary when choosing reading for my 10th grade students, lest they trash one of my favorite books.
Hmm...what the hell was I talking about? Ah yes, Steinbeck. So, it turns out he´s a great author! I believe my friend Brad From Iowa recommended me this book around 8 or 9 years ago when we were exchange students in Germany, and I have meant to read it ever since. So if you´re looking for a good book that you can get through as quickly as something from the "Young Readers" section at Borders, check out "Travels With Charley." And post a comment on the blog telling me what you think of it.

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