Review of 'The Wayward Bus (Twentieth Century Classics Series)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The plot: A bus ride gone awry!
Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors because he has both a deep understanding of the human mind, and the ability to recognize what makes a good story. In this book he is less interested in the story itself, the bus ride, but more the individual stories of the people that take part in it. And not only that, he explores how this varied group of people tries to understand each other. In many ways it can be considered a quite harsh read, because you can see how all the characters use their (sometimes flawed) understanding of their co-passengers against them. No matter how well the characters understand the motives (unconcious and concious) of the rest of the group, they all fail to really understand themselves. At one point, one character says that they are all tramps, and in a way, that is …
The plot: A bus ride gone awry!
Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors because he has both a deep understanding of the human mind, and the ability to recognize what makes a good story. In this book he is less interested in the story itself, the bus ride, but more the individual stories of the people that take part in it. And not only that, he explores how this varied group of people tries to understand each other. In many ways it can be considered a quite harsh read, because you can see how all the characters use their (sometimes flawed) understanding of their co-passengers against them. No matter how well the characters understand the motives (unconcious and concious) of the rest of the group, they all fail to really understand themselves. At one point, one character says that they are all tramps, and in a way, that is what the book explores.
Steinbeck writes the social (or anti-social) sides of the human character, and, as far as I can tell, his observations are very true to life. Despite the darker side of the minds being revealed, I do not consider it as a misanthropic novel. It's just honest in it's depiction of every day life, and how no one really "gets it", but rather fumbles around questioning every one else all the time.
