Steinbeck's Ghost Book

This was very possibly one of the best books I have ever read. I feel sort of breathless and happy inside, like I have seen a piece of gorgeous artwork and life suddenly a little bit more sense because it exists. It's taken me a while to read through it, but that is okay. It's the sort of book that is brilliant and doesn't need to be read in one sitting. In fact, it would take away from the story to read it in a few hours. You have to savor it. Savor the words and how they trickle across the pages, savor the characters and the deep respect and love for books found there. Oh! Words seem inadequate to describe this book, and yet it is the words contained within that make it so amazing. For the first time in my life I have completed a book and realized, I really, really would love to meet the author. And I need to read more. And I need to buy them, because if they are even half as good as Steinbeck's Ghost they are the sort of books you re-read over and over.
Lewis Buzbee. What a neat name.
Steinbeck's Ghost is the story of a young boy named Travis who lives in Camazotz. Well, not really but the eerie new subdivision reminds him of that town in a A Wrinkle in Time . He likes books and finding it uncomfortable trying to settle into the new life with his sudden workaholic parents in a fancy new house on the opposite side of town. When the Steinbeck Library is scheduled to close, Travis knows he has to do something to save it. It's not just his new world or the closing library, though. Characters from Steinbeck's books are appearing at random times, the ghost of Steinbeck writes late into the night in Steinbeck's house in Salinas, and suddenly Travis finds himself swept up into an even bigger mystery. What scared the famous author off from the Corral de Tierra so many years ago? Why is there no record of the town? And how are the mysterious appearances connected to the closing of the public library?
One thing I love about this book is all the references to other books in it. I just came across this fabulous "bookfession" the other day -

Can I get a content-sigh-so-true over here? I first read Of Mice and Men because of The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh. The main character in The Night Tourist counted it as one of his favorites, and so I thought it sounded good. I read Of Mice and Men and decided it was very good…but very sad. It was something great even. I didn't read anything more by him, though. The next year I had to read The Grapes of Wrath for school. And….shall we say I didn't like it?

That pretty much to say, two years later, I still carry some skeptical opinions of Steinbeck. Reading this book has encouraged me to wonder what I have missed out on, though. Perhaps making a very excitable 17-year-old read The Grapes of Wrath was a very bad idea. Oh, I tried East of Eden last year and didn't care much for it…actually, don't think I made it through the first chapter.
Also, I carry some slightly dislike for the book A Wrinkle in Time because of a bad experience of being made to read it in 7th grade.
Pretty much, the point is, most of the authors I tend to avoid are somehow wrapped up in this novel. AndSteinbeck's Ghost has given me a burning desire to go re-read them. More by Steinbeck. More of Madeleine L'Engle. Possibly. And as much as I can get my hands on by Lewis Buzbee. Because Steinbeck's Ghost just….just EXPRESSES what it is like to be a bookworm. It expresses the beauty of words and life and it makes my mouth just water to go visit these places. It expresses why I read so much. Like, there is a quote I found online by Lewis Buzbee where he says "Books can give us courage to go out into the unknown; they're not merely an escape from the bigger world." It's simply brilliant, that is. And this whole books is full of simply brilliant quotes.
The writing! Oh, the writing of this book makes me want to drool. Do you know how pathetic that makes me feel? I read and read and read and read and this book just simply went BAM
Welcome, life, to a whole new level of meaning.
It's just so crazy beautiful. Words link together in lovely sentences that really flow. The descriptions are amazing. The innocence of the main character, the struggles he goes through and overcomes, even the author Oster (who I suspected immediately had some connection to Lewis Buzbee…really, that name is so much fun to say)…it's all wonderful character development. The only thing that strongly puzzled me about the plot was the ending. But it sort of makes sense too. Of course, normally characters don't appear and disappear so a story can be told in connection to a closing library, but it doesn't really need to be explained why or how, either. The best part of a story is in the mystery, and sometimes the mystery is best when it isn't explained. That's how this book is. One giant, unexplainable, glorious mystery. I have met a kindred spirit. A muse. A friend. Although I di wish there would have been some hint as to why the Corral disappeared like it did. I need to re-read it to fully grasp it all. This is some deep stuff. Some glorious stuff. And I found it in a used bookstore. How have I never heard of it before? Why hasn't it won awards or tons of other stuff?
THIS IS GOOD PEOPLE.
Really, really good.
I want to re-read it right now. Maybe I will. I am glad I bought it. It was worth every penny. It's innocent and full of wisdom. It is a work of art. Yet it is also close to home. This isn't the fancy, gold wrought portrait you admire in a museum. It's the wood-framed picture of a snug cottage that hangs in your living room. It's comfy and close to home even if you have never been to California or really don't like Steinbeck that much (like me..and, uh, me!). It's the spirit of life in it.
Anyway, don't mind me. Find it for yourself. I am going to use the rest of this deliciously rainy Saturday to curl up, turn on some Brock's Folly, and re-read.
Good luck with finals everybody.
I think it is going to be very funny when I re-read this review in a few years and go 'oh...that book? I buried it around here somewhere.'
But seriously. Right now I just finished it and super loved it. I'm hoping it doesn't get lost in the packing