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John Steinbeck

I just responed (sort of) to a post about Arthuriana, and was suprised that no one has mentioned Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and his Noble Knights. I had never enjoyed reading Steinbeck until I was assigned this book, which I thought was great. I especially liked Steinbeck's attention to Sir Kay and Gawain, favorite roundtablers. Steinbeck based this piece on Malory, so most of it is the same tired stuff presented in a new way(for example: I actually liked Steinbeck's Lancelot-- usually I can't stand him). And, for fun, my copy has a series of letters between Steinbeck and his agent and editor concerning the process of writing this book.
 
I am about two thirds through The Moon Is Down and love the book. I have yet read a Steinbeck book that I did not like. No question, he is my favorite author.....and there are many authors that I really enjoy.
 
I have now read these Steinbeck books:

Grapes Of Wrath
East Of Eden
The Winter Of Our Discontent
Of Mice And Men
Tortilla Flat
Cannery Row
Sweet Thursday
Red Pony
The Wayward Bus
The Moon Is Down

Next on my list is: The Pearl

I just finished reading The Moon Is Down this evening. It was an extraordinary piece of literature IMO. This book will stay in my thoughts for a long time.
 
I'm glad that you liked Moon muggle. It really isn't one of his more prominent works as people always mention the Grapes of Wrath or The Pearl. I found it to be very interesting in that no matter what the year or location of a given conflict, you could drop it anywhere amongst a people who are under another military power, and they would find a strong connection and spirit of resistance from it. Amazing that it was criticized for portraying the occupiers(a.k.a.-nazi soldiers) as human beings eh?
 
Travels With Charley has been recommended to me so that will probably be my next steinbeck book but I have other books in front of it.
 
I've got two more Dostoyevsky works to finish before I start on Steinbeck again. I believe that I'll just make it a Steinbeck summer and read the rest of his works.
 
pontalba said:
I ordered Cannery Row the other day, and it shipped today.....:D
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For what it is worth, I recommend reading in this order:

Tortilla Flats
Cannery Row
Sweet Thursday
 
I just finished The Moon is Down and it was great! By describing the enemy with real human emotions and not like monsters he gives them more authenticity which must have been why the book became so popular during WWII. I don't understand why some critics argued that he should have portrayed them like monsters.

Other books by Steinbeck that I liked are: The Red Pony and The Pearl, but I've got four more waiting for me in my TBR-heap... :D
 
Thursday_Next said:
I don't understand why some critics argued that he should have portrayed them like monsters.
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Because America likes to take one look at a person and decide whether they go in the goodies or baddies basket.
 
Thursday_Next said:
I just finished The Moon is Down and it was great! By describing the enemy with real human emotions and not like monsters he gives them more authenticity which must have been why the book became so popular during WWII. I don't understand why some critics argued that he should have portrayed them like monsters.
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By dehumanizing the enemy they consider it more acceptable to slaughter them. :(
 
Thursday_Next said:
I just finished The Moon is Down and it was great! By describing the enemy with real human emotions and not like monsters he gives them more authenticity which must have been why the book became so popular during WWII. I don't understand why some critics argued that he should have portrayed them like monsters.

Other books by Steinbeck that I liked are: The Red Pony and The Pearl, but I've got four more waiting for me in my TBR-heap... :D
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The story behind The Moon is Down is an interesting one. From what I've read from sources, Steinbeck was rather shocked by the Nazi propaganda machine and felt that the U.S. needed to do something to turn the tide. He of course, offered his services and even met with FDR to discuss such an undertaking. Donald V. Coers has an interesting book about all of this in John Steinbeck as Propagandist. To address your part about the critics, in the past, the Germans had been likened to the Huns. While it was obviously aimed at the Germans(i.e.-Nordic country being invaded, obvious to anyone with their wits about them) perhaps it was feared that people would sympathize with the Germans and end up favoring something less than "total victory" as a result of having read the book.

Something new that I learned-Moon is Down is the name of a band.
:D
 
Stewart said:
Because America likes to take one look at a person and decide whether they go in the goodies or baddies basket.
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Stewart,
I always wonder what Europeans (and Brits) think that Americans think of them. I seem to hear general silence on the matter. Or do you still want the Colonies back?
Peder
 
SFG75 said:
To address your part about the critics, in the past, the Germans had been likened to the Huns. While it was obviously aimed at the Germans(i.e.-Nordic country being invaded, obvious to anyone with their wits about them) perhaps it was feared that people would sympathize with the Germans and end up favoring something less than "total victory" as a result of having read the book.
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I find it very interesting that so many critics and leaders don't have more faith in the people.
When I read what the critics had thought about The Moon is Down I remembered that some critics had said almost the same thing about the film Der Untergang (at least that is how I think it's spelled:eek: ). That the film had portraited Hitler like a human being. Duh! He was!
 
muggle said:
For what it is worth, I recommend reading in this order:

Tortilla Flats
Cannery Row
Sweet Thursday
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Ordered, received, in the TBR stack towards the top. :D Right after Nabokov and Gilead.
 
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