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John Steinbeck

I've read The Pearl, which I loved and today I bought, and am about halfway through The Moon Is Down. Am I the only person who enjoys The Moon Is Down? :confused:
-Kenny
 
I've only read 'Of mice and Men' and 'The Grapes of Wrath' , i'd say the latter was my favourite. I've been wanting to get around to his others but kinda got lost in other books for now. I probably would have enjoyed of mice and men more had my school friends not given the ending away.
 
Maya said:
I haven't read it yet, but I'll let you know when I have. :)
What did you like about it?
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I really don't know. I liked it all. But I think that the main thing I like is the topic. It was about an invaded city during WWII. It was actually used as Allied propaganda during the war and in Italy, owning a copy of the book was punishable by death.
 
My favourite is also Grapes of Wrath, but if you'd rather go for a short book, you could try The Winter of our discontent. It's about a nice ordinary man, a clerk in a grocery store that suddenly feels his life is going nowhere and feels tempted to betray his friends to go up in the world.

But really, I have read lots of Steinbeck books and I enjoyed all of them. Whatever you choose, you will not be disappointed.
 
Grapes of Wrath and Esat of Eden are great books and are epics. I enjoyed them both very much . I also have read Of Mice and Men and The Winter of Our Discontent.

A very easy read and I loved the books are these three that are really a trilogy.....in order:

Tortilla Flats
Cannery Row
Sweet Thursday

I will probably go back and re-read those three as I enjoyed them very much.
 
I finished East Of Eden several months ago and have not been able to get it out of my head (not that I've been trying :) ) Did anyone else find themselves in awe of Samuel Hamilton? One of the most beautiful, lyrical characters that I've found in literature! Every time he appeared I found myself mesmerized!
 
Ah, Steinbeck. His books are labelled Great Literature, so a lot of people are afraid of them.

My husband and I were in the play Of Mice and Men in college, so it has a special place in our hearts.

Grapes of Wrath--omigod, did I cry. I believe this is his richest and most inspired book.

The Moon Is Down was suspenseful and an easy read.

The grocer in Cannery Row is a wonderfully drawn character. I loved the early scene with him, but the rest of the book left me cold.

Travels With Charlie is out of date, but a well-written example of a travelogue-essay.

The Wayward Bus is not well known. I found it quirky, and I recommend it.
 
Mark4583 said:
Whats your most favorite Steinbeck book?
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'The Pearl,' 'Tortilla Flat' and 'Of Mice and Men' are all great books, and very tight. He really did well with the short novel.

'East of Eden' is a great book but has some serious editing needs in my view. I think it was something of a casualty of his success.

'In Dubious Battle' is my nomination though. I loved 'Grapes of Wrath,' but I think 'In Dubious Battle' is maybe his best, and it's way under-read.

In terms of the political climate it was published in, putting the Communists in the protagonist position (not casual, populist socialism like 'Grapes of Wrath' has, real CPUSA Commies), it's his bravest book. Imagine trying to sell a book in America in 2002 that made the case for why someone might join Al Queda.

And no, I'm not a socialist of any flavor. I think that's what makes me so impressed with 'In Dubious Battle' — I'm a sort of right wing maniac. But in the social context Steinbeck presents, I'd be a card-carrying Communist. And at the same time, Steinbeck doesn't portray CPUSA as not being a puppet of Stalin's regime, which it was.

Any book that can make me feel sympathy for a Communist, shows how both the Capitalist and Communist bosses are exploiting the decent impulses of vulnerable people, that's a book worth reading.
 
<b>East of Eden</b>. It was the first book I read by Steinbeck and I fell in love with his writing.
 
SHorn said:
<b>East of Eden</b>. It was the first book I read by Steinbeck and I fell in love with his writing.
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When I say it needs edits, I don't mean that 'East of Eden' isn't a great novel. It is, but it has areas where the heavy-handed Biblical symbolism and the author's editorial take detract. The latter is also a problem in sections of 'Grapes of Wrath.'
 
Like breast feeding grown men? haha...

I liked the turtle getting tapped by the truck I thought that imagery is neat... Spinning shell... I gotta see that sometimes.
 
Chixulub said:
When I say it needs edits, I don't mean that 'East of Eden' isn't a great novel. It is, but it has areas where the heavy-handed Biblical symbolism and the author's editorial take detract. The latter is also a problem in sections of 'Grapes of Wrath.'
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I understand what you're saying. The overall feeling I experienced while reading the novel was what intrigued me the most.
 
muggle said:
The description/writing of the turtle in The Grapes of Wrath was pure genius.
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The turtle lost some charm for me, but the parts of 'Grapes of Wrath' where I think Steinbeck loses it a bit is there editorial asides to the 'great men of the West.'

He's much worse about it in 'East of Eden,' generally better about it in the shorter books. The only work of length I can recall not noticing this tendency (in minimalist argot, holding the 'Big Voice' too long), is 'In Dubious Battle.'

Faulkner is occasionally guilty of the same, of lecturing directly on the page to Reconstructionists and Yankees that the South will reform and change on her own terms. It's one thing in a lecture or a newspaper column, but it's out of place in fiction.

An author can do it, but they need to make it invisible, tell it through their characters' actions and dialogue. Which Steinbeck, Faulkner, all the greats do, but when they try to reinforce it, a lot of times it breaks the suspension of disbelief and makes the story less an experience for the reader.

I'm not saying these cats couldn't write. Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway, that's the Big Three for the early-mid 20th Century in American literature.
 
Of Mice and Men was my favorite until I saw the film... I had an image of the story in my head and the movie shattered that, I shouldn't have watched it because Of Mice and Men was a fabulous book.
 
Of Mice and Men might just be on my top 5 books. I read it every now and then. I didn't like Grapes of Wrath though for one reason: I read it for a class in highschool. It's a shame.
 
In my English class I read The Pearl - which I enjoyed a lot
than I read:
Of mice and men
Grabes of Wrath
and my favorite : In dubius battle
 
In Dubious Battle

By far my personal favorite when it comes to Steinbeck (I only saw 2 people mention it...)
I think it's one of his best, even if it doesn't necessarily stick to his normal mold. And the message is not political, in my opinion. I just loved the sociology of it. The metamorphosis of the main character was scary and intense.
One of the small things I really loved was his interaction with a woman who's baby he helps to deliver. There is something very...I don't know...eye opening about it. It transcends what's normally considered decent and traditional into something very often ignored about human nature, and that is what we are often less-than-proud of. But it's what I find most beautiful about human nature, so I was delighted to see Steinbeck include it.
 
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