osprey_archer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
osprey_archer) wrote2010-11-08 04:21 pm
osprey_archer) wrote2010-11-08 04:21 pm
Entry tags:
Steinbeck
I read Steinbeck's Grapes of Wratch in high school, and decided I never wanted to read him ever again.
I read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men last winter, and decided that he had gender issues like whoa (what? Curly's wife doesn't get a name?)...but also a winning prose style.
I read Steinbeck's Travels with Charley last spring, and decided that I had judged him too hastily after all.
And just last week, I read Steinbeck's The Moon is Down, sitting in Starbucks with my tea going cold at my side as I ricocheted through the book, and now I want to read everything he ever wrote.
How can I explain this book? It was written about World War II during World War II, like Casablanca, and like Casablanca it's both a ripping story and an impassioned polemic for freedom.
As the story starts, the Germans have just invaded a little town. The German commander is a decent sort: he doesn't want to kill the townspeople.
But war is evil not because evil soldiers commit it, but because it forces decent people to do evil things. In the face of evil, decency isn't worth diddlysquat, and by the end the commander is thoroughly compromised. He may not want to kill the townspeople, but they force him to it: they aren't willing to crush their own spirits enough to live within the cages the conquerors allow them.
Which makes it sound grim, but it isn't precisely. It's a tragedy, but it isn't dark in the modern sense. Characters die, but Steinbeck's world is one where it is possible to choose good, and doing so is fundamentally important. It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees, even if your death accomplishes nothing.
Also, it's just has all these great scenes. Here's one of my favorites:
At the end, when the soldiers are going to kill the Mayor in retribution for the acts of the resistance (because they believe the resistance has a leader, when really it's in all the people) - he quotes Socrates' suicide speech at them. It should be corny, but Steinbeck writes it with such sincerity and chutzpah that it becomes tragic and uplifting.
Read it read it read it!
I read Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men last winter, and decided that he had gender issues like whoa (what? Curly's wife doesn't get a name?)...but also a winning prose style.
I read Steinbeck's Travels with Charley last spring, and decided that I had judged him too hastily after all.
And just last week, I read Steinbeck's The Moon is Down, sitting in Starbucks with my tea going cold at my side as I ricocheted through the book, and now I want to read everything he ever wrote.
How can I explain this book? It was written about World War II during World War II, like Casablanca, and like Casablanca it's both a ripping story and an impassioned polemic for freedom.
As the story starts, the Germans have just invaded a little town. The German commander is a decent sort: he doesn't want to kill the townspeople.
But war is evil not because evil soldiers commit it, but because it forces decent people to do evil things. In the face of evil, decency isn't worth diddlysquat, and by the end the commander is thoroughly compromised. He may not want to kill the townspeople, but they force him to it: they aren't willing to crush their own spirits enough to live within the cages the conquerors allow them.
Which makes it sound grim, but it isn't precisely. It's a tragedy, but it isn't dark in the modern sense. Characters die, but Steinbeck's world is one where it is possible to choose good, and doing so is fundamentally important. It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees, even if your death accomplishes nothing.
Also, it's just has all these great scenes. Here's one of my favorites:
At the end, when the soldiers are going to kill the Mayor in retribution for the acts of the resistance (because they believe the resistance has a leader, when really it's in all the people) - he quotes Socrates' suicide speech at them. It should be corny, but Steinbeck writes it with such sincerity and chutzpah that it becomes tragic and uplifting.
Read it read it read it!
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