Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

 

 

In case I hadn't made it abundantly clear in the past, I am a sucker for American literature, and I am ultimately deeply in love with Steinbeck. Sure, deeply flawed macho macho man, and at times an ass to his friend Ed Ricketts (who is the not even remotely disguised Doc of the novel), but man was he a good writer. 

Cannery Row is in the mould of Tortilla Flat, perhaps a bit deeper and a bit less picaresque. It's one of those novels that - despite not being "great" - ultimately virtually everyone will like because of its sloppily well-intentioned characters, its stereotypically Californian setting, and the overall feeling that, one way or another, things will turn out alright and life will go on as usual.

The Pearl - John Streinbeck

I would probably buy anything written by Steinbeck, and read it quickly, and love it. In the case of The Pearl I bought it, read it quickly, and just didn't love it. Sad, but at least it proves I don't completely lose my objectivity when reading.

It is obviously well-written (it's Steinbeck, duh!), but all the poetry of the plot is lost on me. To me it stands to Steinbeck's other works much like The Old Man and the Sea does to Hemingway's: it's a book that is obviously bound to be popular, but one whose story is rather predictable and, in my opinion, not really engaging.

Or maybe I'm just old and bitter.



East of Eden - John Steinbeck

One of the best swaps I've ever made at Alpha Books - getting rid of three paperbacks for which I had little time and getting a copy of East of Eden that at most had been flicked through by its previous owner (despite a lovely message from a friend on its first page).

I hadn't yet read this novel, despite of my passionate love for Steinbeck, because I was really rather sceptical of its biblical allegories. Granted, I could have done without that, but this book remains so very beautiful.

For me East of Eden doesn’t have the literary significance of The Grapes of Wrath, and Adam Trask cannot compete with Tom Joad (chiefly because he’s just way, way too good). However, it is not too far behind, thanks to its epic family (hi)story and, crucially, the utterly fascinating secondary characters – the evil Cathy Ames, Samuel Hamilton (who, as far as old wise men go, is really second to none), and also Charles, who I was really sorry to see disappear completely after Adam moves west.

And then there is Lee, who might be the best character Steinbeck ever created and who encapsulates so many of Steinbeck’s defining features as a writer – his dry humour, his wisdom, his awareness of the struggles of common people and their desire to do well thanks to their intelligence and skills.

Having finished the book, I really asked myself why my generation (at least in Italy) was raised thinking of Hemingway as the greatest American writer of the 20^th century…

Travels with Charley – John Steinbeck

A book that I read for my office’s book club – a clear step in the right direction, but still not a particularly good read (and the fact that I am labeling a book by Steinbeck in this way makes me want to hit myself!).

The problem for me is probably that there are so many works of fiction and non-fiction about travelling around the US that it’s so easy to make comparisons, and these don’t really favour Travels with Charley. If one sees this book as a fictionalized travel account, then it doesn’t come close to comparing to On the Road. If one sees it as a non-fiction description of Steinbeck’s travels as a self-styled bum (and I really don’t think you can consider yourself one when you are that successful and popular a writer!) then Jack London’s The Road is miles above.

Or maybe it’s just that I’m not that fond of dogs. Or that being married to a Latin American woman I’m bothered by the sub-header “In Search of America” for something that is only limited to the USA. Or even that I often found myself thinking how many of the manly men that he encountered on his journey would have voted Trump. 

Tortilla Flat – John Steinbeck

I think Grapes of Wrath is one of the 10 greatest novels of the 20^th century. And Of Mice and Men – despite being imposed upon all the young students in the English-speaking world – is not that far off. But man was it great and refreshing to read a Steinbeck book about poor people that are, erm, happy…

Danny and his friends are just wonderful. They make do with what little they have and love each other (and often manifest this love by beating the hell out of each other, which is always great). So many of the stories and anecdotes are delightfully touching (starting with the young coronel, but also the story of the pirate and how this changes everyone else in the group).

And the last few pages are just perfectly fitting. All good things must come to an end, and one might as well go out with a bang, a big party, and a massive tumble. 

Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

I was in love with this book the moment I realized that this is where the Tom Joad of the Bruce Springsteen album is from (the album is really quite average, but it’s still Bruce Springsteen). I was surprised by how I could get captured by a book in which so little actually happens. I mean, at the end of the day they “just” go west looking for jobs.

This book is about the destruction of the American dream, a lost battle between men and machines (well, tractors), family, and supporting each other in troubled times. So many pages in this book gave me goose bumps, from the first lines about men not breaking while “women and children knew deep in themselves that no misfortune was too great to bear if their men were whole”, to the actual moment in which men start breaking and it’s mother Joad who has to lead the family.

And no matter how memorable the characters of Ma and Tom Joad and the preacher are, the one who has stayed with me the most is the immature Rose of Sharon, and the absolute beauty (both from a literary and a human point of view) of her act at the end of the novel.

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

During my first year at university I only read a couple of books. Shame on me, but I had other priorities: trying to prove to the kids in my class that, despite my funny accent, I was as smart as them, washing dishes as I already mentioned, and playing basketball for my university team. Of Mice and Men was one of the few books I read that year, it was lent to me by my Singaporean roommate and I read it while travelling for an international friendly match in Barcelona.

How I suffered. Despite the brevity of the novel, I was quite shattered by the end of it. Over the final few pages I was so desperate for George to find a solution like he always seemed to do. And in the end he does find a solution, even in that dramatic situation. To me that’s one of the greatest displays of love in 20^th century literature. I just still wish he had found another solution, another way to run away and finally have “their little place”.

A dislikeable teammate of mine saw me finishing the novel on the flight back to London. He told me he hated Steinbeck because he had to read Grapes of Wrath in high school. I hadn’t read it at the time, but as soon as I did his comment became another reason to have fairly bad opinion of the guy.