The Winter of Our Discontent (John Steinbeck, 1961)

Book club selection (via Chris; August 30, 2015).

As discussed here, I'm a fan of this novel.  Well-received in the book club.

The Moon is Down (John Steinbeck, 1942)

This was quite unusual, and I didn't even know anything like it existed.  Steinbeck, of all people, as government propagandist?  CPG (Steinbeck fan) recommended.  It's a short book, and the plot involves a takeover of a northern European country by an aggressive neighboring power.  Pretty clearly:  Norway and Germany.  The locals fight back, surprisingly effectively.

As I read it, I was pulled up regularly by the notion that it wasn't the great writing I normally associate with Steinbeck - somewhat cheapened by what seemed like obvious propaganda dimensions.  (Also:  we've since learned that a large percentage of the population in the occupied countries were all too happy to collaborate with the occupiers - even if they all claimed to be resistance or partisan heroes after the war.  So that makes it a little tougher to accept the images of heroic resistance that suffuse this book.  (And I say this without the slightest negative judgment on anyone in those circumstances, I'm mostly grateful I never had to face those choices.))

And who would ever have thought of Steinbeck as a propagandist in the first place?  Even further:  he had no special knowledge of Europe or the war or the conditions in the occupied countries.  Yet it is clear that somehow this book hit a responsive chord across Europe.  It was translated into many languages; outlawed by the Reich; smuggled regularly; etc.  I don't know if these things can be predicted or planned, but Steinbeck somehow "got it" in terms of communicating effectively with Europeans in occupied countries, in a way that the professionals at this sort of thing simply didn't.

So that's pretty cool, even if the book will be remembered as effective propaganda rather than a grand literary achievement.

Which means it met the author's goal.

The Winter of our Discontent (John Steinbeck, 1961)

This was a recommendation from CPG, who has been going through various Steinbeck novels.  I liked it - it's one of Steinbeck's later works, and I think it was rather complicated and interesting.  Definitely worth reading.

I had gotten a bit tired of Steinbeck - found him a bit preachy, negative - but need to re-think that.  East of Eden certainly was a good work.

This book included a taste of Steinbeck's judgmental side - looking askance at American society entering the '60s with a streak of materialism; and Steinbeck does love to find bad behavior in business persons.  I think he, like plenty of others, mistakenly believes in some mythical time when we were free of materialism (whatever that means).  The way I wrote that sentence makes it obvious how I feel - every modern society has its pressures.

And I recognize there are plenty of instances where business persons cut corners - for all sorts of reasons.  But I do not think it's rampant, certainly not in my experience.

Anyway - the protagonist resides in a New England village; has a dual heritage (Pilgrim/pirate); lost the family money and is struggling as a grocery clerk; sees opportunity to improve his financial lot.  But this involves a series of unpleasant decisions involving his employer, his childhood friend, his buddy who works at the bank, etc.  And his high school aged son turns out to be a corner-cutter.

The book is titled after the opening line in Richard III, so that's pretty neat.

East of Eden (John Steinbeck, 1952)

Trask family:  father is Civil War fraud; Adam goes into army, returns, ends up in Salinas; Charles is violent, stays on farm, dies there.  Adam’s children (Charles’) with Cathy = Aron, Caleb.  Cathy/Kate: user, eventually commits suicide.  Hamilton family:  Samuel as elder; wife is religious/hard-nosed; multiple children.  Lee:  Chinese housekeeper etc., central character.  Abra – falls in love with Aron and Caleb in turn.  Caleb dual nature; through Lee’s intervention, receives Adam’s blessing (“thou mayest”) after Adam has a stroke following Aron getting killed in WWI (after enlisting because Caleb showed him his mother).  Read at La Camarilla.