Books
by John Steinbeck
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East of Eden |
A lovely, sprawling, often brutal, uplifting book. Covers a family history, and indirectly the US history of the period, in the 19th and early 20th century, set in the Salinas Valley in California. A modern retelling of the book of Genesis, full of humanity in all its forms. Should get the Nobel Prize for this - oh, he did!
(Rupert Truman - bwl 43 December 2007) |
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East of Eden |
No need to re-read any of Steinbeck's sentences! Inspired by the story of Cain and Abel, this book - set in California in the early 1900s - is big in every sense, interleaving plots, wide canvas, multiple characters - what American novelists were into in the 1950s. I found it rather refreshing to get away from fashionable 'spareness' and, firmly suppressing cynical reservations, romped through it with appreciation for Steinbeck's undoubted mastery of plot and character.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 81 Summer 2016) |
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The Grapes of Wrath |
A stark social commentary painfully relevant to modern times, The Grapes of Wrath is as beautifully written as it is thought provoking. The story of one family's ill-fated struggle to reach California and find work during the 1930's depression, it exposes you to the noblest and the darkest of human nature. Above all, though, it taught me the value and power of hope. And how sometimes having nothing makes you appreciate the suffering of others.
(Theo Hobson - bwl 48 November 2008) |
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