The Novels Of John Steinbeck
It was John Steinbeck's interaction with average working folk that eventually gave him literary success, even though his premier three books were not a great success. (Pastures of Heaven, Cup of Gold and To A God Unknown). Receiving his best acclamation for 'Tortilla Flat', he went on to grow his recurrent message of social unfairness, writing 'In Dubious Battle' in 1936.
'Of Mice and Men', the short novel of two migrant ranch laborers was warmly received, and his following novel 'Grapes of Wrath' was to be the biggest success of all his works and he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and also the National Book Award. Although inevitably making a social comment, John Steinbeck Books drew on the spirited humor manifest in the harsh lives of traveling farm workers, and specially migrant workers.
In subsequent years, John Steinbeck books were much less cutting, and generally didn't contain the penetrating comment about the wealthy classes and their exploitation of poor labor. The title of one of John Steinbeck's most acclaimed books comes from a poem about a mouse by Robert Burns, a Scottish poet. Loosely translated (the old poem was created in ancient Scots language) - it says " the best laid plans of mice and men ofttimes go astray". The basic message of Of Mice and Men demonstrates poignantly how we endeavor for a dream, reach for an ideal and often the outcome is very different, leaving us in tears.
Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
The two main characters, and buddies of undetermined tenure, are called George and Lennie and their aim is to work enough, salt away a little money so that they can live a good life in a far off place. Lennie is a big colossus of a man with ponderous thoughts, while Lennie is wiry and quick thinking. George looks out for Lenny and keeps him from getting into trouble as the pair move around the land, finding jobs where they can, and stealing a tad when there is no work.
The pattern carries on until they arrive at a ranch with a rancher's son with a nasty streak, who in turn has a pretty wife that is bored with life on the ranch. It begins to surface that Lennie has a dark secret in the past ...
Grapes of Wrath
Not many books have grabbed the consciousness of the mass of American people like John Steinbeck's outstanding novel, Grapes of Wrath. Disparities between the rich and poor in society are always there, but the Big Depression made it more evident - it made it very obvious. In the surroundings of the dust bowl crisis of the 1930s, a time of crushing drought and extreme poverty drove a family from their small farm to seek a better life in California - Grapes Of Wrath is the story of Tom Joad and his family looking for an honest living in California during the depression.
About the Author
Peter Bruce is a freelance journalist operating out of Toulouse in France. Subject covered range from John Steinbeck novels to chess.
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