Review: Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

There are some authors whom I read which I feel can do no wrong; everything I read that they have published is truly brilliant and I feel such a connection for the writing, the characters and the general feel of their works.  From an American literature standpoint, I hold two writers on a pedestal: Ernest Hemingway and John Steinbeck.

Because these are two of my favourite authors, I tend to read more of their obscure work after I have picked over some of their more well-known literature.  Sometimes I find hidden gems, and as one blogger put it, finding such a gem is like having a secret connection with a writer that only you know about.  It's special, because not very many people have experienced it.  When I read 'The Winter of Our Discontent' as well as 'Travels with Charley' by Steinbeck, I felt strongly that these were some of those works.

However, reading some of the lesser known works sometimes sets your idyllic authors up for failure.  Such was the case with 'Tortilla Flats' for me, which echo's my feelings towards another work set in Monterrey, 'Cannery Row.'

The novel is about a group of paisanos in the town 'Tortilla Flats' that are essential homeless men who steal from others within their town.  When local boy 'Danny' comes home from the war, he inherits two houses after the death of a relative and moves into one house while his friends move into the other.

The book is about the friendship of these paisanos, who find the company of each other welcome and they become a close-knit family who looks out for each other.  The generosity in these fellows is felt by many in Tortilla Flat that come upon hard times.  While not educated and generally lazy (only one friend occasionally works, with very limited exceptions), they are able to get by on minimalistic possessions and a large quantity of wine (for those that read Hemingway - the magnitude of drinking in this novel is similar).

I won't go into the plot details, but I must say that the book leaves me feeling rather ho-hum.  When reading  about Steinbeck's intent from Wikipedia, there are a few things that stand out.  Like in East of Eden when Steinbeck linked his work to the story of Cain and Abel, in Tortilla Flat Steinbeck links his plot to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.  However, unlike in the former work, he is less implicit in his linking in 'Tortilla Flat'... and I only really found out about the allusion afterwards [Warning: Potential Plot Spoilers in upcoming quotation]:

"Steinbeck critic Joseph Fontenrose has shown how closely Tortilla flat parallels the Arthurian saga. He sees these parallels : After an obscure boyhood Arthur inherits a kingdom and is transformed from ordinary manhood to lord of the land (Danny inherits two houses); the new king has trouble with subject kings and barons who refuse to pay homage (Pilon and Pablo refuse to pay rent on Danny's second house), but are finally defeated ( the house burns down), and reconciled. Arthur (Danny) gathers knights (friends) to his Round Table and gives them lands (shelter and a place to sleep). The knights swear an oath of devotion (Danny's friends promise to see that he will never go hungry). Arthur and his knights give their attention to Pelles, the maimed King, and the Grail that he kept (the Pirate and his treasure). In fact, Fontenrose traces such parallels throughout the entire book. (Services and symbols of the Catholic Church are also keys to both the King Arthur legends and Tortilla Flat.)"

I understand the intent, but I think it missed the mark.

In addition, Steinbeck came under criticism for his portrayal of the paisanos, and I can see why.  While all the positive qualities I have mentioned above are characterized by Steinbeck, the paisanos are also sh*t disturbers and drunkards who go in and out of jail.  Here is what he writes in the foreword for the 1937 Modern Library edition:

"..it did not occur to me that paisanos were curious or quaint, dispossessed or underdoggish. They are people whom I know and like, people who merge successfully with their habitat...good people of laughter and kindness, of honest lusts and direct eyes. If I have done them harm by telling a few of their stories I am sorry. It will never happen again."

All that said, I really don't understand the point Steinbeck was looking to make.  Wikipedia talks about a phalanx, where the group of men are more than the sum of their parts.  I get it and I see where he is going, but I don't think the execution of this was present in the novel.

Steinbeck uses more wit in this work than in some of his other novels, and while I chuckled a few times, I felt that some of the jokes were forced... it was the subtle ones that really made me smile. 

Steinbeck's writing was as smooth as ever, and there are occasional glimpses into the beauty of nature and his love of the Salinas' Valley (in California), but I didn't feel the pang of adventure in my heart like I have in other works by Steinbeck.  All in all, I wouldn't recommend this book to the community unless you've read almost everything else by Steinbeck and are in need of some fluid Steinbeck prose.

I would love to hear other readers' opinions of the novel.

Book Beginnings | Tortilla Flat

It's Friday, and while I haven't started to read this work by one of my all-time favourites, John Steinbeck, I got antsy and did a quick google search to see if I could find the opening line and viola!

When Danny came home from the army he learned that he was an heir and owner of property.

I have no idea what this book is about, but now I'm one step closer.  I think this is a decent opening line, in that it paints a picture for the beginning of the story.  It's not really exciting or sexy, but I think it gets the job done.

Thoughts in the community?  General opinions of Mr. John Steinbeck?

East of Eden | John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck’s East of Eden was a masterpiece of literature. Simple prose, beautiful story, love of nature, deep meaning and rich themes.

The character’s lives in the novel mirror the story of brothers Cain and Abel, from the book of Genesis. Cain offers some produce from his land to God, while Abel offers his best sheep (or some other animal). Abel’s gift is praised, while Cain’s gift is shunned. In a rage of jealousy and rejection, Cain kills Abel. Cain is then destined to walk the earth alone, accompanied only with his evil thoughts.

East of Eden chronicles the lives of two families: the Hamiltons and the Trasks. Sam Hamilton has lived his entire life with high values, earning only enough to survive on barren land during the pre-World War I era in Salinas Valley, California. Adam Trask moves to Salinas and buys the best land available, with the inheritance he received from his father, who was a prominent government official.

Adam’s wife Kate, births two sons – Caleb and Aron. Caleb is highly intelligent, but also possesses wickedness and evil intentions. He continually punishes himself for outbursts, and Steinbeck does a great job to show his internal struggle to reconcile his belief in doing good with his evil actions. Aron is the naïve brother, beautiful and innocent. The two characters parallel the lives of Cain and Abel, with interesting results. In the end, Caleb is offered a choice based on a revised translation of a line in the book of Genesis. As readers, we can only hope he chose the correct path.

Some of the themes include good vs. evil, rejection, self-preservation, importance of family and choice. One of my personal favourite discussions revolves around the concept that there are no longer any great men in society, only specialized men – a theme that becomes more true in North America, day by day.

There is way too much to chronicle here, in this short synopsis. John Steinbeck has definitely created an Epic, in every sense of the word. The novel is long, but nearly all the content is relevant to fabricating the tale. Steinbeck creates a landscape and community that you feel you belong to, characters that you fall in love with and cry when they feel pain and a story that somehow is able to inspire hope in your ability to choose your own path.

The story is still as relevant today as it was in 1952, and its magic will stick with you well after it is read. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, I would encourage you to give this novel some attention.

Travels with Charley | John Steinbeck

When I purchased this novel in Prince Edward Island, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting. I had just finished “The Winter of Discontent” by Steinbeck and needed to something to read to round out my vacation (there was no anticipation of needing more than two books on a two week trip). So in the midst of my travels, while in Charlottetown, I saw a book entitled “Travels with Charley” by the same author, which was a fitting end to my first unchartered journey since 2004.

This work of non-fiction is filled with tons of accurate realizations about travelling (I can confirm the accuracy based on just experiencing them). The one I like the most is, “you don’t take a journey, it takes you.” You can do all the planning that you want, but as soon as you get in the car, you are not the one in control. The trip is quite clearly a living organism and you are at its whim. The sooner you accept that, the more delightful trip you’re going to have.

Another theme is that no two trips are the same. As the trip takes on a life, gives you feeling and evokes an experience, it will never be completely comparable to someone else’s experience. In addition, you could take the exact same trip twice, and it would be a completely different experience, especially after the elapsing of time. Part of the experience is in your head as well, the mind wanderings experienced when viewing miles and miles of countryside.

Steinbeck talks about concepts such as “you can never go home”, the majesty of the American landscape, the different points of view of the American people and the difficulty and absurdity of painting an entire country of people with the same brush. The journey is completely timeless, which is to say that it is still applicable today. The detailing of the deep south in the middle of the desegregation (which existed in the time of this journey, in 1962) seemed completely disjointed from present day. This book is a testament to Steinbeck’s writing, that he can make you feel as if the journey is happening in present time… but this event is completely out of the ordinary and presents very interesting perspectives on the difficulty of changing mindsets.

So far I have neglected to mention the identity of Charley, which is in fact, Steinbeck’s poodle. There is a lot of discussion on the complexity of the canine, which you will either really appreciate or get really bored of. A lot of Steinbeck’s philosophies on his pooch I would agree with, based on my limited experiences with dogs. However, Steinbeck does do a lot of projecting and playful bantering which is tiring at times.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book. Steinbeck’s objective was to discover America. While reaching no definitive conclusions and stressing that his experiences were in no way a microcosm of life in America, the journey is very enjoyable to be on… the imagery of the countryside, the tales of characters and the mind of John Steinbeck.

QUOTATIONS:

"We have in the past been forced into reluctant change by the weather, calamity, and plague. Now the pressure comes from our biologic success as a species. We have overcome all enemies but ourselves." 175

"If the most versatile of living forms, the human, now fights for survival as it always has, it can eliminate not only itself but all other life." 192

"The ancients placed love and war in the hands of closely related gods. That was no accident. That, sir, was a profound knowledge of man." 233

The Winter of Our Discontent | John Steinbeck

Steinbeck NEVER ceases to amaze me. He has such a masterful way of storytelling that you fall for the characters he presents and he entrances you with ideas that you never really thought you would be interested in. I've read "The Red Pony", "Of Mice and Men", "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Cannery Row" and I've only felt like the latter really fell short. "The Winter of Our Discontent" did not disappoint.

This novel was written very much like a mystery novel which was anything but formulaic. I was guessing at every turn, but the themes explored throughout the novel were very relevant in terms of the nature of human beings, and even more so in the 21st century. Steinbeck explores the effect on the local of immigration policies, the trade-off of morality and money in business, and the corruption that exists in the heart of politics. But this book is really about a family's desire to uphold their heads and their historic names.

Steinbeck's protagonist, Ethan Allen Hawley, is a moral individual who has always done the right thing. However, he has failed in business and is now a broke grocery store clerk, working for an Italian who attempts to teach him what makes a good businessman. Mr. Baker, the banker, tries to teach him how to be a good investor. Everyone has an opinion on how Ethan Hawley can bring his family name back into the respectable circle.

Ethan Hawley has to choose between his current morals and adapting the definition of his morality. This book was a roller coaster, and the ride is worthy of great praise. This book is a must read.

Note: This novel is written without any fat. I would believe that the editing job by Steinbeck was instrumental in shaping the way this text eventually came out. The book was like watching someone create a sculpture, and not unlike my comparison to Thomas Hardy's chessboard, where every move is very calculated.