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The Moon is Down

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 6,533 ratings · 498 reviews

Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as blackspine Penguin Classics featuring eye-catching, newly commissioned art. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery R

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Paperback, 144 pages

Published May 1st 2006 by Penguin Books, Limited (UK) (first published 1942)

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May 16, 2012 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1930-1953, historical-fiction, classics, classics-americas, audiobook, the-way-we-war

Propaganda is a word often spewed in anger or indignation at some form of manipulative or self-serving communication. It’s generally viewed as objectionable, ugly, and immoral.

Meet the honorable, dignified exception to that stereotype.

John Steinbeck’s 1942 novel, written to support the Allied effort during WWII, is propaganda as pure as freshly fallen snow, as righteous and moral as love for humanity. It is propaganda in affirmation of freedom, self-determination, and the indomitable will of pe...more

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Aug 23, 2012 Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Well before the United States entered World War II, John Steinbeck became involved in several government intelligence and information agencies because he wanted to fight fascism. By September 1941 Steinbeck decided that he would write a work of fiction using what he had learned from European refugees about the psychological effects of occupation on people living in countries which had come under Nazi control. This novella is the result. Set in a village in an unnamed country, it focuses on the e...more
Well before the United States entered World War II, John Steinbeck became involved in several government intelligence and information agencies because he wanted to fight fascism. By September 1941 Steinbeck decided that he would write a work of fiction using what he had learned from European refugees about the psychological effects of occupation on people living in countries which had come under Nazi control. This novella is the result. Set in a village in an unnamed country, it focuses on the experiences of the locals as they deal with occupation by the armed forces of another unnamed country. The text makes it clear that the occupier is meant to be Germany, and while the occupied land could be a number of European countries, it is very much like Norway. The narrative describes the arrival of the enemy soldiers, the reaction of the villagers to occupation and of the soldiers to the act of occupying, the involvement of a local collaborator and the population's growing determination to resist the enemy and fight for freedom.

Even though the work was specifically designed to be a piece of anti-Nazi propaganda, Steinbeck avoided stereotyping the invading soldiers. Instead, he showed them as human beings with differing attitudes to their role, missing home and their families and trying to justify their position to the locals. He was criticised for this. While many critics praised the work, some influential critics accused Steinbeck of being soft on the Nazis and suggested that the novella would demoralise victims of Nazi aggression in occupied Europe. Those particular critics were wrong. After the war, the King of Norway gave Steinbeck a medal in honour of the influence of the work in Norway and it later came to light that although the Nazis banned the book, it was translated, illegally printed and distributed throughout occupied western Europe. And not only in Europe: the book was also circulated in parts of China under Japanese occupation. If anything, by portraying the occupying soldiers as human beings and not as monsters, Steinbeck showed that they could be defeated.

The work has the feeling of a parable, almost of a fairy tale. It is heavy on dialogue and relatively light on description. In common with many short works, the characters are lightly sketched in rather than well-developed. As befits a work of propaganda, it is somewhat didactic in tone. Overall, it's fair to say that in terms of literary merit, this is far from Steinbeck's best work. However, the simplicity of the writing had a purpose. As I was reading, it struck me that the work would have been relatively straightforward to translate. To translate a work of literature generally requires background-speaker level fluency in the original language and the language into which the work is to be translated. However, the language in this work is relatively simple and the complexities of metaphor and idiom are avoided. Anyone reasonably competent in English could have translated the work with the assistance of a good dictionary. That Steinbeck could adapt his writing style to such an extent, while still producing elegant prose, is a testament to his skill.

Even though this is not Steinbeck's best work, it's still a thought-provoking read. It gets four stars for being a satisfying literary work and an additional star for being an interesting historical artifact. (less)

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Feb 20, 2008 matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fictions-of-the-big-it, political-badassery, satire, social-crit, shattering, underrated-lost-classics, recommendations

I read this in one night when I flopped drunk on my friend's girlfriend's couch after a night around the bars.

It's so timely as to be telepathic.

One character literally remarks, regarding the town his troops are occupying, how he is puzzled that there were no flowers or candy thrown at the soldiers who "liberated" them, as everyone had promised they would.

I mean, Come On, how can that not blow your mind, just a little bit?

It was written as Allied propaganda during WW2 explicity at the request o...more

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Dec 19, 2008 Bruce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Bruce by: Carla Nagle

This little novella was written in 1942 as a work of propaganda to assist the Allied war effort. At the time Steinbeck came under some criticism for portraying the Germans (the conquerors were not actually identified as German in the book itself) too sympathetically, in contrast to the more virulent and crude propaganda that tried to demonize them. After the war, the work was more universally praised when it became apparent that it had greatly encouraged the resistance in Nazi-occupied countries...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Melki rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, war, classic-fiction

"By 10:45 it was all over. The town was occupied, the defenders defeated, and the war was finished."

Not quite. In Steinbeck's 1942 story of a small unnamed town invaded by an unnamed enemy, the war was far from finished.

The book begins with an almost farcical tone - the mayor needs to have his ear hairs trimmed before his meeting with the conquering colonel, the ratfink mole who's been informing on the townsfolk seems surprised that he should not continue to live amongst them, and one of the s...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Bettie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: GeeVee

Shelves: hardback, one-penny-wonder, paper-read, classic, tbr-busting-2012, war, wwii, nazi-related, norway, spring-2012, shortstory-shortstories-novellas, nobel-laureate

Withdrawn from Llanilltud Fawr English Department. No dedication.

Opening: By ten-forty-five it was all over. The town was occupied, the defenders defeated, and the war finished.

HATTIP: It was Melki reading this a short while ago that sent me ferreting out my copy.

I couldn't help but see Klaus Kinski in the rôle of Tonder.

Uplifting read and suddenly I want to make millions of little blue parachutes to help those beleagured females in America who would prefer an abortion without the Victorian sh...more

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Nov 15, 2011 Emanuela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: narrativa-straniera

E' un romanzo breve, parla di guerra, di un popolo pacifico che viene conquistato con le armi.
Più si va avanti nella lettura più questi invasori prendono la forma dei tedeschi nella II guerra mondiale.
Il medico del villaggio li definisce così: "La mosche hanno conquistato la carta moschicida disse Winter."

E infatti, il momento più intenso del libro riguarda la condizione psicologica, a volte estrema dei soldati stranieri, che passa dall'arroganza e sicurezza degli ordini che impartiscono ed ese...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Chrissie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, norway, hf, downpour, humorous, alt

This is filled with ironic humor. Line after line after line. Or is my brain twisted?!

Isn't it kind of funny that the value of propaganda, which is what this was when it was originally written in 1942, all depends on which side you stand? Propaganda is usually seen as "bad literature". Not here. This is the first time I have read propaganda that gets its message across through humor, and it is good!

Here is a little background information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon...

****************...more

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Jun 29, 2009 Christina Stind rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Steinbeck fans and anybody who believes war is not the answer.

Shelves: 2009, fiction, library

If all propaganda was this intelligent and well-written, human beings could stand up a bit taller and a bit prouder. Steinbeck wrote this as during WWII to support the people and countries occupied by Nazi-Germany - Denmark being one of them - and he did a marvellous job.

The book is about a small, peaceful town in a small, peaceful country which is occupied by a conquering force - helped on the way by a traitor in the town. At first, the town people are surprised and not really able to grasp it...more If all propaganda was this intelligent and well-written, human beings could stand up a bit taller and a bit prouder. Steinbeck wrote this as during WWII to support the people and countries occupied by Nazi-Germany - Denmark being one of them - and he did a marvellous job.

The book is about a small, peaceful town in a small, peaceful country which is occupied by a conquering force - helped on the way by a traitor in the town. At first, the town people are surprised and not really able to grasp it all: The people are confused now. They have lived at peace so long that they do not quite believe in war. They will learn and then they will not be confused any more.(10-11) And so it goes - the people have very little experience in war and none at all in defeat (1), as Steinbeck writes in the beginning, but they learn. And the conquering force instead discovers what's it like to deal with a people hating them and having to constantly look over one's shoulder.
The book follows both the conquerors and the conquered people. The leaders - Colonel Lanser and Mayor Orden - are both portrayed as decent and civilised people, both caught up in the war without the opportunity to do different. They both seem a bit tragic - Colonel Lanser because he's been in war before and know that the thinks he and his soldiers do to keep the situation under control are without effect but he's powerless to change the cause of events. Mayor Orden is just a simple man, mayor of a small town and with no experience. But he also has a role to play and play it he must - even if it means dire consequences for himself. Both men have a set of determined actions to play out and both are unable to escape. A very well-written scene illustrating the similarities between the two men is when Mayor Orden and his longtime friend Doctor Winter try to remember Socrates' speech from Apology and Colonel Lanser enters the room and help them and together with Winter wish for Orden to remember it all... Socrates himself got caught in a web he couldn't escape - and so are these men.

This is not so much a propaganda against Nazi-Germany as it is against war. It's clear that Steinbeck viewed war as unable to solve any conflict and that it just meant playing out a series of pre-determined actions, each action causing a set counter-action so nothing new will ever come of war, innocent people will just be caught up in the actions of their commanders. And the reason the aggressors will never succeed is that they try the one impossible job in the world, the one thing that can't be done - and that is [t:]o break a mans spirit permanently (54). I guess this sentence is one of the most important ones in the book - and what was part of keeping it so heavily circulated in several countries during WWII. Even when it looks the darkest, there will always come a light later on... The human spirit cannot be locked down and kept away from the light - and between free men, there is always new leaders ready to lead the people against the oppressors.

A beautiful and well-written novella that I enjoyed re-reading and highly recommend.(less)

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Jan 05, 2008 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

I just had a little itch to read a lesser-known Steinbeck book, and I found a cheap copy of The Moon Is Down, so I figured that was the one, right? Well, I must say, the details I gleaned from the back cover didn't exactly excite me, but it's a novella, comparable in length to Of Mice and Men and The Pearl, so I gave it shot.

I'm really glad I did. Unlike the better-known Cannery Row, I couldn't put this one down. It's about "the effects of invasion on both conqueror and conquered" (according to...more

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Dec 11, 2009 Ed rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you're ever scouting for a robust, fast read, Steinbeck's war novella might be the ticket. Very popular when it was published in 1942, THE MOON IS DOWN concerns an invading force snatching a small European town. Troubles ensue. Though the names aren't given, you know Steinbeck is talking about the Nazis probably occupying Norway. "The Leader" is Hitler. There's a patriotic verve here, but it doesn't grow overly hokey or schmaltzy. The violence isn't graphic, and Steinbeck's prose often shines...more

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Aug 28, 2009 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Daniel by: Rose

Shelves: 2009

“The Moon is Down” is a fine work of wartime propaganda, and more nuanced than most, which explains why it's still read so long after its initial purpose was served. A modern-day reader can easily see how it must have provided encouragement to members of the resistance in Nazi-occupied countries. Nevertheless, it's still a work of propaganda, and suffers from being didactic, as such works always are. (It's even more didactic than most John Steinbeck novels, including his best, tended to be.) Whi...more

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Sep 21, 2008 Jeanette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, spy-fiction, europe-and-british-isles, all-fiction

First published in 1942, this book was translated into many languages and secretly circulated as "propaganda" in Europe during WWII. It's a little fable about how you can't suppress the will of the people when they are determined to be free.

I love Steinbeck, but his abrupt and unresolved endings always bother me. Still well worth reading, though.

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Aug 22, 2012 Dale R. Wilsey Jr. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature, fiction, 4-star

"I prophesy to you who are my murderers that immediately after my--departure punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you...If you think that by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken."

As the words of Plato's Socrates ring with a haunting truth of the grim future which lies ahead for his accusers, the recitation of these words by Mayor Orden in Steinbeck's "The Moon Is Down" cast a haunting shroud over the conquering arm...more "I prophesy to you who are my murderers that immediately after my--departure punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you...If you think that by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken."

As the words of Plato's Socrates ring with a haunting truth of the grim future which lies ahead for his accusers, the recitation of these words by Mayor Orden in Steinbeck's "The Moon Is Down" cast a haunting shroud over the conquering army of Orden's small town.

In 1942, this book would have landed as a hard-hitting call-to-arms for anyone and everyone who were being invaded by the Axis powers. This is, at its very base, Allied propaganda, as it has been mentioned in prior reviews. But that is merely its base.

Steinbeck humanizes both sides of the warring nations in this short novella. He gives both sides faces, feelings, and decent human qualities while most propaganda at the time would merely debase the opposing side to mongrels and worthless animals. Steinbeck has far more grace than this.

While he humanizes both sides and even illicits feelings of sympathy for the conquering army, he draws a distinct line between the two which, I feel, is summed up in one incredible passage from the book again from Orden the humble mayor:

"You see, sir, nothing can change it. You will be destroyed and driven out." His voice was very soft. "The people don't like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars. You will find that is so, sir."

Remember, this was before the end of WWII and Steinbeck predicts the fall of the Axis powers between the covers of The Moon Is Down. He predicts the fall of Hitler's "herd men" and the perseverance of the free world and Allied powers.

This book could have done nothing more than rally troops fighting against the Axis powers and boost moral. Hell, it made me feel confident in the good of men and the perseverance of human goodness and I have been known to be a bit of a misanthrope.

I wont dive into plot as it is very straightforward and, really, the book will take you a very short time to read. And I recommend that you do. It is a spectacular, quick, and rousing read from Steinbeck.(less)

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Mar 25, 2012 Shane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although the back cover mentions a Nazi occupation of a town, inside the book, there is no mention of the identities of the conquerors and the vanquished. Steinbeck thereby elevates this story from yet another WWII tale to the universal lesson inherent in a conflict between occupiers and the occupied, which has eerie parallels with what has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq recently, something he had probably never envisaged when writing this novella as part of his contribution to the Allied war...more Although the back cover mentions a Nazi occupation of a town, inside the book, there is no mention of the identities of the conquerors and the vanquished. Steinbeck thereby elevates this story from yet another WWII tale to the universal lesson inherent in a conflict between occupiers and the occupied, which has eerie parallels with what has happened in Afghanistan and Iraq recently, something he had probably never envisaged when writing this novella as part of his contribution to the Allied war effort in 1942.

The occupiers, with the help of collaborators take over a small town somewhere in Europe (The Channel Islands come to mind) and force its incumbent mayor to run the administration under their control. The target is the coal mine that the occupiers need to fuel their war effort. Locals who do not follow orders or try to sabotage the coal supply line are summarily executed. Over time, the occupiers become the prisoners for they have difficulty coping with the isolation, the overt and covert hostility of the locals, and the random acts of sabotage. The younger occupying officers miss their social life, they miss the “girls,” and one of them who crosses the line and fraternizes is killed mysteriously. The seasoned commander who has fought in the last Great War understands the prospect of defeat and is pragmatic about their situation, which could go either way, while his younger subordinates, who have only been fed with the rhetoric of victory, have difficulty accepting their worsening lot. Help comes to the vanquished in the form of sticks of dynamite dropped off aircraft flying over from the mainland, with instructions on how to store and use the explosives in further acts of sabotage against the occupier. Faced with inevitable defeat, the occupier can only kill the leaders among the vanquished in the hope of quelling the rebellion. The book refrains from making a definitive statement as to who wins or who is better off in the end, for both sides pay a heavy price and seem to be pawns in a larger human struggle outside their control.

The novella has the structure of a play with set indoor scenes, the principal characters entering, delivering their lines and leaving, and the action taking place offstage. Weaving through is Steinbeck’s omniscient narrative that stitches everything together. Some universal truths drip off the pages:
• Defeat doesn’t last
• Conventional law and order is irrelevant. In a state of war it is the duty of one party to kill the other
• Trials must be public for they are lessons for the general public, not for the offender
• In times of need, leaders pop up like mushrooms
• Herd men win battles, free men win wars
• The ‘mayor’ is an idea of free men – it will escape arrest.

Both sides are portrayed as humans with feelings and ideals and no one is overtly cruel. The cruelty which is displayed by each is done out of necessity to carry out their roles as occupier and occupied. Perhaps the mayor’s wife is the smartest, for she believes that all this talk of conquest, with its consequences, is “nonsense” and is the creation of a testosterone-driven masculine hierarchy that rules the world at that time. I agree.
(less)

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Nov 20, 2011 Preston Fleming rated it 5 of 5 stars

Though the THE MOON IS DOWN is set in Europe early in the Nazi Occupation and was written to stir resistance among captive peoples, it is not a novel about World War II and should not be pigeonholed as mere wartime propaganda. By not identifying the nationality of the occupiers or the occupied, Steinbeck allows readers to project their own feelings on the dramatic conflict between tyranny and freedom. For that reason, and because the oppressors are portrayed sympathetically rather than as carica...more

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Feb 20, 2009 Mike Frost rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is no attempt to hide the fact that "The Moon is Down" is a work of wartime propaganda. Steinbeck worked with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the early days of World War II, and was asked, or decided himself, to write a piece of propaganda that would bolster resistance movements among U.S. allies. This was just after he had won the Pulitzer Prize for the Grapes of Wrath in 1940.

According to the forward of the edition I read, Steinbeck initially wrote his story of a resistance...more There is no attempt to hide the fact that "The Moon is Down" is a work of wartime propaganda. Steinbeck worked with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during the early days of World War II, and was asked, or decided himself, to write a piece of propaganda that would bolster resistance movements among U.S. allies. This was just after he had won the Pulitzer Prize for the Grapes of Wrath in 1940.

According to the forward of the edition I read, Steinbeck initially wrote his story of a resistance movement set in an American town (something like Red Dawn, I suppose), but was asked to revise it because the OSS did not want to demoralize Americans by positing the possibility of defeat. Steinbeck changed the setting to an undisclosed location, although it is pretty clear that it is meant to be northern Europe, maybe Norway.

Apparently the press in the U.S. did not like the book because it humanized the Germans too much, presenting them as people rather than the monstrous caricatures favored in most propaganda [as an aside, isn't it interesting that it was criticized as a piece of propaganda? As if there were an acceptable form for writing propaganda that was taught in university writing courses, "Propaganda 101".:]

For his portrayal of German soldiers as humans he was called naive by some critics, and later wrote in response:

It was said that I didn't know anything about war, and this is perfectly true, although how Park Avenue commandos found me out I can't conceive.

Oh, snap.

Anyway, despite the somewhat negative reaction the book received here in the U.S., it became a very important work overseas in occupied Europe, where ordinary people went to great lengths to make illegal translations and distribute thousands of copies in Norway, Denmark, Holland, France and even Italy, where merely having a copy in your possession merited the death penalty.

I'd have to say, that up there with winning the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes, this kind of reaction to a short story has to be about as good as it gets for an author.

The book itself is not widely considered to be in the top tier of Steinbeck's compositions, but in my opinion it was quite good. Its strength lies in Steinbeck's ability to lay bare human nature -- the motivation behind both the occupiers and the occupied. An example of this takes place early in the book when Annie, the cook at the Mayor's house, throws boiling water at some German soldiers who are standing on her back porch -- not as a premeditated act of defiance, but merely because she is irritated by them peeking in her window while she is cooking, and in fact she "would have thrown it on anyone who cluttered up her porch." Following this action Annie gains some notoriety, and ends up playing a significant role in the movement.

As a student of political science who was seriously studied military action and resistance movements from El Salvador to South Africa, I think that "Moon" provides about as sophisticated an understanding of the difficulties of occupation as I have ever read.

Like much of Steinbeck's works, the dialogue in "Moon" often reveals too carefully the point that the author was trying to get across, and seems to unfold somewhat artificially, as if the two people in the conversation both know where it is supposed to end up. As a literary device this may not be the most sophisticated, but it is well suited to a short-story meant to inspire the everyday person. It was especially effective in the exchanges between the Mayor of the town and the Colonel in charge of the occupation. In one such exchange the Colonel admits, "We have taken on a job, haven't we?" to which the Mayor replies, "Yes, the one impossible job in the world, the one thing that can't be done...to break man's spirit permanently." As the reality of this statement is realized among the German officers, one of them become so despondent with the enormity of the task of eternal occupation that he comments "Conquest after conquest, deeper and deeper into molasses...flies conquer the flypaper. Flies capture two hundred miles of new flypaper!"

The take-away message of the book is that superior planning, numbers and technology are no match for the power of ideas among a cohesive group of men, illustrated brilliantly in the story when hundreds of single sticks of dynamite are dropped by British planes across the countryside, ensuring that the occupiers can never be comfortable again, can never let their guard down, because no matter how many people they capture or kill, every town member is a potential freedom fighter. Due to the very nature of occupying enemy territory, the Germans had set themselves up for failure from the minute that they first "defeated" the enemy and attempted to rule over them, a germane lesson 66 years later. (less)

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Mar 20, 2012 Geevee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Geevee by: Bettie

Shelves: fiction

A short story set in a Northern European town with rich coal reserves and access to the sea that is captured by enemy soldiers and sees collaboration, some limited fraternisation and resistance.

Although the book is just over 100 pages it presents the dilemmas and challenges of the occupiers against the worries, concerns and behaviours of the local population well and the story moves quickly to its conclusion.

The copy I read (Penguin 1995) had an introduction that helped me understand the context...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Cameo rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this for book club, and I'm still a little dazed. It is a very short and easy read, but there is so much meaning packed into each sentence that I feel like I need to read it over and over in order to understand all of Steinbeck's meaning. I wish I had some kind of guide to read along with it. I did like the psychological aspect of the book, and I really like the way he showed both sides to a war: the conquered and the conqueror. It puts into perspective how conquerors are real people and...more

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Apr 09, 2008 Anne-marie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: past-reads

This book is hands down an amazing piece of work. It's not one of his more well known novels like "The Pearl", "The Grapes Of Wrath"(which I hated ps) or "Of Mice and Men" but if you haven't read it you should.

Now.

This book does something no other book has in the past, it humanized "the other side". It gave the enemy a face, a human face and at the time that was unheard of. You feel bad for them, you want them to somehow win even though they're the "bad guys". Just because their ideas don't matc...more

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Dec 28, 2007 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

I read this when I was fifteen and loved it. I was always interested in World War Two and was fascinated by the whole idea of a villiage being taken over by Nazi soldiers and how resistance grows, almost inevitably.

When I read it again recently I was surprised by how some of the characters were much less interesting than I had remembered them. The part where the woman looks like she is about to have sex with the German soldier really effected me as a fifteen year old, but not quite as much as a...more

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Jun 23, 2008 Carla rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Carla by: book group

Written by Steinbeck as a propaganda novelette during WWII, now also considered good literature. It was a contrast to then-current attempts at propaganda, and it was controversial, but it was proven very successful in Nazi-occupied countries in Europe and also in China.

After reading just one chapter of this very short (about 100 pages) book, I have been struck by its cleverness and find it quite droll in its approach. The subject is not at all droll, in and of itself. (Surprised me with its ton...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 10-best-books-read-in-2011

This short novel was a breeze to read and broke a streak of somewhat disappointing Steinbeck novels I've read lately (though to be sure, a disappointing Steinbeck is still better than most books). It was written during WWII as a piece of anti-Nazi propaganda at the behest of the American government and tells the story of a town that, though occupied by a conquering force, refuses to be conquered in spirit.

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Aug 30, 2012 Piperitapitta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-usa, premio-nobel, romanzo, letteratura-usa, guerra

«Sì, te ne sei ricordato. Il debito sarà pagato»

Apparentemente una storia semplice, in realtà in poche pagine e con dialoghi essenziali Steinbeck, attraverso le figure indimenticabili del sindaco Orden e del dottor Winter, ci impartisce una splendida lezione di dignità e integrità morale.
Una storia di resistenza, ispirata ad un fatto realmente accaduto in Norvegia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, che mette un intero paese invaso dal nemico (nazista, si intuisce anche se non è detto esplicitam...more «Sì, te ne sei ricordato. Il debito sarà pagato»

Apparentemente una storia semplice, in realtà in poche pagine e con dialoghi essenziali Steinbeck, attraverso le figure indimenticabili del sindaco Orden e del dottor Winter, ci impartisce una splendida lezione di dignità e integrità morale.
Una storia di resistenza, ispirata ad un fatto realmente accaduto in Norvegia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, che mette un intero paese invaso dal nemico (nazista, si intuisce anche se non è detto esplicitamente) di fronte alla scelta più naturale anche se più sofferta: quella di continuare ad essere liberi moralmente prima ancora che fisicamente perché, per usare le parole di Steinbeck, l'unica cosa che l'invasore non riuscirà mai a fare è «infrangere per sempre lo spirito dell'uomo».
La luna è tramontata è insieme a Uomini topi e Che splendida ardi il terzo dramma teatrale scritto da Steinbeck, ma i dialoghi serrati e le descrizioni solo ad una prima impressione sono scarni ed essenziali, perché nulla tolgono all'efficacia e alla poetica cui l'autore ci ha abituati, permettendo al lettore di collocarsi ogni volta al centro della scena in cui si svolge l'azione e di esserne intimamente ed emotivamente coinvolto.
Lo splendido dialogo conclusivo in cui il sindaco e il dottore recitano l'un l'altro il dialogo del testamento di Socrate tra il filosofo e Critone, vale da solo le centottanta pagine di lettura, ed è uno di quei momenti in cui rimpiango di non aver avuto una formazione classica per averlo letto prima.
Certo è che, al di là del valore indubbio delle parole di Socrate, il contesto in cui le inserisce Steinbeck non fanno che metterle in luce e accrescerne il valore già di per sé altissimo.

«Critone, debbo un gallo ad Asclepiade» disse con dolcezza. «Ti ricorderai di pagare il debito?»
Winter chiuse gli occhi per un istante, prima di rispondere:
«Il debito sarà pagato».

Per il sindaco Orden restare fedele ai propri ideali, non aver paura della morte, resistere alla tentazione di piegare se stesso in virtù della propria salvezza è la guarigione dal male più grande, quello della vigliaccheria e dell'ipocrisia, e solo così, portando simbolicamente il suo gallo ad Asclepiade, il suo debito sarà pagato.

Ma quanto sarebbe bello vederla rappresentata a teatro?

Rilettura 22/04/11-04/05/11(less)

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Oct 18, 2011 Casey rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

The Moon is Down was a surprise for me. I just finished The Winter of Our Discontent, and had this next title in my bag. I'd give it a look, and then probably take it back to my place and swap it with something else, like Libra, the Don Delillo I've started and been meaning to get back to.

I ended up finishing this one by the next day. Its a book unlike most Steinbeck, similar really only to Of Mice and Men in its ability to fix readers, grasping hold until the last page is turned. This book is s...more

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May 11, 2013 Daniel L. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: holocaust-shoah

Without the Light of the Moon, Everything Is Immersed in Darkness
Most of John Steinbeck’s readers admire him for his singular ability to create characters so real and memorable and to tell their story with extraordinary sympathy. Steinbeck himself witnessed the poverty of rural America, especially during the Great Depression. Steinbeck was also a journalist during the Second World War. In “The Moon Is Down,” Steinbeck combined his knowledge of the Nazi invasion of Europe with his outstanding sto...more Without the Light of the Moon, Everything Is Immersed in Darkness
Most of John Steinbeck’s readers admire him for his singular ability to create characters so real and memorable and to tell their story with extraordinary sympathy. Steinbeck himself witnessed the poverty of rural America, especially during the Great Depression. Steinbeck was also a journalist during the Second World War. In “The Moon Is Down,” Steinbeck combined his knowledge of the Nazi invasion of Europe with his outstanding storytelling, to relate the story of a small town that fights back and resists the Nazi occupying forces. The name of the town is not given – it is most likely somewhere in France or Belgium. As “The Moon Is Down was penned in 1942, eyewitness accounts of the greater Nazi atrocities in Eastern Europe were not yet revealed; at the time, Jan Karski was still on his way to London with his testimony. As such, “The Moon Is Down” is primarily a psychological study of the townspeople and their occupiers.

The story opens with a sense of profound mistrust – by the occupiers who had lost men in an uprising and the townspeople forced into heavy labor without pay. Among the people of the town is Mayor Orden, a man who may have had simple ways but also possessed the fighting spirit of a giant willing to sacrifice anything for freedom. George Correll was a popular storekeeper who diverted goods to the resisters. Annie, the cook, was as adept at delivering secret messages as she was at providing meals. And Alex was prepared to die on his own terms rather than live a life of lies; this theme resurfaces toward the end of the novel. Among the Nazi conquerors were Colonel Lanser, ready to follow any order, right or wrong. Lieutenant Tonder believed The Leader’s propaganda that the people of the town would love and welcome him and that he would meet a glorious death on the battlefield: “He imagined his death very often, lighted by a fair setting sun which glinted on broken military equipment, his men standing silently around him, with heads sunk low, as over a fat cloud galloped the Valkyries … while Wagnerian thunder crashed in the background. And he even had his dying words ready.” Instead, the occupiers were presented with “…the dark, cold, sullen hatred that chilled the soldiers and filled them with fear.” The occupiers felt as trapped as the occupied, as Steinbeck remarks not without irony. “They dismounted in a small town they grew to despise.”

When Colonel Lanser told Major Orden he had a duty to “keep his people safe” by having them follow the orders of the occupiers and perform the slave labor of mining the coal, he responded, “My people don’t like to have others think for them. Maybe they are different from your people. I am confused, but that I am sure of.” In the end, Orden related the story of Socrates in Plato’s “Apology,” in which he says ‘Someone will say, “And are you not shamed, Socrates, of a course of life which is likely to bring you an untimely end?” For him, I may fairly answer, “There you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying – he ought only to consider whether he is doing right or wrong.” Orden had denounced the School Board early in his career; now, he was denouncing the enemy. Even in captivity, he – like the townspeople he governed - was living life on his terms; as he made it very clear, he was also willing to meet death on the same terms. Ultimately, what is right and just has to prevail.
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Mar 23, 2013 Suzy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm getting to the end of my Steinbeck quest--just one book to go! MID is a very short read; in fact, I only had to unfold my legs once. The setting is different from most of his other books: a small fictional town which seems to be somewhere in Europe, invaded and captured by an army battalion. The invincibility of free people and war as a fool's errand are the twin themes. I couldn't help picturing the book as a play being acted out on a stage. Probably it has been. The handful of characters a...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Maduck831 rated it 4 of 5 stars

“Mayor Orden twisted his chain. “I don’t know, sir. They are orderly under their own government. I don’t know how they would be under yours. It is untouched ground, you see. We have built our government over four hundred years.” (16) “Winter said, “I would guess it is for the show. There’s an idea about it: if you go through the form of a thing, you have it, and sometimes people are satisfied with the form of a thing. We had an army – soldiers with guns – but it wasn’t an army, you see. The inva...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Regina Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars

When you think of Steinbeck, The Moon is Down is probably not the first title that comes to mind. This work is vastly different than his more acclaimed work, but it still holds an important spot in the annals of literature history. In the early 1940's Steinbeck volunteered for the COI and OSS (two precursors to the CIA) and submitted a piece of work to be used as propoganda in Nazi-Occupied Europe. The Moon is Down was secretly translated, printed, and distributed with proceeds (sometimes copies...more

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Dec 26, 2012 Rosalba rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

….ed ecco perché sono sempre gli uomini-gregge che vincono le battaglie, ma gli uomini liberi vincono le guerre.

Ispirandosi ad un fatto realmente accaduto in Norvegia durante l’occupazione nazista, Steinbeck scrive nel 1942, in piena seconda guerra mondiale, questo breve romanzo che è l’esempio della capacità di un popolo pacifico e democratico di fare muro comune contro l’invasore, non senza ribellioni e attentati dinamitardi, ma anche e soprattutto attraverso una sorta di resistenza pacata e s...more

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About John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck III was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories.

In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas Valley...more John Steinbeck III was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories.

In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Steinbeck grew up in the Salinas Valley region of California, a culturally diverse place of rich migratory and immigrant history. This upbringing imparted a regionalistic flavor to his writing, giving many of his works a distinct sense of place.

Steinbeck moved briefly to New York City, but soon returned home to California to begin his career as a writer. Most of his earlier work dealt with subjects familiar to him from his formative years. An exception was his first novel Cup of Gold which concerns the pirate Henry Morgan, whose adventures had captured Steinbeck's imagination as a child.

In his subsequent novels, Steinbeck found a more authentic voice by drawing upon direct memories of his life in California. Later he used real historical conditions and events in the first half of 20th century America, which he had experienced first-hand as a reporter.

Steinbeck often populated his stories with struggling characters; his works examined the lives of the working class and migrant workers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. His later body of work reflected his wide range of interests, including marine biology, politics, religion, history, and mythology.

One of his last published works was Travels with Charley, a travelogue of a road trip he took in 1960 to rediscover America. He died in 1968 in New York of a heart attack and his ashes are interred in Salinas.

Seventeen of his works, including The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Cannery Row (1945), The Pearl (1947), and East of Eden (1952), went on to become Hollywood films, and Steinbeck also achieved success as a Hollywood writer, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Story in 1944 for Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat.(less)

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“I am a little man and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into flame.” — 6 people liked it

“The flies have conquered the flypaper.” — 3 people liked it

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