July 2026 - Tortilla Flat > Likes and Comments

All are welcome to experience a group read of Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck.

I would like to join.

Nice, thanks for setting this up Linda! I'll definitely be in. I've read a lot of Steinbeck but haven't gotten to this one yet .

Welcome Lorraine! And Franky, I don't remember reading this one though I might have as I read a lot of his books years ago.

Here's a book description found on Wikipedia:

"Steinbeck's first commercial success, published in 1935, is an episodic fiction recounting adventures of a loosely attached group of delinquent locals in a shabby coastal district of California. Like other books of Steinbeck's, Tortilla Flat was adapted into a feature film."

This was Steinbeck's first commercially published and distributed novel. His first novel, "Cup of Gold," was self-published... and to be honest, I read that one and was not a fan. It did have some admirable sentences in it but I thought Henry Morgan, a pirate in the 1600's, was a terrible main character. I like likable characters! I did not like Henry.

Thanks for the book description, Linda. I should be getting started on this one pretty soon. I'm just finishing up on a book and then will be in. I vaguely remember seeing bits and pieces of the beginning of the film with John Garfield when it was airing on TCM a few times.

That's interesting to know. I started the book a bit early because I received so many ebooks from the library all at once that I have no idea how I'm going to get through them all. But that's a nice problem to have!
So far, I can't say I'm enjoying this book. In fact, I'm surprised it's by the same author who wrote East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. I'm curious to see where it's going because, at the moment, I find myself wondering what Steinbeck's goal was in writing it.
It feels a bit like I'm reading one of La Fontaine's fables, except that, in my opinion, La Fontaine's are much better. I haven't read Cup of Gold yet, so I can't compare this one with his earlier work.

Tortilla Flat - I've read a few chapters already - was supposedly inspired by King Arthur's round table legends!? I guess I'll have to do more research on that.

I think the problem I have with this novel is that once again, the characters aren't likable... just like how I felt about Henry Morgan, the pirate in Cup of Gold.

Keep in mind that this is one of Steinbeck's very early attempts at fiction, and also that it is supposed to be read as humor. Maybe it is some kind of weird slapstick humor making fun of pathetic alcoholic Mexicans living near the Monterey Bay when Steinbeck was living there! Is it racist humor?

Well, I'm not very far into the book but hope to finish it soon. I think his other books, written later in his literary career, were definitely better. But this one has to be suffered through if one wants to be a Steinbeck completionist!

When I read this book, I thought the comparison of a bunch of drunk winos to the knights of the round table was an extraordinary stretch.

I agree with you, Terry and Linda, that saying Tortilla Flat was inspired by the legend of King Arthur and the Round Table is quite a stretch. Unless they're referring to the long chapter titles and the fact that each chapter, much like in T. H. White's The Once and Future King, follows the adventures of a different "knight," I really don't see much resemblance.
As a huge fan of the King Arthur legends, I've read several different versions over the years, and I haven't found many parallels between them and Tortilla Flat.

John Steinbeck was 33 years old when this novel was published. That gives me some perspective on what to expect.

Here's more from Wikipedia about the start of his novel writing career.

"Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold, was published in 1929.[23] In 1930, Steinbeck wrote a werewolf murder mystery, Murder at Full Moon, that was never been published because Steinbeck considered it unworthy of publication.[24] The Pastures of Heaven was published in 1932, and consisted of twelve interconnected stories set in Corral de Tierra which was discovered by a Spanish corporal who was chasing runaway Indian slaves. To a God Unknown was published in 1933.

Steinbeck achieved his first critical success when Tortilla Flat was published in 1935. Before Tortilla Flat was published, Steinbeck was an obscure writer "with little success."[25] The novel was set in post-war Monterey, California and won the California Commonwealth Club's gold medal.[23] In the New York Times, the book was described as "a sunny, warmheated, amoral and slightly scandalous chronicle."[26] The novel portrays the adventures of a group of young men living in Monterey after World War I, just before U.S. prohibition. They are portrayed in ironic comparison to mythic knights on a quest and reject many social mores of American society in enjoyment of a dissolute life devoted to wine, lust, camaraderie and petty theft. Tortilla Flat was adapted as a 1942 film of the same name, starring Spencer Tracy, Hedy Lamarr and John Garfield, a friend of Steinbeck.[27] With some of the proceeds, he built a summer ranch-home in Los Gatos.[citation needed]"

This is the description from Audible:

" "Steinbeck is an artist; and he tells stories of these lovable thieves and adulterers with a gentle and poetic purity of heart and of prose."--New York Herald Tribune

Adopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, Steinbeck created a Camelot on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur's castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging--men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude. As Steinbeck chronicles their deeds--their multiple lovers, their wonderful brawls, their Rabelaisian wine-drinking--he spins a tale as compelling and ultimately as touched by sorrow as the famous legends of the Round Table, which inspired him."

Well, re: what the NY Herald Tribune writer wrote, I'm not seeing these "thieves and adulterers" as "lovable." Maybe I don't have the right sense of humor for this book. LOL

But I will persevere. It is a short novel, after all, and it is nice to be able to see where Steinbeck was coming from in his early years... and to compare that to his later novels.

I just started last night and am up to chapter 4. Thanks for the description about the novel. I think that there is a sort of "tongue in cheek" approach to the whole Knight of the Round table analogy, but it feels a little forced and contrived with characters starting sentences with "Thou" every so often and then cursing the next sentence.

I don't like unsympathetic characters in novels as a general rule, but I think an author can get around this if the story and writing is very compelling otherwise and the themes are presented with precision to get you emotionally or invested otherwise. As a comparison, I'm reading a Pearl S. Buck novel, Sons, and many unlikeable characters exist, but the storytelling is just so epic and compelling and lyrical.

Linda, that's true about the book's length. The book is quite short and moving very quickly. I can see me finishing this one in a short amount of time. We will see how it goes.

I've finished Tortilla Flat, and although it won't become one of my favorites, I'm glad I read it.

I asked AI to translate part of a review I found online because I thought it offered an interesting perspective on the novel. I wanted to share it with you, as it may help us see the characters—and the story as a whole—in a different light. Here it is:

« Rereading this masterpiece fifty years after my first reading has been a complete revelation. The Great Depression hangs over the novel as its original driving force, but also as a reminder of how little distance there is between ordinary life and the tragedy that engulfs people, especially the poorest among them.
In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck depicts the devastation of rural lives. Here, too, there is devastation, but on the outskirts of the city. The tone, however, is different: urban poverty can be endured collectively, shared among a group, and punctuated by bursts of laughter.
But make no mistake—Tortilla Flat is a tragedy. The journey of Danny and his friends is a descent into darkness. The parties, the drunkenness, and the tumult of their exuberant friendships serve only as a flimsy screen hiding the misery of their bodies and souls.
The devastating ending makes it clear that Danny is, beneath the appearance of a carefree bon vivant, a man haunted by depression—whether one writes the word with a capital "D" or not. Restlessness has taken hold of his soul, guiding his steps inexorably toward his Destiny. »

Thanks for the descriptions and a new way to look at the novel Lorraine.

I have to say that this is by far my least favorite Steinbeck read so far. (And of course, it's the one I suggested for everyone to read lol). I am really not getting into the series of vignettes and stories and they seem aimless and wandering without much import.

I guess if you read enough of your favorite authors, there is going to be a miss here and there, and this is it. I'll soldier on though. About half way through here.