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In Dubious Battle
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More: I believe In Dubious Battle arose out of research Steinbeck did for a journalistic piece that was never published. It certainly started him on the road that led to the Grapes of Wrath.That book and the subject of Battle got him the reputation of being a radical and possibly communist - which he most certainly was not. In later life he was fairly right wing. He was and is, hated for his support of the down-trodden - even now his work is prone to arouse strong feelings.
What I love is his humanity and vivid story telling ability that is simple and yet intense.
It is quite preachy, David, but when a novel deals with a controversial or divisive subject it'll get nowhere if it's pandering are sitting on the fence. That's why I love this book: it has fire in its belly.
We actually read EoE as a monthly read. Be sure to check it out when you have time, David.
We actually read EoE as a monthly read. Be sure to check it out when you have time, David.
David, we read East of Eden as a group read last year, and it went down really well. We talked a fair bit about the Hamiltons then. I'm in the process of reading a Steinbeck a month, and as part of the 'America and Americans' collection, I enjoyed the piece, 'I Go Back to Ireland', which details his journey back to Ballykelly to visit the Hamilton homestead. The collection also includes a couple of pieces he wrote on the Vietnam war, on which his stance was criticised as being right wing.I have I say that I don't agree with you re the book being his weakest. I know it is one of his earlier works, but in comparison to Tortilla Flat, the novel that preceded this one, it's far superior, and while darker material wise, is much easier to read. I actually found the Doc Burton character with his commentary on the struggle one of the most interesting in the book, and didn't feel that Steinbeck was being preachy at all. He certainly became a lot more so in Grapes of Wrath.
As an aside, In Dubious Battle is apparently Obama's favourite Steinbeck novel...
As an author, I found the book I got most from was Steinbeck's: Journal of a Novel. This was written concurrently with East of Eden and shows the process and agonizing he went through producing this his last big book.
I'm sorry I missed the East of Eden group read.
As an aside, I hated the movie of the same name with James Dean. Nothing at all like the book.
Such a subjective thing - book taste.
I love everything Steinbeck ever wrote. So when I say Battle was not his best - it was still a superbly written novel. I'd be very pleased to have something that good as my least good work!
@Emma. From what I read you probably should have cut your teeth with Steinbeck's Cannery Row. It's all a much more pleasant experience.
@David. There was a bit of discussion about the EoE movie, which I'd never seen, but the whole thing sounds awful.
@David. There was a bit of discussion about the EoE movie, which I'd never seen, but the whole thing sounds awful.
It's probably been done to death at this stage. Chris O'Dowd is currently starring in the Broadway stage adaptation. It might have lost whatever power it had through over familiarity.
It's a shame that you haven't enjoyed the novel, Emma. Anything Steinbeck has written that I have read I have loved, but I suppose I'm used to his style etc. You should definitely try another of his at some stage before writing him off...
I don't think this was a good starting point for Steinbeck. I love the book but I am very in to him now. What got me started was East of Eden. From that I was ready to jump into other ones. Jamie, so far none of Steinbeck's books are light-hearted. Many of them have a depressing aspect to them because he talks about the human condition. They are very thought provoking and really shine a light on the ordinary man.
@Emma. He did win an award. Was it the Tony award(?)
It was the Tony award. I think it would be a wonderful show to see with James Franco in it too.
I can only imagine how much the tickets cost, Susan. The only thing I'm sure of is that it wasn't cheap.
David wrote: "As an author, I found the book I got most from was Steinbeck's: Journal of a Novel. This was written concurrently with East of Eden and shows the process and agonizing he went through producing th..."
David - nice to have a recommendation for Journal of a Novel as I recently picked that up for 50 cents or $1. This was the first Steinbeck I ever read and hope to tackle East of Eden soon.
My copy arrived from the book depository this morning. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in.
I hope you enjoy the book, Louise! :)
I'm halfway through. I'm really enjoying it. I love the storytelling. It has me under a bit of a spell. Thanks again to good reads for opening my mind up! Allan, I can completely see why willy vlautin is compared to Steinbeck. Very similar style of storytelling.
As you know, Louise, Vlautin professes his love for Steinbeck's work quite regularly in interviews, so it's unsurprising that there are strong echoes in his work. It's great to hear you're enjoying the book-there's a whole body of work there that, if you like this one, you'll equally enjoy!
I'm thinking of trying Wayward Bus next. What do you think, Allan?
I thoroughly enjoyed it when I read it in April, Susan, and again, your local knowledge might help in your enjoyment of it as well. Looking back, I'd be interested in what you think of the female characters in the novel-I know that critics sometimes felt that he wasn't as good at writing females.Personally, my next Steinbeck will be Pastures of Heaven, which I managed to get along with Orwell's Road to Wigan Pier with a £15 voucher that one of the kids bought me, off iTunes. I know David has recommended it above. I'll keep you posted!
I think I'll read that too. I like reading it with you. It adds so much to my reading. That is if you don't mind you jumping on your band wagon.
Not at all, Susan. We could maybe set up a general Steinbeck thread similar to the 'What Are You Reading' thread that'll allow us and anyone else to discuss it and any of our future Steinbeck reads without taking anything away from the monthly and quarterly official reads. I'm still aiming to read a Steinbeck a month-possibly two a month over the summer-until I get through his entire back catalogue.
Susan / others who may be interested-I've created that thread I mentioned in the previous post in the 'General' section of the Discussions, and have linked to it below.https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
That's a great idea, Allan. I recently got hold of a few Steinbeck titles and I like having somewhere to go and natter away about them.
I have just finished. I am not at all satisfied by that ending.& furthermore am I to think the vigilantes did it or the strikers. (Did that thing to Jim I mean). I'm supposing vigilantes.
The ending seemed appropriate to me, Louise. Particularly given the title. It was a dirty fight and everything was used to the party's advantage. I might have to open a spoiler thread for better discussion.
I thought the ending was shocking-the dirty tactics shining through right to the end. It was definitely the vigilantes that did it, particularly with the use of Doc Burton's fate as bait. I really wasn't expecting the finish myself, but thought it ended the book and summed up the futile cost of such struggles perfectly.
I was surprised how Mac used Jim even at the end. He really allowed nothing to interfere with his goals. It made me so sad because I thought what a great person Jim could have been.There is a classic book about vigilantes that I can't quite remember. Was it The Incident at Cross Bow or something like that? Can anyone help me out?
Sorry Susan. If I remember tomorrow I'll try to track it down for you.
Steinbeck captured the sense of the David v Goliath fight in this situation. He also portrays the "Party" guys, especially Jim, as pretty selfless and dedicated to their politics. We tend to associate 1950's American history with being very anti-Communist, but after the Russian Revolution, was the beginning of "the Red scare" that lasted for decades in the US. I did remember the Palmer Raids so looked them up : http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/hist409/r...I recall during WWII things thawed a little because the Russians/ Stalin joined in fighting Hitler, but haven't read any of that history. I just looked up HUAC and discovered that HUAC began back in the 1930's - a couple years after the book's events take place:
"Upon its formation in 1938, the official role of the House Un-American Activities Committee was to investigate Communist and fascist organizations that had become active during the Great Depression, though it also examined the activities of other groups on the political left."
It is very much David Vs Goliath, Barbara, and I agree that Jim and Mac are selfless but they -and Mac particularly- are ruthless. Mac would sacrifice himself for his cause, but he'd also sacrifice everyone else in a heartbeat.
I never heard of HUAC before but the little I know about the McCarthy trials paints a clear picture of anti-communist feeling in the US post WWII.
I never heard of HUAC before but the little I know about the McCarthy trials paints a clear picture of anti-communist feeling in the US post WWII.
That was interesting, Barbara. I had no idea that it started in the 1930's. I always associate it with the McCarthy hearings.
Susan wrote: "That was interesting, Barbara. I had no idea that it started in the 1930's. I always associate it with the McCarthy hearings."Susan - me too. But I had some recollection that some of the blacklisted actors and writers had gotten drawn into the Communist Party in the 1930's. There's got to be a few books about all of this.
I've just reread the Pastures of Heaven. A delightful collection of rural stories with real depth.
(For those who didn't know, despite the name, Steinbeck's heritage was Ulster Irish. His family are the model for the Hamiltons in East of Eden.)