2023 Reading John Steinbeck Throughout the Year

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Abyssdancer wrote: "Just finished reading Cup of Gold..."

I have not looked into that one. I did not know it was about Sir Henry Morgan either. Welsh buccaneer known as Morgan the Terrible!

[Nidhi]

This month i read three short books by Steinbeck, and i liked them all, The Pearl, The Moon is Down and The Red Pony, all 5 stars from me.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Out of the three mentioned, The Moon is down is what I enjoyed the most, Nidhi. The Pearl was good, but didn't work too well for me. I have yet to read The Red Pony.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Nidhi, The Pearl my thought: "Written simply yet oh so powerful in it's symbolic warning against the greed and evil of humans and their dark sides of selfishness."
I liked it much better the The Red Pony so heartbreaking for me.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I enjoyed The Moon is Down the most as well.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

Lesle wrote: "Nidhi, The Pearl my thought: "Written simply yet oh so powerful in it's symbolic warning against the greed and evil of humans and their dark sides of selfishness."
I liked it much bett..."

I agree!

[Nidhi]

In the Pearl, I liked the symbolism as well as the way Steinbeck shows the native connections of the protagonist from his own culture through songs, this was entirely new to me.
I found all three books very powerful, their themes varying.

The Moon is Down deals with human psychology (of ruled and the rulers) , it reminded me of Catch-22,in many ways.

[The Bibliophile Doctor]

John Steinbeck... Yey. I need to finish all his works. Recently finished his grapes of wrath. I have almost all his works and am great fan of his. Excited to join this discussion group.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

The Bibliophile Doctor we are happy you are joining in on this Author read this year.

He is an author that shows compassion for the hardest times in ones life during the Great Depression which was a real daily struggle for so many families.

[Nidhi]

I am planning to read Grapes of Wrath for historical fiction category next month, I searched in GR and it's listed as historical fiction.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Nidhi wrote: "I am planning to read Grapes of Wrath..."

Sounds like a great plan Nidhi!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Sandy I read Pastures a couple of years ago and really found it an interesting layout of shorts. Interwining them together made the stories most interesting.
How they treated the land is how well the land provided back.

There are characters that are totally disagreeable for me but his writing totally overrides that.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Glad I brought a different point of view. That is what I like about discussing the reads. We all have different interpretations!

I have plans for a couple this year myself.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I am starting Burning Bright on my lunch today.

It starts with a poem:

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
by William Blake

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem...

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Rosemarie, I noticed you read
Burning Bright by John Steinbeck -93 pages

I stopped reading it to read one of Pym's books. What did you think of Burning Bright?

What women do for men? Not sure about her choice.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I've read one Pym book, Excellent Women, and discovered she's not for me. I have no memory of it whatsoever.
I prefer Elizabeth Goudge's book.

I must have read Burning Bright many many years ago, Lesle. It was probably okay since I don't remember hating it-and I generally do remember those.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Well that is good to know.

Remember how that one Gothic Romance was, swooning and fainting at a drop of a hat...I feel like Pym is similar in Soap Opera writing style.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

I also feel Barbara Pym is not for me, although I enjoyed A Glass of Blessings to a fair degree.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Finished this one last month but forgot to post anything.

Burning Bright: A Play in Story Form is one of Steinbecks short stories. A wife trying to take care of her husbands wishes to have a child.
What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
The lie unravels leaving one to wonder?

[Luís]

During these days of hot springtime, I've been full of work. I had little time to read. It took an occasion of the year when I had no time for this leisure. We'll see if, in the following weeks, things carry better.

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I hope you get a break soon, Luis.

[Luís]

Rosemarie wrote: "I hope you get a break soon, Luis."

Thank you, Rosemarie.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Luís do you work outside?
Hope you get time to read again soon.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

Hope you'll get back your leisure time soon, Luis. I myself too struggling to find time to read at present. This is the slowest year of reading for me since joining Goodreads.

[John]

It's interesting, Piyangie - looking at the stats, and post comments (and my own reading this year) I think it's been a slow reading year for quite a lot of us in the group. I can't think of why that might be - maybe because we made such a big effort to reach the 700,000 target last year? Or maybe now that the worst of Covid is finally over for most people, we're all catching up on things, and getting out and about more? What do others think?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I'm doing more walking now that the weather is nice and sunny. But that is balanced by the fact that now I can read outside again!
My reading goes in cycles, with no pattern whatsoever, on the whole.

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

I think it's the fact that Covid as a pandemic is over. At least, it is for me personally. All the postponed work are now catching up and I'm overloaded with work. By the time I finish for the day, I'm too exhausted to read and fall asleep on my audiobook while it happily narrates the story on its own!

[John]

Piyangie wrote: "I think it's the fact that Covid as a pandemic is over. At least, it is for me personally. All the postponed work are now catching up and I'm overloaded with work. By the time I finish for the day,..."

That's happened to me with audiobooks so many times, Piyangie. Its one of the reasons I avoid audiobooks while I'm driving. I hope your workload eases off soon.

[John]

Rosemarie wrote: "I'm doing more walking now that the weather is nice and sunny. But that is balanced by the fact that now I can read outside again!
My reading goes in cycles, with no pattern whatsoever, on the whole."

I enjoy reading outside, Rosemarie but don't do it often enough. I think its partly down to the difficulty in getting the right light conditions.

[Luís]

Thank you all. I work in an office but walk around most of the day. It is due more to that cause I have just referred to. But I usually have the afternoon freer than the morning. The morning is generally busier.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I love reading outside but I get too easily distracted by the activities of my surrounding nature!

[Piyangie, Classical Princess]

John wrote: "Piyangie wrote: "I think it's the fact that Covid as a pandemic is over. At least, it is for me personally. All the postponed work are now catching up and I'm overloaded with work. By the time I fi..."

Thanks, John. Hopefully the second half of the year will be easier.

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

Luís wrote: "Thank you all. I work in an office but walk around most of the day. It is due more to that cause I have just referred to. But I usually have the afternoon freer than the morning. The morning is gen..."

I hope things get easier for you and fit the reading back in soon!
Take care of yourself Luis!!

[Luís]

Lesle wrote: "Luís wrote: "Thank you all. I work in an office but walk around most of the day. It is due more to that cause I have just referred to. But I usually have the afternoon freer than the morning. The m..."

Thank you, Lesle!

[Luís]

Finished yesterday In a Dubious Battle. What a perfect book for ending the month!

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

That's a good one, Luis.

[Luís]

Rosemarie wrote: "That's a good one, Luis."

I agree, Rosemarie.

[ForestGardenGal]

I have a Steinbeck anthology that includes The Grapes of Wrath/The Moon is Down/Cannery Row/East of Eden/Of Mice & Men. Since I'm both ambitious and a newbie playing catch-up, Let's see if I can read it in the next two months, shall we?

[Rosemarie, Northern Roaming Scholar]

I wish you happy reading, Sara.

[ForestGardenGal]

Rosemarie wrote: "I wish you happy reading, Sara."

👍

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

John Steinbeck is a favorite in our group Sara.
Enjoy!

[ForestGardenGal]

Loving the Steinbeck books so far. Finished The Grapes of Wrath, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and currently on Chapter 25 of East of Eden, but...

Was anyone other than me bothered at all by Steinbeck's using the noun 'freshet' as a verb constantly in East of Eden? Like him, I'm a California native and most of his descriptions and phrasing feel very natural to me. But this just makes me feel a bit uncomfortable, even though I know his intent and meaning.

I know many authors enjoy bending the rules of grammar, but I haven't noticed that tendency in Steinbeck with the exception of this particular word. Have I been overlooking his grammar bending or is this word use unique for him?

[Cosmic]

ForestGardenGal wrote: "Loving the Steinbeck books so far. Finished The Grapes of Wrath, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and currently on Chapter 25 of East of Eden, but...

Was anyone other than me bothered at all by Stein..."

I don't actually remember him using that word. I looked it up.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshet

"The term freshet is most commonly used to describe a snowmelt, an annual high water event on rivers resulting from snow and river ice melting. A spring freshet can sometimes last several weeks on large river systems, resulting in significant inundation of flood plains as the snowpack melts in the river's watershed. Freshets can occur with differing strength and duration depending upon the depth of the snowpack and the local average rates of warming temperatures. Deeper snowpacks which melt quickly can result in more severe flooding. Late spring melts allow for faster flooding; this is because the relatively longer days and higher solar angle allow for average melting temperatures to be reached quickly, causing snow to melt rapidly. Snowpacks at higher altitudes and in mountainous areas remain cold and tend to melt over a longer period of time and thus do not contribute to major flooding."

Without snow melt you have a drought. Remember when the Govenor flew to Mtn Shasta because there was no snow...and everyone was asked to conserve water. If you went to a hotel they had special instructions.

Since our food and much of the owrlds comes from California i think it is an important thing to focus on.

[ForestGardenGal]

Cosmic wrote: "Without snow melt you have a drought. Remember when the Govenor flew to Mtn Shasta because there was no snow...and everyone was asked to conserve water..."

I'm from California and a home gardener, and I absolutely agree that droughts are problematic and should concern everyone. No argument there!

I was just annoyed by his use of the noun freshet as a verb (e.g. the water soaked in and did not freshet). But I'm admittedly a grammar nerd, so if it didn't catch the attention of anyone else, feel free to disregard. No worries!

[ForestGardenGal]

I did finish East of Eden! Here's my review, for anyone interested:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

ForestGardenGal really thought provoking review. I have not read this one of Steinbeck's yet.

[Luís]

It seems like a great book.

[ForestGardenGal]

Lesle, Lorraine, Logan, and Luis, thanks for taking the time to read and 'like' my review! I am glad it was thought provoking to others. Funny, I just noticed your names all start with an L!

I think The Moon is Down is still my favorite Steinbeck, but East of Eden is a close second, which is surprising to me because I clearly remember disliking it when I read it as a teen. I suppose I needed more experience or patience to appreciate it properly!

[Lesle, Appalachian Bibliophile]

I think I could not stand any of the books that we read in school as it was a had to read. I have reread some and like them, some I still do not care for.

[Luís]

As a teen, I read a book by Twain called "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." But I don't remember the plot. That's a shame! Because I have a notion that it was a great adventure!