Steinbeck

Trying not to clutter up other threads, I have just finished Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.

I have also followed up, on Texaco's recommendation, with watching John Ford's Grapes of Wrath adaptation.

I was pleasantly surprised to find John Ford as director of this movie when I searched for it. I have always enjoyed his films especially The Quiet Man (I think I have watched this 30+ times).
Ward Bond again gets a part in this, albeit a very small one and I though Henry Fonda did okay playing Tom in the main role.

I have definitely become a Steinbeck fan since reading Grapes of Wrath and I wasn't disappointed with Of Mice and men either.

I'm just about to move onto East of Eden now.

These Library of America volumes are absolutely marvellous anthologies of works and it is only once you actually read the full contents of one of their books that you grasp the voluminosity and scope of the literature.

The Quiet Man has long been a favourite of mine.

LesMis thank you for the recommendation of John Ford's The Quiet Man and while I would say more about East of Eden, I won't for fear of offending someone with my 'political speak.' What I will say is that if you are a fan of William James (and I believe you are), you will be delightfully pleased with one of the main characters...hope that's not a spoiler.

One of James Dean's three movies was an adaptation of East of Eden. In my teens I set myself the goal of reading all of Steinbeck's work. I didn't make it, but read some of everything, from the pirate Harry Morgan, to the front lines of the labor wars in In Dubious Battle, to the rollicking life of Tortilla Flat to the Short reign of Pippin IV. Two of my favorites were Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. I regret that I have yet to read The Log from the Sea of Cortez and The Winter of Our Discontent.

> 2, 3

The Quiet Man may be Ford's best. It tells the story of a returned Irish immigrant from America and his subsequent trials in settling back into his home village.

It is often light hearted and humorous but powerful too.

The Field, though not by Ford, is another I would recommend. This film is much darker and tells of the fight to keep a small field of land against an American with money. Bigger issues to deal with here.

I've just started east of Eden and already I am hooked. Although I'm only up to chapter four (and this is a much larger novel) I love the way Steinbeck describes place and space. He has a fascinating skill for describing the transience of generations, very much like Stevenson can describe the transience of a moment in the most exciting and beautiful way.

LesMis I am so excited that you're having this experience. Note too that Eden was written for his sons and is loosely based upon his family.

> 7

I did no prior reading about east of Eden and so picked it up blind so to speak, and when I read the first couple of pages, I thought it was autobiographical remembering having read somewhere Steinbeck was from Salinas......

THE SALINAS VALLEY is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay.

I remember my childhood names for grasses and secret flowers. I remember where a toad may live and what time the birds awaken in the summer—and what trees and seasons smelled like—how people looked and walked and smelled even. The memory of odors is very rich.

>8 LesMiserables:
That is great, thanks LesMis. I was just thinking today about when I was a child I was so much more in tune with the piece of ground that I inhabited. The dirt path, the details of the pavement and sidewalks; how the pavement was hot under your feet and the cement was cool. I used to plant the seeds from the maple "helicopters" and watch them sprout....

Just finished East of Eden by Steinbeck.

Took much longer than usual: Masters exams in Greek and Latin, Marking at School, School reports....madness all in all!

But I got there in the end.

I won't spoil it, but it is an exceptional book. Some lovely characters in it that you feel kinship with and others that make your skin crawl.

Thanks to Library of America: this was my joining offer and I might not ever had read Steinbeck otherwise.

Next sometime soon will be Travels with Charley

Congratulations LesMis, on both your Masters exam and Steinbeck!! Please also see the film East of Eden, when you have the chance.

> 11

I noticed that one was produced starring James Dean, but starting the story later on in the book when Cal and Aron are born, I think.

That's the only one, I'm not aware of any other productions.

A TV mini-series of the entire story was made in the early 1980s with Tim Bottoms and Jane Seymour (among others). It was much more faithful to the novel.

I'm hoping to fit in Travels with Charley over these holidays but it is fighting for attention along with a few others!

I have just finished reading Lord of the Flies again after many years. I can't help but find a link between that and Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I'm not sure if it's the allegory or whether it is the unveiling of the nature of humanity?

Has anyone else made this connection between two, seemingly on the surface, different novels?

By the way, I think East of Eden is much more likely to be compared with Lord of the Flies if we are talking about allegory, but there is something nagging away at me about the Grapes of Wrath that I can't put my finger on.

Will there be more Steinbeck LOA volumes?

>17 Pablum:
I have four volumes from LOA, but haven't tried to see if they constitute the complete Steinbeck. As it has been a decade or more since they were published, I'd be surprised to see a new volume now.

Os.

>16 LesMiserables:
Soviet. Hope you'll find a chance to read Cannery Row. Steinbeck humor at it's best, but with real heart and with human weakness and the value of community well displayed. Nick Nolte starred in a movie that conflated this with it's sequel, Sweet Thursday, that is one of my favorite movies.

Os.

Steinbeck wrote more novels and stories than can be contained in three rather slender volumes. If LOA plans to go completist on his ass they'll have to publish several volumes. This is from the wikipedia entry on Steinbeck, "He was an author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and five collections of short stories; Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962."

There are no plans to do another Steinbeck volume in the immediate future.

There's actually not as much left as you'd think, probably enough for one more volume. The four LOA volumes do have virtually all of the fiction--thirteen novels and both story collections--plus three non-fiction works.

Here's what's left:

-- Three historical romances were omitted: the disowned "Cup of Gold," the satirical "The Short Reign of Pippin IV," and "The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights," a loose translation/adaptation of Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" which was unfinished at Steinbeck's death.

-- I believe all the collected stories are included. As far as I know, there are only two story collections (The Long Valley and Pastures of Heaven); I'm not sure where Wikipedia gets "five" from, but it seems they are counting re-packagings and the earlier edition of "The Red Pony." I believe there are a very small number of uncollected stories, some of which were repurposed for his other fictional works.

-- That leaves the nonfiction. The LOA collection already includes "The Log from the Sea of Cortez," "The Harvest Gypsies," and "Travels with Charley."

So a fifth volume could collect war writings, journalism, and other non-fiction, including the books "Bombs Away," "A Russian Journal," "Once There Was a War," "Viva Zapata!" (story and/or screenplay), and "America and Americans."

>20 geneg:
You'd be surprised what LOA will pack into a "slender" volume. And there are four, totaling about 4,000 pages (the slenderest is 908 pages). The only thing that I've ever looked for and failed to find in these four volumes is The Short Reign of Pippin IV, his only political satire.

Os.

Actually the nonfiction (with perhaps Pippin included) would make for an intriguing volume, especially since that material is harder to find. His collaboration with photography legend Robert Capa on Russian Journal would be especially welcome if the photographic rights could be obtained.

>23 bsc20:
Not only would it make for an intriguing volume, distribution by LOA would ensure that they become more widely available and for a long time. I would expect that LOA editions will still be seen on the used book market 100 years from now, even if no longer produced by LOA.

Os.

A Russian Journal with photos would be amazing. In fact, David, what you've outlined for a fifth volume to make a truly complete works set sounds like a great idea!

It's been a long time since I last read it, but I remember really enjoying "The Short Reign of Pippin IV." It would be nice to have it in a LoA volume....

Certainly enjoyed 'The Short Reign..." but just discovered my copy is missing. There is also Steinbeck - A Life in Letters, which is a collection of his letters edited by his last wife.

I wonder why Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters was not included with the third volume?

I have been thinking again about Steinbeck and his works.
Of the three I have read none have been disappointing.
I had intended to read Travels with Charlie but life's complications got in the way. I'm tempted by Cannery Row after reading the comments above. Oh and a fifth volume would be a best seller.

I was interested in the plot to To a God Unknown. I began reading some of it and was really entranced with it. I need to finish it.

I believe a fifth volume would not only be a welcome tome reflecting another element to Steinbeck that we might not find in his fiction, but would be a best seller considering his popularity and coming in tandem with the other volumes. I for one am a hopeless completest and would certainly find it a necessity to have as part of the other Steinbeck volumes.

David, any possible updates on a fifth Steinbeck volume?

Would be nice to get The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights into a volume.

>32 Pablum:
There's no news yet on a possible fifth Steinbeck volume.

--David

> 34

I predict it would be popular, just by reputation alone, and amongst LOA completests, most certainly.

Nice homage to Steinbeck on Google's front page: https:/www.google.com/

The September 2019 issue of Smithsonian magazine has an article about the restoration of the Western Flyer, the boat that John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts used for their exploration of the Sea of Cortez that Steinbeck eventually wrote about in his The Log from the Sea of Cortez. From the article:

Like Thoreau's Walden or Aldo Leopold's San County Almanac, it is a foundational text for the modern environmental movement, but looser and funnier than its counterparts. Steinbeck told his third wife, Elaine Anderson, that it was the best book of his career, and it still inspires a cult-like devotion.

When I read it, I only knew that I liked it a lot. It's nice to have a little perspective about it.