The Short Novels: Tortilla Flat / The Moon Is Down / The Red Pony / Of Mice And Men / Cannery Row / The Pearl (1953) - Plot & Excerpts
The book of the pearl had many symbolism in it. The pearl mostly had about the pearl of coarse, oysters, and Kino&JuanaThe Pearl represented the earth's riches, it is beautiful on the outside and everything seems like it is going well, but if you look deeper you can really tell that everything is not okay. It can be filled with, greed,hate,suffering,pollution,and etc. Kino, was a reflection on human society, and there are people in the society who see the big picture (Juana Represents that) but few ever take time to listen to them. For example,pollution or eating healthier, you always see advertisement about how we need to recycle or how we need to lose weight before we need to prevent cancer or heart attacks, but only a few listen(for instance Kino0. We still have acid rain and global warming, our world isn't getting any better, we have a island out there that is literally completly trash. I mean it is like human nature to wait till something bad happens to know when to stop doing what they are doing. Kino, represents us as humans. Average humans are so full of greed for gold.Kino though gold would make his life easier,(like humans do) but it doesn't. Riches can turn any friend a enemny, and make a reflective man blind all in a snap of a finger. Humans for as long as they exsisted have been literally killing each other for more of something, it could be either for more land, gold, or spices. No one trully understands how stupid the thing is. The act like we can't all just be friends but instead we have to be savages. Kino, wanted more from the pearl even though it wasd bad for everyone, like achoholios need mor achohol even though it is damaging their liver from the inside out. Kino is the perfect example of the average human and that is why I said he was a symbolism. The Baby represented the next generation. The innocent baby was an example of the children now a days who are under the influence of their parents and it is affecting their lives and how there future is going to be. For instence, if you put this story in real life terms, we are teaching the kids to love money,we always think we have power and we control our future but it is all in our parents hands. Electric devices,roller coasters, junk food, etc... that is what our parents taught us to love and what to hate. It is because of what humans are today is what makes the next generation even worse. If coyotio would of grown up he probably would of grew up to be just as greedy as his father and had very little chances of being like his mother. ok, so I haven't read all of the stories yet. Still, I wanted to post my review on the copy that I own. The first story I read in this collection was the Red Pony. It is easily a four star read. Too start with, some of the imagery in the book is stunning. Steinbeck is an approachable writer but he can craft a powerful image. A birthing scene in the barn stands out in my mind. The character, a farm-hand, in a violent but powerful scene is able to come through. And Steinbeck does a great job of setting the importance of the scene to all the characters involved.I really enjoy the era that Steinbeck rights in. It is foreign to my own childhood but reminds me a lot of the stories my father told me of his childhood. It was a less complex but certainly more demanding time. And Steinbeck, for me, does a great job of capturing (what I presume is) the feeling of that era. I also enjoy the characters that he creates. The main character, a child, is a moving character. He can be sweet natured without being too cloying. The book is full of well developed characters like this. Although a quick read he does a good job of capturing the essence of a character in only few passages.Steinbeck also does a great job, I think, of capturing the duality of human nature. A good example of this is the father of the main character. He can be tough and awkward but also capable of love and generosity in his own confused way. And characters like this are interesting to me. As no person is every any one thing or of any one mindset. People are complicated. But what I most appreciate, as said above, is Steinbeck’s efficient ability to paint these characters.
What do You think about The Short Novels: Tortilla Flat / The Moon Is Down / The Red Pony / Of Mice And Men / Cannery Row / The Pearl (1953)?
This collection of Steinbeck's shorter works was a real breath of fresh air from today's standard fare of angst filled, post-apocalyptic teens or the sad reminiscence of the post-war novel that is all the rage among the literary set of late. The Short Novels is undeniable proof, if it was even necessary, that good writing wins out over trendiness every time.That Steinbeck's writing has resisted the test of time is no secret. The hidden beauty in his works, however, is the cross-generational appeal. I read most of these works some 15-20 years ago, when the stories and the characters and the lessons where oddly entertaining and cautiously educational to a small town teen trying to make sense of the wide world all around. Two decades later, the stories are even more powerful and relevant while I watch my own children come to terms with a tumultuous, seemingly out of control world.As a reader who identifies Steinbeck as his favorite writer, this collection is a rare and beautiful gift. As a writer, this collection helped me re-discover the dreadful ecstasy and the elegant agony that is writing. Surely, no writer could read Chapter 14 of Cannery Row without a quickening pulse or perhaps a few hidden tears. A true master, this collection hammers home how Steinbeck made it all look so simple and so easy.
—hmercado0
The only one of these I couldn't get into was the longest, Tortilla Flat.I am amazed at Steinbeck's ability to change his voice so drastically from one story to the next. I didn't feel like I was reading the collection of a single author because the voice was so distinctly different for each story.Loved this read. So glad I picked it up. I only wish it came in hardback (because I'm a book brat, thank you Todd Peterson).
—hansi123
i had actually finished this more than 9 months ago lol
—abby
