![]() " I read this book when I was 13 and remember not liking or understanding it. It is still well written, still entertaining, but read one of his more famous works first. I did not find it as engaging as either of his previous works. ![]() " This series of tales describes the Mexican inhabitants of Tortilla Flat. Overall Performance: Narration Rating: Story Rating:. ![]() "A book about the deep mysteries of a simple life in the Tortilla Flat, friends learning to be together and helping each other, a story about kindness and wine moods. 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. 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. "They were called paisanos because not only were they made up of Spanish and Indian blood, but many of them were also part Italian or part Portuguese," Benson explains."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. It was eventually well-received when published in 1935, almost by accident, according to Benson. One of Steinbeck's depression-era books about the "paisanos" of Monterey, "Tortilla Flat" at first had trouble finding a publisher even though the author had already published several books. From this point anything can happen." - from "Tortilla Flat" The graduations stop here, for the trail splits and there is no certainty. A thumb, every other song each one knows. Two fingers down, a song of death or longing. Shoulder of the second jug, black, unholy despondency. Bottom of the first jug, general and undirected sadness. ![]() ![]() Three inches more, thoughts of old and satisfactory loves. Two inches farther down, sweetly sad memory. Spiritually the jugs maybe graduated thus: Just below the shoulder of the first bottle, serious and concentrated conversation. "Two gallons is a great deal of wine, even for two paisanos. ![]()
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