John Steinbeck’s first successful novel, Tortilla Flat, is published on this day.
Steinbeck, a native Californian, had studied writing intermittently at Stanford between 1920 and 1925, but never graduated. He moved to New York and worked as a manual laborer and journalist while writing his first two novels, which were not successful. He married in 1930 and moved back to California with his wife. His father, a government official in Salinas County, gave the couple a house to live in while Steinbeck continued writing.
Tortilla Flat describes the antics of several drifters who share a house in California. The novel’s endearing comic tone captured the public’s imagination, and the novel became a financial success.
Steinbeck’s next works, In Dubious Battle and Of Mice and Men, were both successful, and in 1938 his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath was published. The novel, about the struggles of an Oklahoma family who lose their farm and become fruit pickers in California, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1939.
Steinbeck’s work after World War II, including Cannery Row and The Pearl, became more sentimental. He also wrote several successful films, including Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva Zapata! (1952). He became interested in marine biology and published a nonfiction book, The Sea of Cortez, in 1941. His travel memoir, Travels with Charlie, describes his trek across the U.S. in a camper. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962 and died in New York in 1968.
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What an strange coincidence. This weekend, Of Mice and Men was on cable tv, with Gary Sinise and John Malcovich,
with amazing acting skills playing Lennie Small.
It caught my interest, but something intervened, and the ending was not seen.
Also, don’t recall reading the book, ever.
Then this post today, on Steinbeck’s first. Which led to a bit of research about Of Mice and Men, and Steinbeck.
Now I know how it ends for Lennie.
But also, this reference by Wikipedia jumped off the page for me, which I thought was profound:
In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.
— John Steinbeck in his 1938 journal entry
Good words to live by, if possible, imo.
Cheers.
On further thought, to expand on that journal entry of Steinbeck’s a bit…
Try to understand men (and women)
Found myself, when in quiet reflection, noticing a couple of things.
Tony Robbins had a lesson, where he postulated: Have you ever had times when with a groan, you admit to something you did, wishing you could have done better? Of course. We all have.
But then, we’ve all had times where something was done, and another asked, in admiration / awe:
“Did YOU do that?” And we admit, Yeah buddy. That was me. With a little bit of pride, perhaps.
What’s the difference?
Robbins: “It was your state (of mind) at the time of action or decision.
i.e., try to cultivate a state of mind that enables you to shine; not fall short of greatness and God-like words, thought, actions.
Robbins then goes on to give tips on how to do that, involving a few different suggestions.
Reminds me of another adage I read somewhere, author unknown.
Whenever we choose to get irritated by someone else’s speech or actions, it could subliminally be a
thought-whine that says: “What’s wrong with him/her? Why can’t they be more like me?”
…in a vain, egocentric belief that we are superior, in so many ways.
On a personal note, it can be those thoughts that jump to the fore, when receiving criticisms too harsh.
“If they only knew”…or “walk a mile in my shoes, with my life’s experiences, before judging, and perhaps…just maybe, you’d be more understanding. More accepting.”
Why is he / she like that? (typically, in judgmental, critical disdain)
Or, “Why did ya do it THAT way???”…as if there’s only one way to do something.
Our way is not automatically always the best way under the sun.
Any answer, at it’s core, it’s a form of explanation, as a defense mechanism, to heal the rejection felt.
Try to understand men.
And, to take it a step further, look for common ground.
When in the right frame of mind (state), such insights come.
In the wrong frame of mind, distracted and with judgmental eyes, we’re blinded from insights.
Admittedly, this is very difficult to apply, in our current swamp we find ourselves in.
Heard another good one once.
A guy said: “I knew going in, that I’d have to deal with a certain amount of bullshit.
But never in my wildest dreams, did I anticipate have to wade through it up to my neck, constantly”
When the internal whine begins, pull yourself up short, and say to yourself, “Remember, you signed up for this”, as we always do.
Robert (QSLV)
Please explain in as few words as possible, how this poster relates to the article. Bonus points if you can explain the comment: “Remember, you signed up for this”
Mexicans
They are called paisanos descendants of the old Californios who had land grants from the king of Spain. (You find these white guys in New Mexico, they have Spanish names but they are not mestizos, they are Caucasian.)
paisano: native, especially a native of California of mixed Spanish and Indian ancestry
that’s more than ten words…
I used to live in Taos, NM. I know the folks of whom you speak. In other NM news, seems they have bought the AOC Green Bullshit and made it into law….no one says the folks in NM are bright.
I’ve read most of Steinbeck’s works. Cannery Row is my all-time favorite tale, his characters are writ large and all too human. Steinbeck’s great skill is creating word pictures: you can smell the ocean, feel the spray on your face, glory in tide pools and the tiny denizens therein, laugh at the antics and follies of the characters, recoil in horror at beauty drowned, and completely lose yourself in the tale to such an extent that when you look up from the page you are amazed to find yourself in your home, sitting on your couch instead of living the la vida grande of the row.
Tortilla Flats is my second favorite Steinbeck novella, it’s picaresque and Quixotic, the tone is courtly, thee and thou and my special friend. Danny is the perfect tragic hero and his friends weave in and out of the tale, each with his own unique voice…Steinbeck writes with an empathy and love of his characters, he forgives human nature, it’s weakness and foibles and he grants a great dignity to his outcasts even in their most base and venal moments.
Tortilla Flats is a low rent apartment complex next to the Tortilla Curtain on the border.
Are they round ?
no, cornbread is round, tortillas are roundish, depending on if they’re homemade.
The Texas border is one giant flat tortilla….except around Big Bend, then it is a mountainous giant tortilla with ravines….when you get to the Gulf then it is a giant flat tortilla that’s salty and damp around the edges. ..going into the center of the tortilla you can often find refried beans, shredded cheese with meat and chopped lettuce and tomatoes….and a dollop of sour cream.
Both the Rio Grande and the Colorado have their origin in Colorado. Both have cut wide channels in the landscape. Both have been depleted by man, more significantly, the Colorado river.
wouldn’t you agree that ‘dollop’ is a wonderful word?
Yes, it rhymes with trollop.
No mention of East of Eden, which became a great movie as well…
Yes. Have it your way. Either way the eternal story of the Bible and the earth is 6,000 years old. Or Origin of the Species by Darwin.
Your not changing human nature it arose out of biology.
You might be onto something, Anon. They might be trying to memory-hole that novel since it is obviously a Christian theme story.