Review of: Burning Bright by John Steinbeck

Burning Bright by John Steinbeck was written just before

East of Eden . He titled it: Burning Bright, A Play in Story Form

Burning Bright reminds me of a medieval morality play which 

weighs and measures what is important in the end, which is ultimately

love. 

Steinbeck divided BB into three acts- The Circus, The Farm and The 

Sea. There were only four characters- the husband, the father (sperm

donor) the mother and the friend. 

The friend he named Friend Ed (his dear friend Ed Rickets was killed

in a train accident a couple years prior) was the pivotal advisor who 

supports the mother, Mordeen and teaches the husband, Joe Saul how 

 to feel about their child, fathered by Victor because Joe was sterile.

When Joe Saul rejects Mordeen for her adultery to give him a child,

Friend Ed tells him: "It's so easy to give-only great men have the 

courage and the courtesy and, yes, the generosity to receive." 

This gem of wisdom turns the tide of Joe Saul's soul and he accepts

and embraces his wife and her gift to him his child.

Steinbeck dedicated Burning Bright to his new love, Elaine, who 

was bringing her ex-husband's child into his life. Did that

in part, help inspire this story?

Steinbeck's title is also significant in that he was about to write 

what he considered his most important book; East of Eden and he

was feeling at full "burning bright" power both personally and 

professionally. Note: Some of this insight was gleaned from the 

reading of Steinbeck, A Life in Letters.

Burning Bright was also produced as a play in New York.

Burning Bright is another short (93 pages) insightful Steinbeck

novel, which I enjoyed very much. It is available at local libraries.

raintreepoet, reporting.

Review: The Wayward Bus

The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck is a novel that
features Character Character Character more than Location
Location Location mainly because the primary location of
the action is a portable public conveyance-a bus.
Juan, the driver, delusioned by his religious symbol telling
him to flee his marriage agrees to the trip for all the wrong
reasons.
Alice, Juan's drunk wife, who runs the eatery attached to Juan's
garage and who harbors her own jealous fantasies regarding her
 coarsely handsome husband stays behind to get morbidly drunk.
Camille, a blonde beautiful traveler, who is a stripper pretending
to be a dental nurse because she is Everyman's fantasy and is strong
enough to simultaneously play them and resent them.
"Pimples," Juan's homely, bad skinned assistant who wants Camille, but
eventually tries to force himself on Norma ,Alice's runaway waitress,
who is headed to Los Angeles to find Clark Gable, her fantasy man
and/or a happier way of life, but Norma has acquired some sense of
self-esteem through the new mask Camille helped her apply, so she
fights him off.
Then there are the Pritchards, CEO, spoiled wife and angry college-
aged daughter Mildred, who are slumming on this bus on their way
to a Mexican vacation because the dad is curious about the common
people. Of course the Pritchards are entitled and quite put out by the
inconvenience of the bus getting stuck and his corporate wife loses
her cool and lets loose a revealing tirade that embarrasses Mildred
and forces her to take off on a walk. Steinbeck throws in a traveling
salesman/war vet to enrich the stew.
The Wayward Bus is all good fun on the shallowest level kind of like
the Jerry Springer Show, however, Steinbeck digs deeper into the characters
much like Chaucer did in "Canterbury Tales" and The Wayward Bus
ends up provocative/thought-provoking as Juan comes to and returns
to organize a digging out of the mud and righting the bus and continuing
on their journey.
There are so many more facets to John Steinbeck's work than I formerly
was aware of. I am really enjoying this reading adventure. The Wayward
Bus is riveting! I borrowed my copy from the local library.

Raintreepoet, reporting.

To a God Unknown

Grief strikes sometimes deeper than tears.
Joseph Wayne comes to believe that a mighty oak tree on his land is inhabited
by the spirit of his father.
When he invites his brothers to settle near him he has no idea that one brother, a
religiously zealous Christian will decide that Joseph's "worship" of this tree
is a pagan sin.
Not only does he move his family away, when Joseph refuses to follow his more
traditional beliefs, but he plans the destruction of the tree, as well.

This rich allegorical story took five long years for Steinbeck to get it how he wanted
it. It was not one of his most popular novels, but I think it could take the prize for the
most philosophically deep. I enjoyed it tremendously as I think perhaps most English
majors would...perhaps religious studies majors, too.
 To a God Unknown has rich well crafted settings and intricate character portraiture,
Steinbeck's main strengths aside from dang good storytelling.

raintreepoet, reporting.

Mind Manifests!

If  changing your mindset changes your reality
(I believe it does) then I nominate "This Land is
Your Land" for national anthem.
I have thought for a very long time how "The
Star Spangled Banner" rattles the drums of war.
If we want PEACE and brother/sisterhood, we
must sing the words of peace for songs are like
prayers and words manifest.
The Star Spangled Banner can remain a glorified
part of our history when war/violence was necessary
to our freedom, but to evolve we must find more
peaceful, diplomatic paths.
Take another look at the lyrics and see what you
think. Can you agree with me? Please write and
let me know.

This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
And I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
All around me a voice was a-sounding
This land was made for you and me

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me
Sign was painted, said "private property"
But on the back side it didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me

When the sun come shining, then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me

This land is your land and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me

The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key

Oh say can you see,
By the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed,
At the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars,
Through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched,
Were so gallantly streaming.

And thy rocket's red glare,
Thy bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through thee night,
That our flag was still there.

Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.

P.S. If Woody's words are just too much for you, perhaps "America, the Beautiful?"

raintreepoet. June 2016

A review: The Winter of Our Discontent.

This was the last novel Steinbeck wrote.  He was probably

tired of the blowback by critics; scathed by rejection and

the burning of The Grapes of Wrath, it seems he lost heart.

Steinbeck changed to non-fiction late in his career, perhaps

feeling a measure of safety there.

When he won the Nobel Prize, the judges mentioned

The Winter of Our Discontent, not The Grapes of Wrath.

This made me curious as to why, so I had to read it.

Although I had once owned it as a teenager, I for some

reason never read it. After reading it now I see why; I needed

some more years lived to fully appreciate it.

The Winter of Our Discontent  sneaks up on you. At first, I

thought it was about the common man but deeper in I realized

that Ethan Allen Hawley was an extraordinary character; honest

to a fault, who takes on the pain of Everyman because he trusts

he can endure it.

Hawley’s endurance is metaphorical right up until the end, when

he is in too much real psychic pain even for himself.

As he navigates his life’s losses and contemplates robbing a local

bank to solve his money problems, suddenly fate twists and

robs him of that particular opportunity. His response is to

dive into the deep end and determine his own destiny.

The Winter of Our Discontent has been dubbed a morality play,

But it is so much more contemporary than that. Fascinating!

As I finished reading The Winter of Our Discontent. the first

thought that came to mind was; I hope there is a movie!

If you are in the mood to probe your own values, this is a great

book to read. I highly recommend it.

Raintreepoet, June 2016