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/lit/ - Literature

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21802660 No.21802660 [Reply] [Original]

>Of Mice and Men was Steinbeck's first attempt at writing in the form of novel-play termed a "play-novelette" by one critic. Structured in three acts of two chapters each, it is intended to be both a novella and a script for a play. It is only 30,000 words in length. Steinbeck wanted to write a novel that could be played from its lines, or a play that could be read like a novel.[10]

>Steinbeck originally titled it "The Dangerous Retard." However, he changed the title after reading Robert Burns's poem To a Mouse. [11] Burns's poem tells of the regret the narrator feels for having destroyed the home of a mouse while plowing his field.[12]

What the fuck was Steinbeck thinking?

>> No.21802677
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21802677

Do you mean John Steincuck?

>"The Chinaman [in East of Eden]... one of the most ridiculous characters in all of Literature"

A somewhat humorous line from an accurate book review of EOE reproduced below:

>This is a long, long sermon masquerading as a novel. Its aim seems clear- to be the great American novel. In spite of, or maybe because of this overreach, it is completely unsatisfying. The characters are mere symbols. Most of the themes pertain to the characters’ moral dilemmas, but it is difficult to be drawn into these since the characters lack any real complexity. The men are various superlatives (greatest, kindest, wisest). There are two women characters, one evil and exaggerated to the point of absurdity, and the other just a plot device. And the ‘chinaman’ has to be one of the most ridiculous characters in all of literature.

>The weak characters are further undermined by the stilted and unnatural dialogue, which in no way resembles conversation as I have experienced it. The characters take turns giving soulful, melodramatic speeches on the human condition. The ‘chinaman’ is especially painful in this regard.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11511756

Could anyone else not stop cringing (and at one point genuinely laughing at loud) at the corniness coming out of the Chinaman''s mouth?