/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.12043319]

Thoughts on this?

[Anonymous No.12043354]

How about you start by telling us what you thought about it, then we'll weigh in.

[Anonymous No.12043363]

It's a great book, but it should not be read in middle school. Middle schoolers will not get it

[Anonymous No.12043382]

>>12043319
A baby gets it's head shot off. It gave me nightmares for years.

[Anonymous No.12043389]

>>12043382
*Its

[Anonymous No.12043509]

>>12043363
What's not to get? Fairly straightforward IIRC.

[Anonymous No.12043550]

>>12043509
It's all about how unregulated markets destroy new competition, typical Steinbeck. But no middle schooler is going to figure that out on their own or follow Steinbeck's arguments

[Anonymous No.12043558]

>>12043550
it's about how wealth can be bad you bozo, stop selectively reading

[Anonymous No.12043566]

>>12043558
>Hasn't read it since middle school

[Anonymous No.12043576]

>>12043566
Tell me how it has anything to do with unregulated markets without resorting to mental gymnastics or "muh since the dealers tried to sell the pearl short his kid died l0l"

[Anonymous No.12043722]

>>12043576
I'll bite. Steinbeck is retelling an old fable in an extended form. This should be the first clue something is different. Why else would he devote the time? Now, the original story is about how money in all forms is bad, but I doubt steinbeck has this same viewpoint. There's no point in rewriting a book just to tell the same message, and he's written so much stuff about money that he likely has a more nuanced stance than "dude money is just like, bad"
He takes time to go into specific detail about how there's only one place in the town to sell the Pearl, and about how the whole village is poor because of it. The whole story takes place in a town controlled by a monopoly.
Also every conversation centers around characters following their rational self interest, and it's repeatedly shows why that doesn't work. Every conversation also shows how both parties are being rational in their decisions, and these conversations are Steinbeck's main contributions to the original story, so it's clear that they are important.
It all seems to me that the Pearl is a story about why the market cannot self regulate and still produce the best outcome for each party. That seems like a clear plea for sturdier financial regulation, or outright socialism, which was Steinbeck's politics.

[Anonymous No.12044380]

>>12043354
doge

[Anonymous No.12044536]

>>12043722
can someone tell steinbeck that monopolies almost never happen naturally and that regulated markets make it harder, not easier, for competition to arise

[Anonymous No.12044544]

>>12044536
No, because he's dead. Idiot.

[Anonymous No.12046109]

I remember liking it. It's not his best or anywhere near his top 5, but it's still good.

[Anonymous No.12046162]

>>12043319
I've read most of Steinbeck's work. This was always my least favorite of his. I don't think it's bad by any means, but it's not a good place to start with him, and I'm afraid it's where a lot of people start. It's so different tonally then the rest of his works, and while it does have that neat, contained, almost inevitable feel of his short stories, it just lacks that... i dunno, camaraderie (?) of his better stuff. I think anyone who's read and enjoyed Steinbeck would find some value and pleasure in reading it, but it's not up there in the list relative to his other books

[Anonymous No.12046170]

>>12044536
>t. Brainwashed US corporate slave

[Anonymous No.12046216]

Is Grapes of Wrath a good starting point? Is it a good ending point?

[Anonymous No.12046251]

>>12046216
Idk if you're asking OP or me, the person who talked about it as a starting point, but nah, don't start with GoW. It's fantastic and is about as Steinbeck as you can get, but it's long and you have to really like the characters to care (which isn't hard, Steinbeck is good at characters). Start with Of Mice and Men if you haven't already, then go with Cannery Row if you want something a bit longer. Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden should come after. IMO, red pony, Tortilla flats, travels with charley, and the winter of our discontent should follow those.

[Anonymous No.12047072]

>>12046170
>t. economically retarded chapo fag house listener

[Anonymous No.12047079]

>tfw have never seen a thread about this triple ultra Kino deluxe