Steinbeck's first success story (Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck)

Member Name: gillyman

Product:	Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck
Date:	21/09/03 (419 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Steinbeck at his best, Humourous, accessible prose

Disadvantages: A little dated

John Steinbeck is one of America's best loved authors and he is fast becoming one of my favourites too. Perhaps most famous for Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, his literary career spanned some 40 years and included a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962.

Having read and re-read Of Mice and Men (highly recommended for all ages), I have been getting stuck into some of his other novels including Grapes of Wrath and To a God Unknown. I spotted Tortilla Flat in my local book store and snapped it up. Its the Penguin edition which is the one pictured on Dooyoo with an introduction by Thomas Fensch.

The introduction is interesting in itself as it gives a good background on Steinbeck and additional substance to the story. Essentially it contends that Steinbeck has used The Knights of the Round Table as a motif on which to base this story of the Paisanos of Tortilla Flat.

"What is a paisano? He is a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican and assorted Caucasian bloods. His ancestors have lived in California for a hundred or two years. He speaks English with a paisano accent and Spanish with a paisano accent. When questioned concerning his race he indignantly claims pure Spanish blood and rolls up his sleeve to show that the soft inside of his arm is nearly white. His color, like that of a well browned Meerschaum pipe, he ascribes to sunburn. He is a paisano, and he lives in that uphill district above the town of Monterrey called Tortilla Flat, although is isn't a flat at all".

The band of paisanos, led by Danny are a charming bunch of ne'er do wells who are mainly interested in the obtaining of wine and its consumption. Steinbeck spends most of the novel describing the steps that they take in pursuing this end, in the process painting a wonderful picture of the friendship that exists between a bunch of drunks and thieves.

The logic of the characters in some places is ingenious - particularly
when it comes to their drinking wine alone rather than having to share it out (what sort of friends would they be if they shared it knowing how damaging it is to the health?!) At the same time however, despite selling each others trousers for a quart of wine, there is a peculiar honour amongst them particularly towards Danny in whose house they all live.

Steinbeck writes simple, accessible prose that is imbued with charm and humour. Although his novels are generally tinged with sadness, this is generally fairly upbeat if taken in the context in which it was written (the Depression of the 1930s). I enjoyed it so much that I reread it - at a shade over 150 pages it can be easily done on a quiet weekend.

Highly recommended!

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