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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
If I could rate each section of this book individually it would go as follows:
The Gift - 2/5
The Great Mountains - 4/5
The Promise - 2/5
The Leader of the People - 2/5
Luckily this was a short read and I enjoy Steinbeck’s writing style, because the actual themes of this book were largely uninteresting to me. I can imagine English teachers having a field day with a literary analysis of this but I just couldn’t get any more invested than simply wanting it to be done. I’m rounding up my average score of 2.5 to 3 stars because rounding down feels too harsh.
Also what’s with Steinbeck’s obsession with killing animals? If anyone other than my friends is reading this please don’t actually answer that, I don’t care what his deal was.
The Gift - 2/5
The Great Mountains - 4/5
The Promise - 2/5
The Leader of the People - 2/5
Luckily this was a short read and I enjoy Steinbeck’s writing style, because the actual themes of this book were largely uninteresting to me. I can imagine English teachers having a field day with a literary analysis of this but I just couldn’t get any more invested than simply wanting it to be done. I’m rounding up my average score of 2.5 to 3 stars because rounding down feels too harsh.
Also what’s with Steinbeck’s obsession with killing animals? If anyone other than my friends is reading this please don’t actually answer that, I don’t care what his deal was.
I read this book as part of a group ReadAlong on Litsy hosted by yours-truly. We are going to read all six of Steinbeck's short novels. This was the third.
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Quietly devastating is in fact the perfect the description for this book
People know this is a short story collection, right? It has all the same characters, but it's laid out like a television series. Hence the subtle lack of cohesion.
However, this book hasn't age as well as Steinbeck's other work. It's probably because it is more or less a diary of his childhood. I couldn't connect with a majority of the book because none of it happens today, IE horse raising and tedious farm upkeep. All important for history sake, just not in this context.
However, this book hasn't age as well as Steinbeck's other work. It's probably because it is more or less a diary of his childhood. I couldn't connect with a majority of the book because none of it happens today, IE horse raising and tedious farm upkeep. All important for history sake, just not in this context.