Goodreads Ireland discussion

I've created this thread to allow any of us who are reading any Steinbeck novels or any other of his works together, to be able to discuss them without taking away from the official Quarterly or Monthly Group Reads. The aim is to treat the thread like a 'What Steinbeck Are You Reading' thread.

Personally, I am aiming to read at least one Steinbeck a month until I get through his entire body of work, which Is listed via the link below:

http://static.oprah.com/images/obc_cl...

So far, I have read the following works:

Tortilla Flat
In Dubious Battle
Of Mice and Men
The Grapes of Wrath
Cannery Row
The Wayward Bus
East of Eden
Sweet Thursday
Travels With Charley
America and Americans

So, I still have quite a few to get through!

I know that, Susan at least, has so far expressed an interest in reading the Steinbeck books alongside me, and hopefully others will dip in and dip out.

So far, the group has had one official and one Unofficial Steinbeck Group Read-I've linked to both discussion threads below.

East of Eden

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Spoiler thread

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

In Dubious Battle

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The thought is to read 'The Pastures of Heaven' in July, to start off with anyway.

Hopefully the thread will continue the interest already shown in Steinbeck within the group, and that others will join in with the discussions aside from myself and Susan! :)

Which is your favourite so far?

It's probably easier, Seraphina, to work out my least favourite-Tortilla Flat, which is a poorer novel that he eventually got right with Cannery Row-than my favourite, because each book has its own merits. I thoroughly enjoyed both East of Eden and Cannery Row for different reasons, and loved Travels With Charley as well, but you could go through each book there and list what is great about them.

I'm assuming that you're still enjoying reading about Doc, Mac and the boys yourself then? :)

This thread us a great idea . I'm in.

Was tortilla flat one of his earlier works? I flew through cannery row cause I loved it. I have to pick another now to try.

I'll be joining in soon. I might have to wait until I read the July read, though, but that's all.

Great thread. I am determined to read East of Eden soon but keep getting waylaid.

Seraphina, Tortilla Flat was Steinbeck's first commercially successful novel, written in the 1930s, and follows the life of a group of bums living at the edge of town. I found it a lot harder to read than any of his other books, despite its shorter length, and feel that he did a much better job with similar themes in Cannery Row.

Louise-glad to see you're on board! In sure we'll find some other Vlautin similarities when we read a little further into the back catalogue!

Declan, which books did you splurge on? I've got most of the books on the complete bibliography list that I posted above on my shelves now, having bought most of them in older paperback editions off Amazon-I'm sure you know yourself how prohibitively expensive the current Penguin editions are, which is why it's taken me so long to get to this point. I eventually found a way to 'cheat' the Amazon app searches to show the older editions from third party sellers. My mate bought a 5 book Steinbeck pack off eBay, with all the classic titles, very cheaply as well.

Barbara, East of Eden is well worth investing the time in if you get the chance over the summer break! And you've got two full threads to consult as well! :)

I might dip in with Cannery Row. What did you think of it, Alan--and anyone else who read it?

By the way, this is a great idea, Allan :)

Cathleen wrote: "I might dip in with Cannery Row. What did you think of it, Alan--and anyone else who read it?

By the way, this is a great idea, Allan :)"

P.S. I remember listening to "A Good Read" one of the BBC podcasts with Harriet ??? as the host. Three guests are invited and each one identifies a book that they then all read and discuss. The actor Bill Patterson asked everyone to read Cannery Row. He said it was one of his all-time favorite novels. That podcast was a few years ago, and it was one I remembered, thinking, "I'll have to read that one day."

You mean this episode, Cathleen? I think I remember listening to it myself!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011vdwl

Allan wrote: "You mean this episode, Cathleen? I think I remember listening to it myself!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011vdwl"

That is the one! We have NOTHING like that here on the radio....Sometimes I think the US is a vast cultural desert :) [with the exception of Steinbeck, of course!]

The joys of the BBC, Cathleen! As I've said on here before, the £12 or so the licence fee costs each month for the national broadcaster is probably the most well spent £12 I spend!

Allan wrote: "The joys of the BBC, Cathleen! As I've said on here before, the £12 or so the licence fee costs each month for the national broadcaster is probably the most well spent £12 I spend!"

Even with National Public Radio, it's good--but they don't include anywhere near the number of book, reading, literature-related shows. I'm sure the reason is because they will claim that there isn't the audience for book-related shows. I'm done with my rant now....I wonder if they'll have a copy of Cannery Row at the Strand Bookstore when I get there in a few weeks.

Cathleen, The Strand will have pretty much everything worth having, I'd say! And if they don't, just dander 5 mins up to Barnes and Noble on Union Square, because I know they have 'Cannery Row' there on the top floor-I specifically looked at the Steinbecks when I was browsing!

£12 a month, Emma-so it's pretty much comparable to RTE's. To be fair, it'd be hard for any company, given commercial pressures, to compete with the BBC-I'm just glad that we have full access to their excellent product! :)

Allan wrote: "Seraphina, Tortilla Flat was Steinbeck's first commercially successful novel, written in the 1930s, and follows the life of a group of bums living at the edge of town. I found it a lot harder to re..."

Steinbeck novels aren't readily always available in our library used book store or to swap (Paperback Swap). I suspect it's because several are on high school reading lists. Nevertheless, I have several in my library.

Allan, I will be taking the grandkids down to the Monterrey Aquarium probably in Sept. after school is back in session. I promise to stop by the Steinbeck Museum and see if they have any goodies there. One lady in our book group went and brought us back bookmarks so we have turned it into a tradition. Any time someone goes on a trip they bring back bookmarks for everyone in the group. I have a great selection from Ecuador, Thailand, France and other places. I brought back ones from the Book of Kells when I was in Ireland and everyone was suitably impressed. It makes a great gift that doesn't cost much or take up too much space. Now if someone would go to Botswana and bring me some that remind me of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency.

That's a lovely tradition your book group has started, Susan! I wonder how well known the Smith books are in Botswana? You could be a trailblazer and find out yourself!

I was actually looking through a DVD of photos from my US visit from 2004 on Friday, and came across a photo of me on Monterey pier. This was before I'd read any Steinbeck, and of course didn't make the connection. I thought I'd been there, but this seems to confirm it. Typical that I missed the whole reason for going! :-/

@Susan. I'd love to hear about the museum, so be sure to let us know how it goes. It's something that's on my bucket list. :)

@Allan. At least you've been. :( I bet it was a gorgeous place.

Susan- I brought back bookmarks from the Shetland Museum for my knitting group in 2012 but never thought about making it a tradition. I love it! I've gone to Sweney's Pharmacy in Dublin twice. It's one of Leopold Bloom's stops in Ulysses and now is run by volunteers who sell James Joyce souvenirs. I've brought back postcards of Sweney's twice - a different one each time - which cost about 1 Euro but the bookmarks are fancy and cost E3 or more. But I love the idea about getting bookmarks as souvenirs. For myself, I buy refrigerator magnets. Not very original, but they are tiny, and are everyday reminders of my travels.

Susan - on another note, there was a story on NPR today about farmers in California digging wells like mad because of the drought. The water situation sounds crazy. I don't know enough about the area to know whether or not this is unpopular. I am vaguely aware that there is some controversy as this area depends on irrigation to grow crops and isn't really suited for this kind of farming.

I collect the same souvenirs, Barbara. I like having fridge magnets as the add a nice dash of colour to an otherwise dull-looking appliance.

I, too, collect magnets and they make me smile. My son just broke my one from Hadrian's Wall which really upset me. I loved that visit and actually teared up from seeing clothes and utensils from 1 AD. I mean how often do you get to see something like that?

Barbara, I think the well digging must be farther south from us closer to Death Valley. Many of my friends live in our Valley and ranch. They are having trouble with their wells as they are very dry.

Declan, I can't believe you made it to the site of the oldest whorehouse in CA and missed Monterey. I love Monterey and love to take the grandkids to the wonderful aquarium. At 4 and 18 months they are probably not interested in the Steinbeck Museum but I will drive the 15 miles there after their parents take them home.

I collect bookmarks. I started picking them up for myself but now friends and relatives bring them home from their travels for me. I have some very cool ones from some great places.

I collect dust. I clean out my collection every now and then and start over but I must say, it's not very colorful.

@Susan. I had no idea how close I was to Monterey. Even if I did I was in CA for a wedding and my time was seldom my own, so it's probably best that I didn't know.

@Trelawn. I have little collection now that's growing nicely. I just bought six based on Yeats poems on a recent trip to Sligo.

@Diane. I literally laughed out loud.

@ Declan they sound cool, i'm not terribly familiar with Yeats' poetry, should probably remedy that at some point.
@ Diane ingenious comeback :-)

I can recite Yeats for you ;-)I can remember September 1913 and Sailing To Byzantium
Or would you prefer a Shakespearean sonnet. Wasnt Soundings great ;-)

Shakespeare, everytime :-)

That is no country for old men......oh the torture of learning those long poems off by heart!!!!

Old coats upon old sticks to scare the birds. I'm still amazed how much is still sitting there in the dark recesses of my brain.

@Cphe. I'd recommend either Cannery Row or The Pearl to start off. Cannery Row is more quintessentially Steinbeck and is quite positive and upbeat. The Pearl is quite bleak at times but it's quite powerful for such a short novella. If you're worried about investing too much time The Pearl might be the way to go.

Hope you enjoy it, Cphe. I'd dare say You'll have another suggestion or two by the morning, though.

Cphe, like Declan says, Cannery Row would be an enjoyable start to Steinbeck for you, and if you want anything a little more weighty, I'd recommend 'East of Eden', which we enjoyed as a group read last year.

You know, Cphe, I was amazed at the cost of books in Australia. I went into a bookstore in Melbourne and was horrified at the prices. Why are books so expensive there? I asked around because I thought I was shopping in the wrong store but everyone said that was the average price.

Susan wrote: "You know, Cphe, I was amazed at the cost of books in Australia. I went into a bookstore in Melbourne and was horrified at the prices. Why are books so expensive there? I asked around because I thou..."

Susan - that made me wonder if Amazon is in Australia. I found only kindle books and aps at http://www.amazon.com.au/

Wow, that's interesting, Barbara.

While clearing out our old kitchen this afternoon, I've been thoroughly enjoying the audiobook of The Pastures of Heaven. So far, this is the earliest of Steinbeck's work that I've experienced, but it is a series of beautifully evocative interlinked pieces, each set in the area of the Salinas Valley and containing recurrent characters.

My favourite chapter yet has been the story of Junius Maltby and his son, Robbie, who live obliviously in abject poverty with their elderly German servant due to the father's desire to relax and read in the beautiful setting in which he finds himself, having arrived for convalescence from San Francisco in 1911. There's definite admiration from Steinbeck for such an outsider and his methods, similar to what we see in his later worlds, although the way this tale ends was very sad.

I've only got 25 pages of my print copy left, so I'll have managed my Steinbeck read for the month pretty early this time, and will probably go for at least one more in July.

Allan wrote: "While clearing out our old kitchen this afternoon, I've been thoroughly enjoying the audiobook of The Pastures of Heaven. So far, this is the earliest of Steinbeck's work that I've experienced, but..."

Allan - I am cleaning, sorting, discarding stuff, and it occurred to me to listen to an audiobook - duh. I am a bit slow at times. I don't have any Steinbeck though on audiobook.

That's why we keep Allan around. He has brilliant suggestions.

Lol, Susan, how do you think I am able to stick all the painting I do? It's all down to the power of the audiobook!

Barbara, I think I've said to you before, but the East of Eden audiobook is a great way to experience the book, and well worth the Audible credit.

In the library store today, I was talking to a volunteer about 'hard to get' books that are on the high school reading lists. I mentioned I had gotten 2 Steinbeck books, and I have 'reader friends' in Ireland who have gotten me to read Steinbeck. Inexplicably he asked 'why would Irish people read him? His family wasn't from there." It was a pretty silly comment, but I said that actually he had family from Northern Ireland and had visited there. Of course one has nothing to do with the other, and was a reflection of how some people think of who reads what.Then I added that Steinbeck is popular there because his books portray life in the west at a certain time. I read mysteries from Iceland and I've never even been there. I wish I'd been quick enough to say that. Oh well. At least now he knows a bit more about Steinbeck that he may share with others.

I posted in the thread on what books have you bought about my Steinbeck purchases today. On was the Short Novels of John Steinbeck including : Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, Tortilla Flat, The Moon is Down, Cannery Row and The Pearl. Pretty good for $2.

That was a good haul, Barbara. I love how more and more members are reading Steinbeck. :)

I remember Bill Bryson making a connection between ignorance and certainty. I thought of it when I read that volunteer.

Great score for $2.00, Barbara. Incredible the preconceptions people have about reading. I love "going" places through books that I have never been.

That's a strange comment from someone volunteering at a library-surely they can see from the books on their shelves that not everything they are selling is US fiction? Perhaps they should have stopped you buying the Healy!

Of all the short novels that I haven't read of Steinbeck's, I think the one that I want to read first is 'The Moon is Down'-it'll be a change from the few I've read recently. I'm not sure what the library volunteer would think of it though, given that it's set in Norway during WW2!

Allan wrote: "That's a strange comment from someone volunteering at a library-surely they can see from the books on their shelves that not everything they are selling is US fiction? Perhaps they should have stop..."

I assume people who volunteer in the library store are well read, but I may be wrong. there are a lot of silly notions people have, and they never cease to amaze me.

Barbara wrote: "In the library store today, I was talking to a volunteer about 'hard to get' books that are on the high school reading lists. I mentioned I had gotten 2 Steinbeck books, and I have 'reader friends'..."

What an idea! That people would only read books about their own place or time. Who was this guy? A "volunteer" you said. Well that could be anybody.

I guess on that basis you'd have to presume that only people from the future would read science fiction! And if you read the Narnia Chronicles ... Well we know where your family is from!

We all know reading is the best way to travel! Even to places that don't really exist!

As for Steinbeck, there are strong connections between Ireland & American. Many Americans' families did come from there; or they knew someone who's family did. Many Irish spend part of their life in America. Or someone they know did. Irish writers are tremendously popular in America, & vice versa.

Either the "volunteer" was just a benighted soul, dipping his foot into the world of literature for the first time ... or a member of some shadowy organization, noting down reading trends for some nefarious purpose, entirely unrelated to readers' enjoyment.

This thread is a grand idea. These are the ones I've read:

and probably some others. I'm not sure if it was Tortilla Flat or Cannery Row that I read. I think I started The Moon is Down once. A Steinbeck fan, generally.

Here's a good Wikipedia article, with a list of all his works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_ste...

S. wrote: "Barbara wrote: "In the library store today, I was talking to a volunteer about 'hard to get' books that are on the high school reading lists. I mentioned I had gotten 2 Steinbeck books, and I have ..."

I am going to tackle East of Eden next. It's tempting to read a shorter one, but I have to read this. He was amazingly prolific!

Barbara wrote: "S. wrote: "Barbara wrote: "In the library store today, I was talking to a volunteer about 'hard to get' books that are on the high school reading lists. I mentioned I had gotten 2 Steinbeck books, ..."

That's a good one. Don't see the movie until you're done. (It was James Dean's first starring role. Opposite the venerable Helen Hayes.)