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Tortilla Flat (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)
Binding: Paperback
Author: John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Features:
Average Rating: 4.0
Total Customer Reviews: 114
List Price: $13.00
Our Price: $9.23
Sales Rank: 69349
Product Description
Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America’s greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as blackspine Penguin Classics featuring eye-catching, newly commissioned art. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat. Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readers—and to the many who revisit them again and again.
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Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: 4.5/5 stars John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat, is a novella (fewer than 200 pages), but it packed a punch. The story takes place during the Great Depression, in a shabby town outside of Monterey, California.
Danny, the protagonist of this story, has returned from WWI to find that he has inherited two houses. One by one his friends, "paisanos", come together to stay at Dannys. The "paisanos", described early on by Steinbeck as, " a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and assorted Caucasian bloods......he speaks English with a paisano accent, and Spanish with a paisano accent".
The paisanos have good intentions, but there always seems to be a little something in it for them. They are fiercely loyal to one another, and together they spend their days, jobless, drinking wine, debating, engaging in occasional fights, and spending time with the women of the town. They steal from their neighbors, but help people in need, and they seem perfectly content with their lives, living peacefully in poverty.
Reminiscent of the tales of King Arthur, Tortilla Flat was a wonderful story. Steinbeck's amazing ability to bring his characters to life, as only he could. The characters were flawed, but endearing men who will make you laugh and possibly even make you shed a tear or two. I was eager to turn the pages, and at the end, I only wished that the story went on for a while longer. If you have not read this book, do so soon. Recommended
Product Review Summary: Great The book arrived quickly and in great shape. Everything was as advertised. I would definitely buy from this seller again
Product Review Summary: A Steinbeckian Masterpiece Forget the reviews, just read it, or listen to it on free audio through your library. I listened to it and then attended a public library book club meeting to discuss it. My favorite T. C. Boyle book is "Drop City" but I realize this is his most important book, it's incredible. It's zen, it's metaphoric, it's enligtening, and current and deep and a wild adventure. We are all just people, and need to remember that, and that's the message I got out of this book.
Product Review Summary: "Flat" not that sharp, hits dull note "The Grapes of Wrath", "Of Mice and Men", "The Red Pony" and several more great novels issued from John Steinbeck's mighty pen. He was a great writer, no doubt. But, well, everyone can have an off day. Everyone can have an idea that probably should have been left in the drawer. After reading TORTILLA FLAT, I definitely felt that that would have been a good idea in this case. It's a very shallow book with smarmy, stereotypical characters whose sole idea seems to be to steal or borrow various items, sell them, and get wine. The various winos and hoboes of the `bad side of town' near Monterrey, California have their highs and lows, their noble moments and their vile ones. The author attempts to tell the human story with these cardboard characters. Not being a literary honcho I did not relate the book to King Arthur or some other classical tome. I judged it by the standard of modern literature including Steinbeck's own work. I think it would have worked better as a cartoon novel, but those did not exist in the 1930s. Steinbeck wrote with a wry humor, true, but when I had finished, I felt that I had been reading a one joke Cheech and Chong movie where the substance abused was not a certain weed. Humor that revolves around "cute guys" who drink a lot pales quickly. I did not find the occasional kindness and consideration shown by one or all the characters particularly inspiring. The attempt to render Spanish into English so that we feel that the former is being spoken falls flat too. The cover illustration of my copy shows four very Anglo-looking guys sprawled on the grass by a wooden shack. The inhabitants of Tortilla Flat were anything but Anglo. Perhaps at the time, the idea of paisanos (mixed race Californians) drinking, whoring, and stealing was entertaining. Steinbeck's name probably sold a lot of copies as well. All in all, I was quite disappointed with this novel which I had looked forward to reading for many years.
Product Review Summary: amusing rogues Tortilla Flat was Steinbecks first successful novel. This episodic collection of stories about a group of rogues on the fringes of society is entertaining but has a deeper message that the unwillingness to grow up and be responsible citizens ultimately ends in tragedy. the episodic nature of the book makes it a little disjointed at times but this is well worth reading
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