College Students! discussion

I thought I'd go ahead and start a thread for Steinbeck given the adoration of him that many of us have expressed this summer.

What are your favorite stories of his?

What do you like the most about him?

What is your favorite Steinbeck quote?

Here's a place to discuss all things Steinbeck...just don't forget a spoiler warning if you start to discuss one of his stories in detail.

I'm so excited to see this thread!

My favorite Steinbeck books are East of Eden and The Pearl, though I also loved Travels with Charley and The Grapes of Wrath. I recently bought America and Americans, which are mostly collections of his critical essays; I'm looking forward to cracking this one open.

Hands down, my favorite Steinbeck quote is from East of Eden (Lee and timshel).

I have a ton of Steinbeck sitting on my shelf. I've only read Travels with Charley which I LOVED. I'm planning on reading East of Eden this fall!

Oh my goodness, Jess! I loved the timshel discussion! And I loved Lee! He made me so proud that my middle name (which is a family tradition) is Lee.

I chose to read Grapes Wrath my junior year. I liked it quite a bit. Didn't love it though. I feel that it really explains a lot about Oklahoma.

Then I randomly decided to read East of Eden this summer. I read it in four days because I could not put it down.

I've been in a major reading slump, so I've decided to pick up one of his shorter novels. Can't decided Cannery Row and The Pearl. I should probably decide soon so I can read it and review it by my deadline on Sunday.

Jamie, I really think you'll like East of Eden. It's kind of an epic novel, but it's very readable. Steinbeck's writing really gripped me.

Oh wow, I didn't know your middle name was Lee, Lori. That's very cool!

Both Cannery Row and The Pearl are great, but I liked The Pearl much more. Thematically it appealed to me more. I think The Grapes of Wrath really warrants a re-read after East of Eden. Obviously a much different novel with much different aims, but I enjoyed GOW much more after EOE.

I actually think I'm going to read The Moon is Down. That just really appealed to me after reading the blurbs about the novella collection I have, but it was a hard decision. And I had to forcibly restrain myself from buying several of Steinbeck's things that I discovered on the "also by Steinbeck" list.

Oh yes! The Moon Is Down is REALLY good. I completely forgot about that one, but it's a great book about war. One of my favorites, in fact.

I've only read Of Mice and Men and while I didn't love it, I liked it enough to being interested in reading more Steinbeck. East of Eden and the Grapes of Wrath have been on my to-read list for a while now.

I just finished East of Eden and I really liked it (I gave it four stars). To be honest, Kate (or Cathy) was my favorite character in the book, or at least the most interesting to me. I think that evil characters in books have the best story to tell. Cal, Aron, and Abra were great too, though.

I just finished The Moon Is Down. I needed to read something short that I could finish so that hopefully I can break out of this reading slump. I do believe that I like Steinbeck's longer novels better. They just seem so much more well-written. However, I really liked the message of the invincibility of man in this story.

I absolutely love Cannery Row and The Pearl. I read The Grapes of Wrath in high school and liked it except for the ending (I was 16--I just thought it was weird). Has anyone read Tortilla Flat? I started it but didn't finish it before I had to return it to the library. I wasn't in love with it--did you guys like it? Should I rush back and get the copy to finish it?

After I read Mockingjay I'm going to start East of Eden (super excited). Thanks again for the book, Jess!

Denise, I haven't read Tortilla Flat. It was really hard to decide which of his short novels to read. Except Of Mice and Men; I knew I didn't want to read that one. I think in a month or so I'll read another short novel.

Anyone else try to space out when you read novels by authors that you love? I try to do that so I don't overload myself and start hating that author (and also because if they're already dead, I don't want to hurry through and be left with nothing new to me).

I LOVED East of Eden and Travels with Charley. I liked Of Mice and Men when I read it in high school but not as much as the first two (probably because I read those more recently.) I just got The Pearl and can't wait to have time to read that as well.

I finished The Pearl and liked it as much as his others I have read although I thought it was quite different.

I'll have to read that one sometime. I need to add his other works to my Amazon list so that I'll buy them sooner than if I'm just browsing at Borders.

East of Eden was amazing; I'll have to try some of his other stuff soon!

After reading East of Eden last year, I had to ask myself, ''why did I wait so long to read it?'' So good, that one!

I just finished reading Of Mice and Men - which was my first Steinbeck - and I liked it more than I thought I would. In general, I'm not really a fan of American Authors (bad experiences with Hemingway, Melville, and DeLillo, though I do like Hawthorne and Twain). However, I actually enjoyed the sparseness of his description. It was very unflowery and to the point, but it still managed to paint a picture of the world George and Lenny live in. In fact, I thought the description echoed the meanness of their lives, being just enough to do the job, as George and Lenny make just enough to get by. All in all, I thought it was good, and I will have to try another one soon.

I recently read and taught Of Mice and Men. It was my first read with Steinbeck, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

I read The Grapes of Wrath like a month ago and I loved it so much. Such an amazing read.