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debicates's review against another edition
2.0
Reminder that 2 stars means "It was ok."
It's hard for me to rate a Steinbeck that low but it's my honest, personal rating.
It took me a good while to warm up to this novel. No wonder since the "heroes" are a pack of wine-guzzling, perpetually unemployed, ratty thieves—and, remarkably, womanizers to boot. They are dirt-poor and they like it that way, thank you very much. Their daily routine consists of obtaining, by any means possible, cheap wine and perhaps a little food. And no day should include honest labor, except in an extreme emergency.
That's a hard premise for this reader (a loather of thieves) to embrace.
I've read 4 or 5 of Steinbeck novels so far and enjoyed them tremendously. So I stuck it out, wanting to understand what it was he was trying to convey through this rag-tag collection of intelligence-challenged but effective petty criminals.
Honestly, I still don't quite get what he was trying to convey, unless it is something like "We all live by our own morals and from those morals launch legends, entities greater than individuals."
According to the Introduction by Thomas Fensch, Steinbeck based Tortilla Flat as a concept of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Very loosely and surely ironically, I'd say. The Introduction states he also took (and still takes) flack for using Mexican American protagonists in such a negative way, being "Anglo" himself. [Warning: political views follow.] I don't know what I think about that; it's a dilemma. Ultimately maybe being White in the world these days means, taking the much overdue shit for being part of a long-time privileged and oppressive race, and more importantly, for being insensitive to it still. I'm sorry for the limitation on the writers writing in this interim, this painful growing period for society that launches yet another injustice. But it's quite possibly the only option to the pushback and ignorance by the privileged to stay firmly privileged.
Interestingly, Tortilla Flat is not my cup of tea but a Steinbeck absolute favorite of mine, [b:Cannery Row|4799|Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188936l/4799._SX50_.jpg|824028], written 10 years after Tortilla Flat, has Mack and the Boys—also petty criminal low IQ bums—in it. (Note: they are not Mexican American.)
It was the last few chapters that saved Tortilla Flat from being only a 1 star for me, elevating the hero-bums to some station of recognizable humanity. And as always, this Steinbeck novel was filled with his masterful writing gift. If we could leave half stars on GR, I'd give it 2.5 stars, meaning "It was ok and I liked parts of it."
I'll be sad when, as I inch closer inevitably, I have read everything he's written.
It's hard for me to rate a Steinbeck that low but it's my honest, personal rating.
It took me a good while to warm up to this novel. No wonder since the "heroes" are a pack of wine-guzzling, perpetually unemployed, ratty thieves—and, remarkably, womanizers to boot. They are dirt-poor and they like it that way, thank you very much. Their daily routine consists of obtaining, by any means possible, cheap wine and perhaps a little food. And no day should include honest labor, except in an extreme emergency.
That's a hard premise for this reader (a loather of thieves) to embrace.
I've read 4 or 5 of Steinbeck novels so far and enjoyed them tremendously. So I stuck it out, wanting to understand what it was he was trying to convey through this rag-tag collection of intelligence-challenged but effective petty criminals.
Honestly, I still don't quite get what he was trying to convey, unless it is something like "We all live by our own morals and from those morals launch legends, entities greater than individuals."
According to the Introduction by Thomas Fensch, Steinbeck based Tortilla Flat as a concept of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Very loosely and surely ironically, I'd say. The Introduction states he also took (and still takes) flack for using Mexican American protagonists in such a negative way, being "Anglo" himself. [Warning: political views follow.] I don't know what I think about that; it's a dilemma. Ultimately maybe being White in the world these days means, taking the much overdue shit for being part of a long-time privileged and oppressive race, and more importantly, for being insensitive to it still. I'm sorry for the limitation on the writers writing in this interim, this painful growing period for society that launches yet another injustice. But it's quite possibly the only option to the pushback and ignorance by the privileged to stay firmly privileged.
Interestingly, Tortilla Flat is not my cup of tea but a Steinbeck absolute favorite of mine, [b:Cannery Row|4799|Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188936l/4799._SX50_.jpg|824028], written 10 years after Tortilla Flat, has Mack and the Boys—also petty criminal low IQ bums—in it. (Note: they are not Mexican American.)
It was the last few chapters that saved Tortilla Flat from being only a 1 star for me, elevating the hero-bums to some station of recognizable humanity. And as always, this Steinbeck novel was filled with his masterful writing gift. If we could leave half stars on GR, I'd give it 2.5 stars, meaning "It was ok and I liked parts of it."
I'll be sad when, as I inch closer inevitably, I have read everything he's written.
lostinfrance's review against another edition
3.0
I love Steinbeck...yeah! This book was a bit hard to get through because....well, the characters keep doing things they shouldn't do.
theuncultured's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking for the Spanish translations online when I came across a website that summed up the book quite nicely:
"Just remember that even if you don't catch every cultural reference, you are still getting a front-row view of a world that doesn't exist anymore..."
It's true, such a world doesn't exist anymore, if it ever did. This book was really nice to read. The characters were almost always doing something that qualified as questionable moral behaviour, but regardless, the friendships between them left me with a very good feeling towards the end. It's a very light book filled with humanity, humour, and the grey area between good and evil.
"Just remember that even if you don't catch every cultural reference, you are still getting a front-row view of a world that doesn't exist anymore..."
It's true, such a world doesn't exist anymore, if it ever did. This book was really nice to read. The characters were almost always doing something that qualified as questionable moral behaviour, but regardless, the friendships between them left me with a very good feeling towards the end. It's a very light book filled with humanity, humour, and the grey area between good and evil.
krinnemeyers's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
spenkevich's review against another edition
4.0
‘Things that happen are of no importance. But from everything that happens, there is a lesson to be learned.’
In his youth, Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck was enamoured with [a:Thomas Malory|53519|Thomas Malory|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights|775463|The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1342666303l/775463._SX50_.jpg|474953], saying reading the book developed ‘my sense of right and wrong, my feeling of noblesse oblige, and any thought I may have against the oppressor and for the oppressed.’ Steinbeck was working on his own retelling of Malory’s texts at the time of his death (posthumously published), yet early in his career he attempted his first foray into Arthurian legend with Tortilla Flat, a comedy of a group of friends—paisanos as he frequently reminds us—led by Danny who all live together in a house that was ‘not unlike the Round Table, and Danny's friends were not unlike the knights of it’ as he writes in the intro. While their adventures primarily consist of scheming for ways to get wine, Steinbeck constructs a heartwarming and funny story about friendship and solidarity where his love for the characters is so clear it is hard to do anything but love them as well.
This wine soaked Arthurian adventure set in post WWI California is such a delight that shows Steinbeck at some of his most tender and playful. The chapters plit the narrative into brief little episodes, framed much like tales of the Knights of the Round table. Except here they are digging for treasure or stealing wine, and while they may not fight a dragon they do fight a vacuum cleaner in a scene hilariously depicted as such an act of heroism against a vicious beast you might as well be picturing a dragon. The head of these friends is Danny, their King Arthur, who has inherited two houses and allows all his friends to live in one. By his side is Pilon, who functions as the Merlin character of the novel. After they burn one down by accident, Danny allows them to live with him (not much phases him) and they become a band of poor folk keeping each other alive and full of wine. Which gives us some wonderfully comical passages:
Steinbeck’s theme of solidarity amongst the poor is certainly present here, and he depicts their lives, simple as they might be, as being as meaningful and important as anyone else, and more pure and worthwhile than the wealthy folks. The friends here remind me a bit of those in his later novel, [b:Cannery Row|4799|Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188936l/4799._SX50_.jpg|824028], simple yet pure. However, Steinbeck later expressed regret over this novel, even though it was his first commercial success and finally launched his career. He disliked that critics seemed to latch onto the characters as ‘quaint but colorful bums’, saying they were real people who deserved respect:
Steinbeck had often spoken out against the elites of the time and it hurt him to see his lovable characters be an amusement to them instead of a lesson of solidarity or a comfort to readers not unlike his cast of characters. Particularly as not valuing material objects or not pursuing wealth for the sake of wealth is a major theme and any pursuit of anything, wealth or wine, is always seen as for the good of the group. Danny doesn’t even charge rent because he doesn’t want money to get in the way of friendship. Community is at the heart of Steinbeck’s work and it is certainly a major theme here.
The group of friends seem to have their own code of ethics that plays with the ideas of chivalry from Arthurian legend. Pilon, who functions as the Merlin character of the novel and is often giving Danny advice, is frequently trying to pay Danny rent despite him not asking for any. When he comes across money, he decides it best not to give it to Danny for he will ruin his teeth by undoubtedly buying candy with the money. The novel is full of similar justifications for behavior, all with a winking assumption it is being chivalric, such as when they “fight” the vacuum cleaner that Danny gifts to his girlfriend in order to “rescue” Danny from the domestic lifestyle they fear it will usher in. While this is sweet and comical, it is also a rejection of adulthood and a loss of innocence these friend’s seem to wanting to shield Danny from. With Danny, they can remain happily drunk and unproductive and they aim to keep him from moving on in the world and leaving them behind.
There is sort of a college buddy movie comedy vibe to this book, with not wanting to grow up being a central idea. But is it actually not wanting to grow up or more questioning responsibilities in a society that outcasts the many for the sake of the few? Why would they support a society that doesn’t have their back? Danny seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders throughout the novel, getting more and more depressed as the novel goes on. He is even seen with a black bird—clearly a symbol of death—over him, as his wild ways begin to catch up to him. ‘Then I will go out to The One who can fight,’ Danny declares at a party, ‘I will find The Enemy who is worthy of Danny!’ His defiance of life turns to be his undoing, but perhaps this is what Danny wants most. Youth ends, and without having found meaning in needing to go on, he remains young and wild in the minds of all forever.
While admittedly one of his lighter reads, Tortilla Flat is a comical little gem. Steinbeck fans will see many of his themes present here, though in smaller and more lighthearted doses, and his signature charm is certainly on display. I should note that, unfortunately, the depictions of women aren’t exactly great and casual racism is present. That said, it is a heartwarming story and Steinbeck creates a really textured and lively town populated with a fun cast of characters all having little misadventures while a larger idea on the dissatisfaction with life and society is able to play out. Short, fun, and very funny, Steinbeck never fails to satisfy.
4.5/5
In his youth, Nobel Prize winning author John Steinbeck was enamoured with [a:Thomas Malory|53519|Thomas Malory|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]’s [b:The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights|775463|The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1342666303l/775463._SX50_.jpg|474953], saying reading the book developed ‘my sense of right and wrong, my feeling of noblesse oblige, and any thought I may have against the oppressor and for the oppressed.’ Steinbeck was working on his own retelling of Malory’s texts at the time of his death (posthumously published), yet early in his career he attempted his first foray into Arthurian legend with Tortilla Flat, a comedy of a group of friends—paisanos as he frequently reminds us—led by Danny who all live together in a house that was ‘not unlike the Round Table, and Danny's friends were not unlike the knights of it’ as he writes in the intro. While their adventures primarily consist of scheming for ways to get wine, Steinbeck constructs a heartwarming and funny story about friendship and solidarity where his love for the characters is so clear it is hard to do anything but love them as well.
This wine soaked Arthurian adventure set in post WWI California is such a delight that shows Steinbeck at some of his most tender and playful. The chapters plit the narrative into brief little episodes, framed much like tales of the Knights of the Round table. Except here they are digging for treasure or stealing wine, and while they may not fight a dragon they do fight a vacuum cleaner in a scene hilariously depicted as such an act of heroism against a vicious beast you might as well be picturing a dragon. The head of these friends is Danny, their King Arthur, who has inherited two houses and allows all his friends to live in one. By his side is Pilon, who functions as the Merlin character of the novel. After they burn one down by accident, Danny allows them to live with him (not much phases him) and they become a band of poor folk keeping each other alive and full of wine. Which gives us some wonderfully comical passages:
‘Two gallons is a great deal of wine, even for two paisanos. Spiritually the jugs maybe graduated thus: Just below the shoulder of the first bottle, serious and concentrated conversation. Two inches farther down, sweetly sad memory. Three inches more, thoughts of old and satisfactory loves. An inch, thoughts of bitter loves. Bottom of the first jug, general and undirected sadness. Shoulder of the second jug, black, unholy despondency. Two fingers down, a song of death or longing. A thumb, every other song each one knows. The graduations stop here, for the trail splits and there is no certainty. From this point anything can happen.’
Steinbeck’s theme of solidarity amongst the poor is certainly present here, and he depicts their lives, simple as they might be, as being as meaningful and important as anyone else, and more pure and worthwhile than the wealthy folks. The friends here remind me a bit of those in his later novel, [b:Cannery Row|4799|Cannery Row (Cannery Row, #1)|John Steinbeck|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388188936l/4799._SX50_.jpg|824028], simple yet pure. However, Steinbeck later expressed regret over this novel, even though it was his first commercial success and finally launched his career. He disliked that critics seemed to latch onto the characters as ‘quaint but colorful bums’, saying they were real people who deserved respect:
‘literary slummers have taken these people up with the vulgarity of duchesses who are amused by and sorry for a peasantry. These stories are out, and I cannot recall them. But I shall never again subject to the vulgar touch of the decent these good people of laughter and kindness, of honest lusts and direct eyes, of courtesy beyond politeness. If I have done them any harm by telling a few of their stories, I am sorry’
Steinbeck had often spoken out against the elites of the time and it hurt him to see his lovable characters be an amusement to them instead of a lesson of solidarity or a comfort to readers not unlike his cast of characters. Particularly as not valuing material objects or not pursuing wealth for the sake of wealth is a major theme and any pursuit of anything, wealth or wine, is always seen as for the good of the group. Danny doesn’t even charge rent because he doesn’t want money to get in the way of friendship. Community is at the heart of Steinbeck’s work and it is certainly a major theme here.
The group of friends seem to have their own code of ethics that plays with the ideas of chivalry from Arthurian legend. Pilon, who functions as the Merlin character of the novel and is often giving Danny advice, is frequently trying to pay Danny rent despite him not asking for any. When he comes across money, he decides it best not to give it to Danny for he will ruin his teeth by undoubtedly buying candy with the money. The novel is full of similar justifications for behavior, all with a winking assumption it is being chivalric, such as when they “fight” the vacuum cleaner that Danny gifts to his girlfriend in order to “rescue” Danny from the domestic lifestyle they fear it will usher in. While this is sweet and comical, it is also a rejection of adulthood and a loss of innocence these friend’s seem to wanting to shield Danny from. With Danny, they can remain happily drunk and unproductive and they aim to keep him from moving on in the world and leaving them behind.
There is sort of a college buddy movie comedy vibe to this book, with not wanting to grow up being a central idea. But is it actually not wanting to grow up or more questioning responsibilities in a society that outcasts the many for the sake of the few? Why would they support a society that doesn’t have their back? Danny seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders throughout the novel, getting more and more depressed as the novel goes on. He is even seen with a black bird—clearly a symbol of death—over him, as his wild ways begin to catch up to him. ‘Then I will go out to The One who can fight,’ Danny declares at a party, ‘I will find The Enemy who is worthy of Danny!’ His defiance of life turns to be his undoing, but perhaps this is what Danny wants most. Youth ends, and without having found meaning in needing to go on, he remains young and wild in the minds of all forever.
While admittedly one of his lighter reads, Tortilla Flat is a comical little gem. Steinbeck fans will see many of his themes present here, though in smaller and more lighthearted doses, and his signature charm is certainly on display. I should note that, unfortunately, the depictions of women aren’t exactly great and casual racism is present. That said, it is a heartwarming story and Steinbeck creates a really textured and lively town populated with a fun cast of characters all having little misadventures while a larger idea on the dissatisfaction with life and society is able to play out. Short, fun, and very funny, Steinbeck never fails to satisfy.
4.5/5
lisa_reads_a_lot's review against another edition
4.0
4 classics down...2 to go! I enjoyed this one. Went into it not knowing about the content and ended up really liking it. A good, fast read.
jeansbooks's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
hopedorman's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol
quinoacowboy's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5