Steinbeck, of course, is a great writer, and one of my favourites.

I could never really get fond of the central character, Ethan Hawley, and the dialogue reads too much like a film script. I’m sure I’ve read this before bits of the plot seemed familiar, but it didn’t seem like an old friend revisited. The best I can do is refer you to the article at Wikipedia, though you should avoid the plot summary if you haven’t already read the book. It tells me hardly anything about the book, and I can’t redress that with a citation from 1001 Books To Read Before You Die because although Steinbeck is listed, they recommend just three of his novels to read: Cannery Row The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to share these old reviews from my reading journals… like last week’s one for Steppenwolf, this one is a disappointment to me. On discovering that the current store owner, Italian immigrant Alfio Marullo, may be an illegal immigrant, Ethan makes an anonymous tip to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.First edition, Viking Press, 1961 (Wikipedia) Ethan's friend Joey, a bank teller, even gives Ethan a lesson on how to rob a bank and get away with it. His acquaintance Margie urges him to accept bribes the bank manager (whose ancestors Ethan blames for his family's misfortunes) urges him to be more ruthless. These external factors and his own psychological turmoil lead Ethan to try to overcome his inherent integrity in order to reclaim his former status and wealth.Įthan's decision to gain wealth and power is influenced by criticisms and advice from people he knows. His wife Mary and their children resent their mediocre social and economic status, and do not value the honesty and integrity that Ethan struggles to maintain amidst a corrupt society.

Ethan's late father lost the family fortune, and thus Ethan works as a grocery store clerk.

The story concerns mainly Ethan Allen Hawley, a former member of Long Island's aristocratic class. The title comes from the first two lines of William Shakespeare's Richard III: 'Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this sun of York' The Winter of Our Discontent is John Steinbeck's last novel, published in 1961. 1961 The Viking Press, New York hardbound in Maya blue boards with black lettering along spine very good condition with clean pages and tight binding no foxing of pages no dust jacket.

The winter of discontent steinbeck