The Winter of Our Discontent

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The trials of modern life - Rated
This well told story is a testament to the fact that none of society's ongoing cravings for materialistic fulfillment are anything new. The scrambling to achieve a better social standing and to keep up with the Jones's would seem to have been a concern to most of suburbia for quite some time. This is part of the subject of this poignant story. The lead character is Ethan and initially seems to be a contented, intelligent, well liked man, and could be happy with his position in life, even though that position is quite low down the ladder. However, those around him, family and friends, seem to be reticent, at least to some degree, to accept Ethan's place in the world. His children are disgruntled with their lack of family wealth and Ethan worry's about his wife's social standing. They have no car and they have no TV. These things and others are what seem to count to those around Ethan. Ethan's honest character and mind are eventually worked upon until he succumbs to crossing the line that he has previously drawn between himself and the unacceptable. The story is that of a good man, and his inner battle to maintain or to regain his dignity.

As well as the main story of one mans descent under the weight of expectation there are also touches of sex, race, crime and corruption as well as a window into 1960's American suburbia and the attitudes thereof.
There is a message in the story that I found strangely reassuring. The modern phenomenon of wanting something, or everything, for nothing, is not new. Our sad obsession with celebrity is not a modern intellectual rot. Youth has not taken a terrible slide into indolence. All these undesirable quality's are present in this story and gradually wear Ethan down into submission. The process is intelligently written and construed and makes for a good story.

The story raises questions about happiness and contentment, and just what we need and don't need to obtain it, and how far a man is prepared to go to achieve what others expect of him.

Serious and Considered Small-Town Masterpiece - Rated
I liked this Steinbeck offering. I liked the fact that it's about small town morality, and ultimately society's morals too. The narrative raises questions about our attitudes towards the mundane and the everyday humdrum things like friendship, honesty, ambition, deception, fidelity, sex, family, avarice, petty corruption and to those of us who fall between the cracks.

Okay, so that may sound very traditional and staid, perhaps it isn't sexy enough, but that's exactly why I admire Steinbeck's work. He writes about the real and our day-to-day lives and in this novel he highlights questions of morality through the story of failed businessman Ethan Hawley and New Baytown in late '50s early '60s America.

I found it a compelling read, it wasn't an obvious story to tell and so I never really knew where the story was going to turn. It grabbed me with some clever structure and brilliant characterisation. I was particularly struck by the finely observed relationship between that of the protagonist and of his wife Mary, "My Mary".

Steinbeck's power for social realism shone out, describing the life of New Baytown and its occupants in minute detail and through it showing the quiet nobility of ordinary working people. It reminded me strongly of similar evocations in his masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath.

This is a quirky and deceptively well-written book, with snappy dialogue, memorable characters and an intellectual seriousness lying behind the seemingly innocuous events. Recommended.

America, 1961 and 2001 - Rated
This is a frightening book, with more real horror than ten of the standard fare. By detailing one man's sliding morals, it holds up a mirror to everyone, as we all have faced similar decisions between doing what is right and doing what is convenient. And facing ourselves can be truly horrifying -- especially when the collective result of everyone's decisions is clearly evident in the ethical morass of today's world, from a President trying to re-formulate the English language to the Enron financial fiasco to wide-spread cheating on exams at military academies that pride themselves on the honor system.

For this novel Steinbeck decided to remove himself from his normal California setting in favor of the East Coast. By doing so he availed himself of a milieu where tradition and 'old money' set the standards for acceptance into 'society'. Ethan Hawley is a man whose family used to be part of that 'society', but due to bad financial decisions he now finds himself clerking for an immigrant who owns the grocery store he himself used to own. With a wife quietly but constantly chiding him about her desires for a better life, to be able to hold her head up in society, and two kids constantly clamoring for more things, Ethan finds himself at a crossroads between a rigid moral code instilled in him by his aunt and grandfather, and providing a better life for those he loves.

Told partially in first person in spare but very effective prose, the road that Ethan spirals down is brilliantly portrayed, from his 'sermons' to the groceries, to his internal 'conversations' with his grandfather, to the seemingly chance happenings and conversations in his little town that spawns an idea and method for robbing the local bank, to his 'dropping a dime' on his immigrant boss, to his betrayal of his alcoholic friend Danny. Each action and decision proceeds logically from the previous one, each one more step down a path with no end, a path which Ethan continues to tell himself that he can abandon with no lingering aftereffects at any time. Each point is meticulously plotted, with all the proper items set in place before the action, and the choice of time, setting, and materials is rich in irony, a sure mark of an author fully in control of his subject.

The ending is deliberately ambiguous. By the time I reached that point I had been so drawn into Ethan's character I found that his final decision was tremendously important to me. Each reader ultimately must draw his own conclusion about what Ethan will do, but regardless of what answer the reader reaches, no reader can remain unaffected by this book, and will find his life richer for having read it.

Steinbeck was one of the great American writers. His Nobel prize was richly deserved, and this book, while not as well known as his Grapes of Wrath or East of Eden, is certainly one of the reasons why, rivaling his other works in power and insightful looks at American society, just as valid today as when it was written, and peopled by a very living set of characters.

Money, Family Life and a Clever Plot - Rated
The Winter of Discontent is a wonderful novel which works on lots of levels. It centres on Ethan Hawley, who works in a grocery store which his family used to own. Seemingly happy at being poor, Ethan tries to instill old-fashioned virtues into his family. He also knows that he should try to regain his families name in the community and that he should strive to be something more than a shop assistant. Steinbeck cleverly intermingles all of the characters into Hawley's ingenious plot to become rich and satisfy his childrens' lust for material wealth. Greed of course plays a big part in this novel makes this novel from the 1960s topical today. This is one of Steinbeck's last novels and the first one of his I have ever read. I heartily recommend it.