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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780140187533
ISBN number: 0140187537
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: April 01, 1996
Publishing house: Penguin Classics
Sale Popularity Level: 78601
Studio: Penguin Classics
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From a swashbuckling pirate fantasy to a meditation on American morality—two classic Steinbeck novels make their grey spine debuts
IN AWARDING John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American.”
Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of the novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With the decline in their status, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards.
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Rated by buyers 
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I was strolling the bookshop at the Monterey Bay aquarium and saw that book that I hadn't read in many years. I am recommending it, because as a seasoned adult I was able to get a whole different reading experience from it, this second time around!
Rated by buyers 
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If I had never read so many of his other works, I would probably rate this fine classic five stars. I rate it just under four and a half stars solely because I don't think it quite compares to "East of Eden" and "The Grapes of Wrath". These are times in which I wish Amazon had a ten point scale rating system instead of five. How can I honestly give this novel the same rating as the two above referenced classics? Yet, please don't get wrong, I did thoroughly enjoy this book, especially the second half. What I love most about Steinbeck is that he is truly an American through and through. Which makes him very easy for me, an American, to identify with. I also enjoy the fact that he was an artist that lived among the people (just like, and arguably even more so than Mr. Hemingway). This is a very attractive trait, in my opinion, when it comes to writing the dialogue between the characters. Steinbeck has the language and the mannerisms of the common man down to a tee.
Three quotes I would like to add here. The very first quote, will be the best I can think of when it comes to defining the story of Steinbeck's hero in the novel - Ethan Hawley. The second two quotes are two of my personal favorites from this novel, while they also aid in re-defining the book's main message.
"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36
"Any man of reasonable intelligence can make money if that's what he wants. Mostly it's women or clothes or admiration he really wants and they deflect him. The great artists of finance like Morgan and Rockefeller weren't deflected. They wanted and got money, just simple money. What they did with it afterward is another matter." (p. 45)
"Strength and sucess - they are above morality, above criticism. It seems, then, that it is not what you do, but how you do it and what you call it. Is there a check in men, deep in them, that stops or punishes? There doesn't seem to be. The only punishment is failure. In effect no crime is committed unless a criminal is caught." (p. 187)
I am huge Steinbeck fan, and I have read quite a bit of his work. In "The Winter of Our Discontent", he has definitely created in Ethan Hawley a main character that I myself can relate with like none other. I have just become a husband and father. I work in the world of real estate (not as a broker or agent) in the Silicon Valley in Northern California (a.k.a. hades, everlasting fire, nether world, etc...) where attempting to be a man of morality, a man with principals and ethics, is not very easy to say the least. Especially when you are the only breadwinner and you live in one of the most expensive towns. Like Ethan, I am plagued daily by temptations that could easily make me richer and 'more successful' such as kick backs, grey mail, cougar women (i.e. Margie Young-Hunt), shady deals, etc... yet, so far, I have been able to hold my ground. For those of you who haven't read this fine novel, that is what you must now find out for yourself. Will Ethan, after years upon years of being Mr. Nice Guy, a man who is going nowhere fast as a grocery clerk, a man that can barely manage to make ends meet for his family, will Ethan finally throw in the towel and join them? God knows he has the pedigree, the smarts, the wherewithal to be a success, the question is whether or not he wants to sell his soul to do so.
Fans of Steinbeck's I can assure you that you will find this novel more enjoyable as long as you don't have the expectations of it being in the same league as those two above referenced classics. I still easily put this in my top ten favorites of all his work. My two only knocks (which are in no way a deterrent for reading this) are one, the lack of character development for everyone but Ethan and Margie, you really only get to know the other characters on more of a superficial, less than penetrating level. Which was a bit disheartening, because I really wanted to get to know some of these people more than he allowed me to. The other knock is that much of the book's plot was a bit too transparent for me. I was almost able to forecast everything that was going to transpire in the novel after reading the very first forty pages. However, those are two very minor distasteful details when you consider who the author is. John Steinbeck could write a story about professional fly swatters and make it interesting. So I hope you all enjoy another little treasure from one of America's greatest twentieth century writers and definitely one of my personal favorites. Damn it! I really want to give this five stars!
ENJOY!
Rated by buyers -
In "The Winter of Our Discontent", Steinbeck has us step into the shoes of an individual that I would guess is of a pretty rare breed: someone whose immediate ancestors had wealth, significance, & pedigree but all of which was recently lost, reducing this person to scratching out a living paycheck to paycheck. Ethan Hawley spends a lot of time deliberating on the greatness of his heritage and its contrast with his current situation as a grocery store clerk barely making ends meet for his wife and two children. In the course of the novel, Hawley devises a way to augment his finances even though by so doing he must justify a breach of his high moral standards. But as we learn, there's a price for everything...
This is a really well written book that reads quickly. It has a more profound impact than its length of under 300 pages would indicate. I read this a couple months ago and the details are already fading, but certain scenes will remain with me I'm sure. The sad ending of course. The no-nonsense banker / businessman Mr. Baker discovering Ethan's plan. Ethan's last meeting with his drunkard old friend Danny. Ethan's foiled bank heist. A few others.
In truth I'd give this 4.5 stars, if only because Ethan himself is a pretty annoying character since one can never tell if he's joking or serious. Everything else, very well done. Highly recommended. This is a serious book for adults, not light reading for kids or teens.
Rated by buyers -
When John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962, many felt that this book was what reminded the Prize committee of Steinbeck's greatness. Like all of his books, short stories and non-fiction journalism, this is very well written, has developed characters who readers will recognize and presents a useful moral at the end. This might be his most modern and recognizable story, however.
Ethan Hawley is the well educated scion of a prominent Long Island family that has fallen on hard times and has lost its place at the top of society. Ethan is known throughout the community for his honesty and integrity, but there is pressure from everyone--his family, his boss, friends and local big wigs--for him to sacrifice his morales to earn a better living and make a name for himself. As he struggles with the temptation of a big pay day, he develops a plan which will destroy his own standards of decency, but will elevate his family back into the prestigious position he thinks they deserve.
The story is well told and engaging, plus it gives readers a great opportunity to decide whether the modern society Steinbeck sees is really worth the price it costs. I would highly recommend this book to Steinbeck fans or people who enjoy good writing and stories that make them think.
Rated by buyers -
This book is a perfect way to become deeply enveloped in the psychology of a loveable man grappling with the temptations of corruption, greed, and adultery. The characters are vivid and personal, and often we are privy to their most intimate- and amusing- thoughts. Steinbeck is a master of recreating the essence of a culture, and he successfully creates this New England town which remains steeped in its own quaint history despite the increasing infringements of modern life. As with much Steinbeck, it is the characters and the culture that make this short novel great, and I highly recommend it.
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