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Summary: The Moon is Down
Review: The Moon is Down is a piece of propaganda written durring the second World War when most of eastern Europe was under Hitler's power. Steinbeck wrote it for the people of these countries, and although it was illegal for them to posess it, people translated and distributed it. The story itself is about a small town in America, though I doubt this is true, that is taken in the early hours of a Sunday morning. The soldiers think that since this town hasn't seen war in a hundred years that they won't be as strong, but what they didn't realize is that free people are the most strongwilled, causing them more problems than anywhere else. Ultimately, what the soldiers under "The Leader" want is coal. The colonels have soldiers gaurding the mines forcing them to work. Colonel Loft was ordering a man named Alex Morden to work and he being a free man with a hot temper went after him with a pick. Instead of killing Loft, Morden kills another Captain. It isn't until Alex Morden is "tried" and punished that the town finally realizes that their freedom is gone. I enjoyed this book, and although it is a bit vauge (only 112 pages), it stayed true to how Steinbeck writes. There are hints of symbolism and politics. I only had the chance to read it twice, so I'm sure I'm missing alot of the big picture, but it was great from what I got out of it. I would recommend this book to people who love this country and the idea of democracy, but are sick of the morons who wave their flags around-- as it will soon remind others as swastikas in the middle of a parade or just hanging in a shop window. This novel makes you see what happens when you say that someone is infalleable- facism takes control and the free spirited are killed, literally or figuratively.
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Summary: Not your typical Steinbeck
Review: The Moon is Down is not the most well-known of Steinbeck works, probably in part due to its unusual genesis, but it is a remarkably stirring work. Written as anti-German propaganda in 1942, it was by far the most successful work of Allied propaganda, with hundreds of thousands of copies in circulation in many different languages (despite Axis attempts to suppress it). As propaganda, the work was criticized as being too easy on the Germans -- portraying the occupying soldiers as very human and real instead of as cold and heartless. There is no doubt in my mind that this is precisely the reason for its success (and that Steinbeck is a genius in this respect). Steinbeck wrote about the plight of the occupied citizenry in a way that was so real that he reached them. It is also precisely in the occupying army's humanity that Steinbeck places the weapon that ultimately inspires the occupied and destroys the occupier: fear. One of the occupying soldiers articulates the fear very clearly: "The enemy's everywhere! Their faces look out of the doorways. The white faces behind the curtains, listening. We have beaten them, we have won everywhere, and they wait and obey, and they wait" (p. 64). He goes on to liken the occupying army's success to that of flies who conquer flypaper. And of course the novel itself brings the fear to life -- the flypaper ultimately proves quite inhospitable to the flies. Steinbeck's work is interesting on deeper levels, too. Freedom and leadership are clearly top-of-mind for him, and he elegantly describes both. Steinbeck's Mayor is a wonderful leader and a powerful advocate for freedom as indefatigable. He tells the colonel of the occupying forces, for instance: "You and your government do not understand. In all the world yours is the only government and people with a record of defeat after defeat for centuries and every time because you do not understand people" (p. 48). The colonel's lack of understanding is precisely that the will to be free will prevail. Finally, the Mayor is such a wonderful case study of a leader who is born of the circumstances in which he finds himself. Early in the novelette he is timid and reticient. He seems to be waiting. Then, when one of his people kills an enemy soldier, he suddenly steps up, and says of the beginning of the occupation: "the people were confused and I was confused. We did not know what to do or think" (p. 54). But the action of this one person provides the guidance and clarity that he needs to catalyze his people. And with that one man's action, he takes his queue from his people (such a remarkably subtle but so significant characteristic of a great leader), and with great wisdom and courage leads his people in the exploitation of his occupier's great fear. Definitely a good (short) read.
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Summary: The Moon Is Down
Review: Outstanding book by John Steinbeck one of the Great American writers. The story is about the Resistance in Norway during WW-II.
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Summary: An Important Classic
Review: I began reading this book without much background, but from the first page I was drawn into the story and set aside the other book I was reading. This is an extraordinary book that contains a moral argument that can apply to any place and any time. The story is told with an economy that is marvelous to behold. Where other authors would have penned a weighty tome, Mr. Steinbeck presents the problems and personalities of his characters in just over 100 pages. This is an ageless story of the conquered vs. the conqueror. Although the setting offered is in Norway during the German occupation of the Second World War, it is a story that took place in many places with the same problems and arguments. Perhaps the most interesting part of this book is that Mr. Steinbeck does not take sides. The Germans are in Norway to do a job, to take away as much coal as they can, and the people in the village resist the invaders. One of the pivotal characters is Colonel Lanser, a veteran of the First World War who knows what to expect from a conquered people. He knows the various stages of resistance yet is also aware that he will follow orders and can do nothing to change the course events will take. There is fatalism to all of the characters that they must do what they have to and cannot deviate from their courses: the conquered will resist, the conquerors will punish resistance. The drama of this story is central to the story of Molly Morden, whose husband Alex is executed after he kills a German captain. She finds herself face to face with a lonely German lieutenant who wants to talk with her. She begins to see him as just another human being caught up in an impossible situation, but, eventually, he identity as one of the conquered overtakes these feelings. We see both sides in this conflict as the human beings they are, caught up in an impossible situation. We find the conquerors caught in a no-win situation and the conquered certain that victory will be theirs, but at a terrible price. I think this book should be taught in schools as it gives unlimited possibilities of discussion but also provides a realization that war is terrible for all, and no one has clean hands. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Good morality tale
Review: Great story about occupation by an invading power--basically the Nazis invading Holland or somesuch, although the country isn't specified that way, nor is the invader. Go read it. Now. John Steinbeck is from California and therefore a superior human being.
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Summary: I consider this Steinbeck's best story
Review: In my opinion, this is the best of all Steinbeck's stories. The premise is that a strong army invades a small one with few ways to defend itself. While not explicitly mentioned, it is clear that the invaders are Germans in the second world war. The commander of the invading army is a scholarly type who was in Belgium in world war I and he remembers the brutality of the occupation and how little the brutality accomplished. While he is a good soldier and follows his orders, he is troubled by them and is not a hardened Nazi.
What is so touching about the story is how the relationship between the invaders and the local population changes over time. Slowly, acts of heroic resistance begin and the invaders start to ratchet up the level of the reprisals, despite their understanding that it will make no difference. Caught up in a political system larger than them all, the base humanity and frustration of the people on both sides is described in great detail.
The closing of the book is very poignant. The commander of the invading army and the village mayor genuinely like each other and in other circumstances would have been close friends. However, the village mayor and doctor are taken hostage and are speaking with the commander before they are to be executed. The courage of the mayor and doctor is extraordinary even though they admit their fear and that they think about pleading for their lives. This is very powerful material.
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Summary: The fly has conquered the fly paper!
Review: An unnamed army conquers an unnamed land for an unnamed cause. They come to raid the town's coal mines in order to feed the war effort. The solders attempt to force the inhabitants of this area to accept their cause and to help them, but quickly do the supposed victors find that the town they have captured isn't exactly enthused about helping. They are even less inclined to take a liking to the soldiers who are just doing the job prevailed upon them by their government. It's like robbing a man's house and then expecting an enthusiastic kiss from his gorgeous daughter. This version of the story comes with a long-winded introduction explaining the history and reasoning behind this Steinbeck creation, but dares to insist that dear reader will enjoy the story and why he will do so. I suggest that we may make up our own mind about such things and that the lengthy introduction to a short novel may be disregarded entirely. The novel was barely more than one hundred pages in length and in grand Steinbeck style captures only perspective and not a story. In this case, the mighty fly is proud to have conquered the territory of flypaper, but soon finds he is just plain stuck there.
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Summary: podria ser cualquier pueblo
Review: La Luna se ha Puesto John Steinbeck La luna se ha puesto en este pequeño pueblo sin nombre, que podría ser cualquier pueblo y sobre este invasor que podría ser cualquiera. En el principio las cosas marchan bien y los conquistados, que llevan muchos años siendo libres no salen de su asombro y continúan con su quietud, pero pronto el pueblo se levanta, no en una insurrección armada, sino en una conspiración secreta; porque aunque ya no posean el libre transito, aun son libres de pensar. El ejercito, que consideraba que todo estaba listo desde el primer día, empieza a ser invadido por el miedo. La gente les obedece y no opone resistencia, pero no se amista con el enemigo, no le habla fuera de las cosas que son estrictamente necesarias y no le deja estar tranquilo, ya que no hay peor sugestión para las mentes no preparadas, que el desdén de los subordinados. Los soldados están fuera de las risas del pueblo, de sus penas o de sus alegrías. Comienzan a sentir el haber llegado y desean retornar a su hogar.
Esta historia, es mas bien una fábula, sobre lo que le pasa al conquistador, como queda este a merced del conquistado y como después de algún tiempo debe abandonar e irse. Puede aplicarse casi a cualquier guerra en casi cualquier tiempo y por eso es tan bueno este libro. También es corto y se puede leer en unas cuantas horas, espero que disfruten la lectura de este clásico, tanto como yo lo he disfrutado. Luis Méndez.
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Summary: A tale of war with timeless themes
Review: The Moon is Down had been sitting on my shelf for quite some time unread. One day, out of pure boredom and lack of another course of action, I decided to read the short (114 pgs.) book. It is a story of a small town conquered by the Nazis. The themes and the succession of events is predictable--but this doesn't totally detract from the book. For less than two hours of time to read, this book offered some entertainment. Perhaps I'm not being fair to the book, but I felt that I could gain just as much an understanding of conquered people and their reactions by reading historical documentation of the events, or perhaps even documentation of slavery in the United States--it has many parallels to the domination of Europeans by the Nazis. I cannot say that reading this book would be a negative experience, but I don't think that it is good enough to justify buying.
Rating:
Summary: The Moon Is Down
Review: The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck is a classic novel dealing with the emotional effects of war. Set during World War II, we are introduced to the "conquerers" and the town that has been sieged. A once docile, peaceful people, the villagers are quickly changed into a people full of hatred and malice. The Moon Is Down tells us how war can change people for the good, and for the worse. The townspeople become consumed with rage, and want nothing more than to free themselves by killing their conquerers. The conquerers, who were once strictly militant in every move and thought, become affected by what they have done to the once peaceful villagers, and gain more compassion througout the novel. The Moon Is Down is facepaced, and not long length-wise. Contrary to other Steinbeck works, this book is written almost in "play" style. It moves quickly with much of the story being dialog. It reads increadible fast and is very entertaining, as well as thought provoking. It forced the reader to sympathize with the conquerers and become emotionally attached with both the protagonists and the antagonists. This book forces the reader to delve deaper into their own minds and think more deeply about war, and it's effects on all of humanity.
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