Rating: 
Summary: Loss and American Regeneration
Review: "The Winter of our Discontent" was published in 1961, just before Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in 1962. The story is set in the late 1950s in New Baytown, a small (fictitious) New York -New England town which, Steinbeck tells us, had flourished during the whaling days of the mid-19th century. The main protagonist of the book is Ethan Allen Hawley. Ethan ("eth" to his friends is descended from early pirates and whaling captains. His family had lost its capital through speculative business ventures during WW II and Ethan, with has backround and his Harvard education, is reduced to working as a clerk in a small grocery store he once owned. Marullo, an Italian immigrant, owns the store and calls Ethan "kid".For a short novel, the book includes a wealth of characters, many of which I found well described. There is Ethan's wife Mary who is impatient with the family's impoverished lots and eager for Ethan's economic success as well as the couple's two children, Allen, who is writing an essay called "Why I Love America" and the sexually precocious daughter Ellen. We meet the town banker, Mr. Baker, a bank clerk and a friend of Ethan's, Margie Young-Hunt, twice married and the town seductress, and Danny Taylor, Ethan's childhood friend who has thrown away a career of promise and become a drunk. The book describes the deteriorations of Ethan's life as he gradually loses his integrity and succumbs to temptations to lift his life, and the lives of his family members, from its materially humble state to a state consistent with Ethan's felt family heritage and education and with the desire of his family for material comfort. The story is sad and told in a style mixing irony and ambiguity that requires the reader to reflect and dig into what is happening. The story ends on a highly ambiguous note with Ethan's future left in doubt. The book describes well the lessening of American standards and values. The book seems to attribute the loss to an increasing passion for commercial and economic success among all people in the United States. Juxtaposed with the economic struggle are pictures of, in steinbeck's view, what America was and what it could struggle to be. I think the images are found in religion (much of the story is, importantly, set around Good Friday and Easter and these holidays figure preminently in the book), and in America's political and cultural heritage. In the old town of
New Baytown, America's history figures prominently with speeches from American statesment such as Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and Abraham Lincoln tucked (suggestively) in the family attic. The book is set against a backround of New England whaling and reminds the reader inevitably of a culture that produced Melville and a work of the caliber of Moby Dick. The most convincing scenes of the book for me were those where Ethan ruminates his life in his own mind and compulsively walks the streets of New Baytown at night. I was reminded of Robert Frost, a poet of New England and his poem "Acquainted with the Night" which begins: "I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain -- and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light." Steinbeck captures much of the spirit of this wonderful poem. The plot of the book seems contrived at is climax and depends too much on coincidence. The characters, and their inward reflections on themselves, the descriptions, the setting, and the theme of the book, mingled between a love for our country and a sense of despair, make the book memorable.
Rating:
Summary: Steinbeck does Hemingway
Review: This novel was one of Steinbeck's last, and delves heavily into themes of disillusionment with one's country and one's lot in life. While The Grapes of Wrath was arguably a more heartbreaking book, in that novel, at least the characters still cared and still maintained ideals. In this book, the character of Ethan Allen Hawley has lost hope for the future and lapsed into a great abyss of depression and despair. In this way, Steinbeck seemed much more Hemingway-esque than he had in his earlier, and in my opinion greater, works of fiction. While I did not enjoy this book as much as earlier works like The Grapes of Wrath, there is still much to appreciate in this tale about an American patriarch who has lost his way. Ethan lives in New Baytown, a fictional New England town, with his dissatisfied, materialistic wife, daughter and son. Both children are writing an essay regarding why they love America, though only the son is able to finish it--and he does so by plagiarizing speeches by Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln. Ethan's family was once well-to-do but lost their fortune with speculative investments after WWII, relegating Ethan to working as a grocery clerk at the store he once owned. His boss is an illegal Italian immigrant who encourages Ethan to be less generous with the customers. New Baytown itself is a major character in the novel. The entire town operates within a realm of corruption. Yet things have operated that way so long that no one remembers it is corrupt anymore. All of the major and minor characters are seriously flawed--Margie Young-Hunt, the town seductress and witch; Mr. Baker, the greedy banker; Joey Morphy, the bank clerk who describes the perfect way to rob a bank. Gradually Ethan realizes that the only way to be happy is to get money. The only way to get money is to bend his own moral standards. And once he bends his moral standards, he is more miserable than ever. This short novel is delightfully written, with superb dialogue and clever references to religion and American history. It is basically an indictment of America's materialistic lifestyle as it entered the 1960's. I enjoyed it very much on that level, but did not feel it withstood comparison to Steinbeck's earlier, more emotional novels. This story was more allegory than novel, which is fine--but which one should keep in mind while reading this little gem.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Writing Plus Obsolete Morality
Review: What was the big deal with the "morality" conflict here? Ethan Hawley merely positioned things such that a hopelessly drunkard childhood friend would hasten his death-by-bottle and will some valuable land to Ethan, and he simply helped authorities enforce the immigration laws by guiding them to his store-owner boss. What Ethan did NOT do (commit adultery with Margie or pull off a bank job) eloquently speak of the quaint, old-fashioned "morality" of 1959 -- before our society was enlightened by the Sixties, and then capped off its 20th Century with a decade featuring one of the most delightfully amoral Americans in history. Lying, adultery? Ha, that's NOTHING -- it's a private matter, everyone does it (except Ethan), and it's all now in the past. Ethan was pretty much a whiner (though he mewed in beautiful language), a fairly typical example of the heir who inherits something for which he never had to work, and then either wastes or ruins it. Ethan idiotically thought his ancestry made him important -- and he mostly dwelled on that past, rather than contemplating ways to upgrade his own value in the contemporary commercial world. When not remonstrating about Aunt Deborah or old Cap'n Hawley, or paralyzed with self-pity from the thought that grocery-clerk work was beneath him, Ethan was scheming not to make himself more pruductive, but to cozen assets from others. Which led, quite naturally, to the suggestion near the story's end that he was perfect for politics. Ethan probably went on to the House of Representatives (D), and in the course of becoming a public official obtained for Mary some remedial grammar training. But back to Margie and the bank. Margie, being a witch, sensed the evil stewing in Ethan, yet still (in an ambiguous vignette) was available for an affair with him. If this book had been written in the 1990s in, say, Arkansas, that affair would have been a foregone conclusion... in addition to not mattering a whit. Ethan's wife Hillar-- I mean, Mary -- simply would have turned the page and gotten over it. (Sideline question: Did you ever stop for a moment to say Margie's last name out loud, in a New England accent? Was Steinbeck playing a joke on us?) The bank heist plan (reflecting the technology of the times) was interesting, and you have to wonder what might have happened if he'd gone through with it -- probably a couple of bullets from Joey's gun by the cash drawer. Ethan's son was this book's real key to the future. Son had no remorse whatever for cheating -- and only a few years later as a teenager, he fit in perfectly with the 1960s!
Rating:
Summary: Discontent? Read this book.
Review: A powerful novel, with a plot that most can relate to. Ethan Hawley, the main character struggles to provide for his family. Comes from a family of successful business men, until The Great Depression hits his family hard and he must start from the bottom, working as a produce market clerk. He feels that he must own up to his name that has been made by his predecessors. He is confronted by opportunities that question his integrity and common sense.
What I like about this novel is that present day situations arise which grabs my attention and makes me think. Ethan, married with two children, thinks of his family first, because all he wants is to give them what he feels they deserve. He would sacrifice his own happiness to make his family happy.
I also can relate to how he sometimes feels disappointed by how his life is panning out, but doesn't forget all the things he should be grateful for. I strongly recommend this novel to all who love to read. Whether you can relate to it or not, it will make you think, and help you appreciate some things that are taken for granted.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Writing Plus Obsolete Morality
Review: What was the big deal with the "morality" conflict here? Ethan Hawley merely positioned things such that a hopelessly drunkard childhood friend would hasten his death-by-bottle and will some valuable land to Ethan, and he simply helped authorities enforce the immigration laws by guiding them to his store-owner boss. What Ethan did NOT do (commit adultery with Margie or pull off a bank job) eloquently speak of the quaint, old-fashioned "morality" of 1959 -- before our society was enlightened by the Sixties, and then capped off its 20th Century with a decade featuring one of the most delightfully amoral Americans in history. Lying, adultery? Ha, that's NOTHING -- it's a private matter, everyone does it (except Ethan), and it's all now in the past. Ethan was pretty much a whiner (though he mewed in beautiful language), a fairly typical example of the heir who inherits something for which he never had to work, and then either wastes or ruins it. Ethan idiotically thought his ancestry made him important -- and he mostly dwelled on that past, rather than contemplating ways to upgrade his own value in the contemporary commercial world. When not remonstrating about Aunt Deborah or old Cap'n Hawley, or paralyzed with self-pity from the thought that grocery-clerk work was beneath him, Ethan was scheming not to make himself more pruductive, but to cozen assets from others. Which led, quite naturally, to the suggestion near the story's end that he was perfect for politics. Ethan probably went on to the House of Representatives (D), and in the course of becoming a public official obtained for Mary some remedial grammar training. But back to Margie and the bank. Margie, being a witch, sensed the evil stewing in Ethan, yet still (in an ambiguous vignette) was available for an affair with him. If this book had been written in the 1990s in, say, Arkansas, that affair would have been a foregone conclusion... in addition to not mattering a whit. Ethan's wife Hillar-- I mean, Mary -- simply would have turned the page and gotten over it. (Sideline question: Did you ever stop for a moment to say Margie's last name out loud, in a New England accent? Was Steinbeck playing a joke on us?) The bank heist plan (reflecting the technology of the times) was interesting, and you have to wonder what might have happened if he'd gone through with it -- probably a couple of bullets from Joey's gun by the cash drawer. Ethan's son was this book's real key to the future. Son had no remorse whatever for cheating -- and only a few years later as a teenager, he fit in perfectly with the 1960s!
Rating:
Summary: The Way of Walmart
Review: Steinbeck wrote this novel in the days when American Grocery stores were 94% independent single-owned stores. The hero isn't much of a hero, just a man struggling with the pressures of economic success in contrast to his moral beliefs. With over 90% of the grocery stores today being multi-store operations, we see in this book the beginnings of the Madison Avenue economy we live in today, and what has been lost in the process. At least Hawley struggled against the tide, where today it has become almost chic to lack morals, fool consumers, be the trickster guru, or market a ton of air in attractive colors and graphics. Steinbeck shows us it should be a struggle, and indeed it will be a difficult one in a cultural setting where rationalizations ("It's only a crime against money - afterall!") eat away at the social requirements of honesty, decency, and respect for your fellow men and women. At the end, a symbolic clue leads the reader back to a previous chapter and obscure dialogue. Left to ponder what this really means.
Rating:
Summary: Steinbeck's Treatise On Greed In American Society
Review: When reading Steinbeck it is easy to understand his prominence as one of the great contemporary American writers. He takes a human or societal flaw and dissects it page by page and the reader cannot but help thinking how real and how commonplace Steinbeck's characters and situations are. In "Winter" the author centers on the greed and lust for material riches that was prevalent in America of the late1950s and early 1960s. Ethan Hawley, the protagonist, is a Harvard-educated man of once-prominent social standing who through the misfortunes of his whaling captain father is currently the clerk in a grocery store his father once owned. The present owner, an Italian immigrant, is the target of hostility for the simple reason that he is foreign. Ethan Hawley is a man pushed by the desires of his wife Mary and his two children, Ellen and Allen. This middle-class family yearns for a more upscale life than Ethan can provide. A television, new curtains and furniture are some of the material possessions they long for. Because Ethan cannot provide them he makes a decision that incorporates the worst elements of greed and avarice. He embarks on a well thought-out plot to illegally obtain the money necessary to give his family the luxuries they desire. And so in lies the crux of this story...what happens to a man that forsakes his morals for the happiness of his family? There are many supporting characters that flavor the book. Most notably Ethan's childhood friend Danny, now the town drunk, and his wife's best friend Margie who apparently is the town's most popular call girl. There is also the banker, a teller, and Mr. Marullo, the immigrant grocery store owner, whose tragedy becomes Ethan's triumph. When accepting the Nobel Prize for Literature for this novel, Steinbeck stated that a writer is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement. Readers will certainly see a generation's most obvious faults and failures and have Ethan Hawley's dark and dangerous dreams exposed. Interestingly enough, the materialistic greed exposed in this novel is still very real nearly fifty years later.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully soul-wrenching book
Review: This is a beautifully written book ~~ and my second Steinbeck book. A friend complained to me recently that she finds Steinbeck a depressing writer ~~ I disagree. He writes realistically of the views that society has on one another and of the world. Steinbeck writes convincingly of people and this book is no exception. The book focuses on Ethan, a descendant from the Pilgrims and of the whaling captains, reduced to semi-poverty by working for an Italian immigrant in the grocery store he used to own. His wife, Mary, complains of not having money to spend as well as his two children. Beset by memories of how it used to be, Ethan begins to look for a way to solve his problems. This book focuses on that attempt. Ethan is a lovable character ~~ he defuses every serious conversations or whining with humor, oftentimes at the expense of his good self-will and pride. It is a journey into one man's soul and it's soul-wrenching as well. It makes you stop and think ~~ and you don't dare to criticize anyone because you're guilty of the same feelings of despair and defeat. Ethan struggles to find a way to deal with those expectations and dreams of his loved ones and still keep his pride. But it comes to a conclusion that he can't have both. This may be a smaller book but one still grabs at your soul and your mind. It's a perfect addition to any serious reader's library. 1-3-04
Rating:
Summary: A Dissertation on Morality
Review: I like this Steinbeck novel because it suggests ideas about morality, but requires the reader to further those ideas allowing the reader to form a relation with Steinbeck's ideas. I found this novel to be more insightful and thought out than a few of Steinbeck's other novels, notably Cannery Row. While Cannery Row and even Of Mice and Men pave a definite internal path for the reader, The Winter of Our Discontent allows the reader freedom to expand his or her mind on the ideas of morality standards and temptation. Overall, The Winter of Our Discontent reminded me of how much we, as humans, are saturated in a greedy, free-riding society. Steinbeck's story implies that maintaining one's morals within society is an impossibility, but the novel also challenges me, and other readers, to prove that wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Falls short for a Steinbeck
Review: Winter is another of those books more easily appreciated at the age of 20 than at 50. I loved it as a young person, care nothing for it as an older one. I was disappointed to discover that fact.
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