John Steinbeck -The Winter of our Discontent

I never have thought that I would go through a Steinbeck’s novel and, read the whole thing and eventually falling in love with the characters…imagined myself in their world, that I’m watching them with my own eyes. This is one novel that left its mark in my short-termed brain bank.

The reason that I was amazed with myself was because, I have read a Steinbeck novel before, Grapes of our Wrath but I quit as I reached the thrid page of the novel, I was frustrated with the American country accent that was used in the novel, I can’t understand them…well maybe I didn’t try hard enough to read the whole thing, plain laziness actually. When I took The winter of our Discontent out of the shelf, I was thinking…I’ll quit even before I start reading it. But surprise surprise, I actually couldn’t stop reading it once I start!!

I won’t be a spoilsport and retell the story of our discontent here, rather I will say that this nice homely novel taught me of family relationships, about honesty and loyalty, about staying positive in facing life’s hardships and making the right decision. How a family having a moderate financial stability, the husband loving his wife with his whole heart even though he illlusioned that a woman was trying to seduce him, how a self proclaimed tarot card reader’s fortune telling would be, not a premonition of the future, but what she said became something like a motivator for the family to strive hard and brought themselves out of poverty. And it has a happy ending.

I won’t do any literature review or something the english lits would do or even a philosophical review that people do sometimes, but as a normal reader who enjoys reading good books, I never expect that I would actually like and understand a Steinbeck work! It’s the lessons learnt that I value so much!

Or maybe I found it heartwarming because it’s been awhile since I’ve read a novel at all, or something that is close to the heart like family stories. hmm…..