Monday, March 5, 2018

Steinbeck's Socialism on Display

In Dubious BattleIn Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At a time when the divide in this country between rich and poor is as great as it's ever been, a book like In Dubious Battle becomes quite pertinent once more.

It's the Great Depression and the Red Scare has the nation suspicious of anyone who might organize a strike for better wages, for something higher than the starvation-level pay the bosses are handing out to hard-up fieldworkers.

Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle follows Jim, a newcomer to the Communist Party. Mac, a strike agitator takes him under his wing and off they go to a California apple valley, where the bosses have cut wages. Here they meet a number of different individuals who represent the various sides of the conflict.

Steinbeck's character development is quite impressive here, considering he constructed an ensemble cast and breathed life into each of them, so that they all appear almost real and not just two dimensional caricatures. And while the author originally set out to write a non-fiction account of a workers' strike, he has succeeded in portraying this as an utterly believable fiction that does not drag due to political agenda proselytizing.

While Steinbeck is for the working man, his sympathies do not make him entirely blind to the failings of the "radical left". He does question why, when man rules the Earth, would man subject man to a sub-subsistence existence? Why not share the wealth? Well, Steinbeck points to the lazy, shiftless who prefer to shirk duty and steal to get by rather than do their fair share. And then there's the greedy need in some men to rule, to gather up all the wealth and power they can for their own selfish desire. There it is again, those extremists who go screwing it up again for the rest of stuck in the middle.

description


View all my reviews

Another Great Spy Novel

The Spy Who Came In from the ColdThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John le Carré
Reviewed by Jason Koivu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I'm fully ready to dive into a non-stop Le Carré bender!

These are great spy novels. And these are quality books, period. The man can write. Plus, his experiences in intelligence work paid off HUGE. The intricacies of spy networks and secret government agencies are spread over these pages like caviar and go down like a perfectly aged wine. Shit damn, this is sweet stuff!

Now, before you get all amped up, John le Carré does not write James Bond stuff. There are no car chases and inventive gadgetry. No femme fatales succumb to his heroes. Sure, love is involved, but it's generally more realistic. It's all more realistic, when it comes down to it.

In The Spy Who Came In from the Cold a pissed off agent, who lost his network of spies to a crafty and conniving bastard of a super agent, is sent out into the field again as a plant to ferret out the bad guy. The agent is a pawn without knowledge of the whole affair and he knows it. But hell, he's willing to do anything to get revenge. This emotional attachment to the job puts him at yet another disadvantage. But he's good, so he should be able to handle himself...right?

Read and find out! Another highly recommended novel from John le Carré!

View all my reviews