Tortilla Flat (Penguin Twentieth-century Classics)

What a enjoyable read.

If as others have suggested John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats is built around the Arthurian legends these are not latter-day noble Knights of the Round Table recast as down and out, hard luck, lower-class Californians. Rather these are the men who would have shared a tankard or three with likes of Don Quixote's Sancho Panza or Shakespeare's Falstaff.The story cycle in Tortilla Flats centers around a mostly hapless, selfish, drunken, thieving, and occasionally noble group of paisano's in the unpaved and occasionally patrolled outer reaches of Monterrey, California in the years after World War I. For those looking to charge racial stereotypes; the central characters include Danny, Pilon, Jesus Marie, Big Joe Portagee and the Pirate. No one is clearly identified with any one racial type and we are told these are a mix of Native Americans, Hispanics, Italians, Anglos and combinations thereof. Mostly what our main characters have in common is an over fondness for wine and a disinterest in work or anything that looks like achieving the American dream. The novel itself is early Steinbeck and may be considered as something of an experiment in storytelling that he will perfect in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday.In choosing to tell us the stories of this barely lovable group of schemers and drinkers, Steinbeck is working an aspect common in many cultures from the misdeeds of the Hopi Mud Head Kachinas to the antics of the Three Stooges. We can identify with this ignoble band of Brothers in part because they allow us to be naughty at one remove and because we can identify with people who are hapless without being evil.Tortilla Flats is not so much a novel as a cycle of short stories built around the misadventures, sacred superstitions, and wine based brotherhood of its central characters. Around the core characters we have a variety of equally comedic bumbler's including: women of flexible virtue, barter-based wine bootleggers and at least one jailer who qualifies for the job by being its most frequent prisoners - until her forgets he is the jailor and leads an escape. None of these people or events is meant to be taken seriously. Steinbeck has invited us to savor complex schemes as designed by simple folk whose only real loyalty is to each other and when pressed their immediate community.My initial reaction to Steinbeck's Tortilla Flats was negative. Initially I did not like any of the paisanos. Once I realized this was all intended as humor and that it was part of a larger literary tradition I came to enjoy the efforts of these characters to provide for each other without surrendering to their own weaknesses. My change of heart could not have happened except for the simple yet skillful use of language that ultimately seduced me and made me into being a fan of this book.

I highly recommended this short novel but I would not do so for everyone. First of all, you must appreciate the novel being written in 1935 and the language spoken by the characters reflect that time period, rightly so. It only takes a short while to adapt and I found the story moving along at a nice pace as the personalities began to assume colorful portrayals.Steinbeck presents a group of men, or paisanos living in Monterey, California after the first World War. These are poor men, not especially motivated to work for a living and have a thirsty, never ending longing for wine. They circle around Danny, the fortunate one in the group, who inherited 2 small houses from his grandfather. Having no steady job, it makes sense to him to "rent" to his buddies. His buddies don't have jobs or revenue, either, so the compensation that takes place is in the form of companionship and the collective sharing of all foods begged from the back doors of groceries and restaurants. The hawking of whatever goods they come upon that can be bartered for the prized gallon of wine serves to be their highest priority. While seemingly desperate and pathetic, these men go to no end to rationalize their predicaments, twist truths and events to be self-serving and ultimately rewarding their endeavors by securing enough wine to satisfy them all. This can be quite a challenge, and the lengths they go to to fulfill their thirsty desires are hilarious. That the reader finds love and goodness in these fellows is reflected by the skill of John Steinbeck's writing. The book is a quick read and it was not long before I became fond and wiped away a few tears of sorrow and joy for each of them and the circumstances these men find themselves. The practise of their Catholic religion is random; they use it when they need it, commit small crimes in the name of it and dismiss the many restrictive "Thou shall not's" when seized in the throes of passion or inebriation. A greater sense of loyalty knits these men to each other. While women acquaintances come and go, the paisanos rely on each other and faithfully commit to one another. In spite of the inevitable drunken fights and arguments, the following morning beckons another day. All the sins of the previous day are (literally) forgotten and forgiven. In the dawn of the new day anything is possible, and the adventures these men get themselves into is pure comic entertainment.

If there was ever a writer that understood how people's fates were inextricably tied to their land, it was Steinbeck. The familiar setting of Monterrey county introduces us to a new cast of characters, pulled together by the gravity of their birthplace. Early on, one gets that feeling that the misadventures in which Danny and his friends partake, could take place in Tortilla Flat, and nowhere else.Like Mallory’s story of King Arthur and the knights of the round table, Tortilla Flat has its heroes, quests, damsels, and holy grail. That is the original recipe. Add beans, paisanos, “lively” women, and a whole lot of wine. Simmer and reduce. The result is a rich, yet simple and savory tale; literary comfort food for those who have visited this land before through Steinbeck’s prose. Those that long for it.Who knew that this one valley in California would be the well to spring forth the tragic drama of the ‘Grapes of Wrath’, the biblical struggle of ‘East of Eden’, the love and friendship of ‘Cannery Row’, the Arthurian romance of ‘Tortilla’ and…well, the man himself.And no, I am not putting the ‘cart before the horse’. These tales, these elemental forces were there long before Steinbeck allowed his artistic sensibilities to be threaded by them. And will continue to roam this land, perhaps in different finery, but eternal all the same.

I don't often read John Steinbeck but always love his books when I do. I think Cannery Row is still my favourite so far, but there's still lots of his books I haven't read. I bought Tortilla Flat straight after finishing La Perle with the intention of making a slightly bigger dent in the Steinbeck back catalogue this year. Tortilla Flat predates Cannery Row by about a decade and, without being too sniffy I hope, this does show. The novels are geographically very close to each other and their central characters share strong resemblances too. It feels almost as though Cannery Riw is a matured Tortilla Flat. Basically, a group of deadbeats and drunks are scraping by, sometimes by legal means and sometimes in a more shady fashion. I loved the relationship dynamics between the group of friends. They share a convoluted code of ethics where crimes such as theft can be considered beneficial or heinous, usually depending more on the perpetrator's professed motivation than anything else.Steinbeck presents Danny and his friends as essentially harmless and almost as overage children whose actions rarely have any real consequences. While I could enjoy this as a humorous part of the novel, their attitudes do rather date Tortilla Flat now. Women characters are only caricatures and I was uncomfortable at the repeated use of 'Jew' as an insult. It's a difficult question for me to address. While I wouldn't want to stop reading vintage and classic novels, I am not sure how strongly to criticise problematic attitudes or whether to penalise them through my star ratings.Also, Tortilla Flat was written over eighty years ago and probably does reflect aspects of Paisano life at the time as accurately as Steinbeck could see it from his outsider's viewpoint. He writes amusing stories of the men's antics as entertainment for readers however, though the seriousness of their poverty is always very apparent. As a primarily illiterate and uneducated community, there are unlikely to have been any #ownvoices memoirs or novels of this period to counter this mythic presentation of the happy hobo trope. (Do Comment if you know of any!) So now Steinbeck's famous novel could stand as a primary record of such people and I am not convinced that Tortilla Flat does them justice.

I so loved it. It shows us the inner workings of people we too often write off as useless bums It is gorgeous Steinbeck at his best. We see squatters as leeches and takers and this group of people have moral standards and a sense of right and wrong that is entirely their own. In this day when the homeless fill our streets, every one of us lucky enough to afford a roof over our head or to buy a book should read Tortilla flat and learn.

This is John Steinbeck’s first book, and his fourth that I have now read. I think that his books did progress from here, even though this is a first class read and full of interest.This book has quite a long intro, which seems to be justifying Steinbeck’s description of the local Spanish /Mexican / Indian - paisanos, of the region that he is writing about – he apparently took some criticism for this? The actual story is just 150 pages long but full of intriguing and colourful tales. The book is based on Arthurian legend and very briefly and in an odd hock manner uses ‘Old English’ language.We see from this book all the usual traits which crop up in his writing: the setting in California, a collection of characters – somehow brought together to interact, a love of alcohol and copious drinking habits, a man’s appreciation of a good woman, male camaraderie, the lower classes of society and their attitudes to life, and man’s good will to others as well as his darker sides. There is always wit with Steinbeck’s tales.This book does not expand (like others do) on the countryside’s flora and fauna, of which he has a great knowledge, this adds greatly to any piece. I think I preferred ‘Cannery Row’ and the ‘Wayward Bus’ as they were ‘richer, fuller and therefore more informative and enjoyable books to read but this one is not far behind.

`Tortilla Flat' was Steinbeck's break through novel and it is also one of his funniest. Following the exploits of Danny, Pilon, Pablo and various other Paisanos in the Monterey area, this book has one humorous adventure after another. As I've come to expect from Steinbeck (and I've yet to be let down!) this book has beautiful prose that sinks you immediately into the time and setting of the story. You can feel the colours, textures, smells and ambiance of every scene and you experience the facets of this book keenly and richly. If I sound like a fan, that's because I am, I love Steinbeck and this book only solidifies that opinion. You can see the emergence of Mack and the boys from `Cannery Row' in the dialogue and exploits of Danny and the rest in this novel and this shows the development of Steinbeck's group narrative and descriptions very well between the two. If you want a short, yet highly humorous book (that had me chuckling out loud on more than one occasion), with a more poignant ending that you'd expect, then this is the book for you and as you may have guessed this is one I recommend a great deal.Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.

I’ve recently (after many years) re-discovered John Steinbeck and hadn’t read this early novel before; once you get past the phrasing style it’s a good read and I’d recommend it along with’Cannery Row’, which is one of the best books I’ve ever read