A story must have some points of contact with the reader to make him feel at home in it. Some pick out parts and reject the rest, some strain the story through their mesh of prejudice, some paint it with their own delight. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure. As Steinbeck notes in the novel, “A man who tells secrets or stories must think of who is hearing or reading, for a story has as many versions as it has readers. Steinbeck’s moral tale gave me plenty of “ah-hah” and “why, yes” moments-the kind of experience one expects from excellent literature, and the reason I recommended it in my column. When I chose The Winter of Our Discontent, I confess it was because of the title rather than the content.Īs John Steinbeck fans know, The Winter of Our Discontent tells the story of a simple grocery store clerk, an outwardly respectable man named Ethan Allen Hawley, and his moral descent into corruption and crime. But John Steinbeck’s novel is an apt expression of what I see as the winter of our discontent in the United States today, and it reflects the reality I face every day in my classroom. Recently I chose The Winter of Our Discontent, and I confess it was because of the title rather than the content. I’m a small-town high school teacher and newspaper columnist, and every month I pick a new book, usually a literary novel, to read and recommend to my followers, who seem to enjoy what I have to say.
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