4 ms·

Good grief. I had no idea that Steinbeck had written an Arthurian tale - and based on Malory, to boot. I am so looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the i

Good grief. I had no idea that Steinbeck had written an Arthurian tale - and based on Malory, to boot. I am so looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the information.

sparky_z 5y ago
Just wait until you find out about his werewolf murder mystery :) https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-steinbecks-unpublished-werewolf-novel-isnt-going-to-print https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-stein...
- handrous 5y ago
  Or his WWII propaganda novel featuring not-Nazi occupied not-Norway, and resistance fighters trying to commit sabotage against the occupying force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down
  - samizdis 5y ago
    Many thanks for that - I've just snagged a copy. So much for my (arrogant) belief that I had a full picture of Steinbeck.
    - handrous 5y ago
      It kinda doesn't feel like a Steinbeck book, really, but it's not a bad read, for what it is. (someone DV'd my original post, at some point, and I'm not sure if this is why [maybe it was for some other reason entirely] but I intended my use of the term "propaganda" in a descriptive, neutral sense—that's what it is, and what it was intended to be)
- samizdis 5y ago
  This is really messing with my head now. We read Steinbeck at school - in the UK - and were in awe at the gravitas, use of English, literary genius. This is like finding out that Thomas Hardy also wrote manga, or something. I would so love to get my hands on Murder at Full Moon. I've just searched out some news stories about this and, apparently, Steinbeck destroyed some manuscripts he'd written under the Peter Pym pseudonym, but not this one; apparently he had also tried to get it published. Arrrgh! I so hope that this sees the light of day at some point - or, er, the light of the Moon.
neaden 5y ago
It really is very good, but unfortunately unfinished and was unpublished in his lifetime.
heurisko 5y ago
Before abandoning it for Paradise Lost, John Milton was also going to theme his epic poem on Arthurian legend.
- rsj_hn 5y ago
  I'd love to read a murder mystery by Milton
PeterCorless 5y ago
Steinbeck's Arthurian tales was spurred on by his childhood in Salinas, California. As a child, he used to play as a knight and he made his little sister play his squire. He dedicated the book to her. I am generally favorable to a lot of what Steinbeck did with his treatment, other than "vamping up" Morgan le Fey, which seemed a bit too dime store novel of a characterization to me. Otherwise he does a great job getting into the psychology of the knight characters. The published version also includes a great number of his letters on his process, showing how Steinbeck himself was on a sort of spiritual grail quest in trying to get to an authentic version of the telling. If you are into the Arthurian literature as it jumped from the medieval to the modern, this is a great book to add to your collection. Last note: be forwarned that Steinbeck never really finished his book. He spent years doing the research, but never really wrapped the stories with a bow. Just appreciate the tales he does tell, and how he tells them. You already know how the story ends.

Good grief. I had no idea that Steinbeck had written an Arthurian tale - and based on Malory, to boot. I am so looking forward to reading that. Thanks for the information.

sparky_z 5y ago

Just wait until you find out about his werewolf murder mystery :) https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-steinbecks-unpublished-werewolf-novel-isnt-going-to-print https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-stein...

handrous 5y ago
Or his WWII propaganda novel featuring not-Nazi occupied not-Norway, and resistance fighters trying to commit sabotage against the occupying force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_Down
- samizdis 5y ago
  Many thanks for that - I've just snagged a copy. So much for my (arrogant) belief that I had a full picture of Steinbeck.
  - handrous 5y ago
    It kinda doesn't feel like a Steinbeck book, really, but it's not a bad read, for what it is. (someone DV'd my original post, at some point, and I'm not sure if this is why [maybe it was for some other reason entirely] but I intended my use of the term "propaganda" in a descriptive, neutral sense—that's what it is, and what it was intended to be)
samizdis 5y ago
This is really messing with my head now. We read Steinbeck at school - in the UK - and were in awe at the gravitas, use of English, literary genius. This is like finding out that Thomas Hardy also wrote manga, or something. I would so love to get my hands on Murder at Full Moon. I've just searched out some news stories about this and, apparently, Steinbeck destroyed some manuscripts he'd written under the Peter Pym pseudonym, but not this one; apparently he had also tried to get it published. Arrrgh! I so hope that this sees the light of day at some point - or, er, the light of the Moon.

neaden 5y ago

It really is very good, but unfortunately unfinished and was unpublished in his lifetime.

heurisko 5y ago

Before abandoning it for Paradise Lost, John Milton was also going to theme his epic poem on Arthurian legend.

rsj_hn 5y ago
I'd love to read a murder mystery by Milton

PeterCorless 5y ago

Steinbeck's Arthurian tales was spurred on by his childhood in Salinas, California. As a child, he used to play as a knight and he made his little sister play his squire. He dedicated the book to her. I am generally favorable to a lot of what Steinbeck did with his treatment, other than "vamping up" Morgan le Fey, which seemed a bit too dime store novel of a characterization to me. Otherwise he does a great job getting into the psychology of the knight characters. The published version also includes a great number of his letters on his process, showing how Steinbeck himself was on a sort of spiritual grail quest in trying to get to an authentic version of the telling. If you are into the Arthurian literature as it jumped from the medieval to the modern, this is a great book to add to your collection. Last note: be forwarned that Steinbeck never really finished his book. He spent years doing the research, but never really wrapped the stories with a bow. Just appreciate the tales he does tell, and how he tells them. You already know how the story ends.