The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

I've liked everything I've read by Steinbeck. Though his vision of humanity is certainly jaded and bleak, I kind of like that in a book. TWOOD was an interesting one, a story of a man who keeps a shop for an immigrant man in a small town but has greater ambitions, and he plots to fulfill those through a betrayal and an ingeniously planned bank robbery. His children long for his respect but he is ultimately let down by one of them. There's a woman he is tempted to commit adultery with. He contemplates suicide despite having his fortune made, though not via the bank robbery as he'd planned.

Ultimately, this one was a little unsatisfying, though. Far-fetched in places and overdramatic in others, it does a good job of portraying the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist, but the plot is a bit too tidy for this kind of story.

I should have expected that. I got my copy of this from a friend who was giving away a lot of books, and when I selected that one, he said that it was not Steinbeck's best work and I probably would not like it. I actually liked it OK as I was reading it, but when I finished I realized it seemed to have been written to be a Hollywood movie. It was apparently made into one, but not a good one at all. Figures.

I started this during a company outing to Six Flags and finished it on our vacation in California. I probably reshelved it but if I find it I'll take to Half Price Books.