Literary Website: John Steinbeck
Literary Website: John Steinbeck
Last month I highlighted one of my favorite Latin American poets, Pablo Neruda. This month I decided to focus on another Nobel Laureate, one of my favorite American authors, John Steinbeck. What got me back to Steinbeck the last few weeks is that I’ve been reading quite a bit on issues of globalization and the plight of workers. This reading, coupled with my fascination of the human dynamics in all types of relationship, led me to pick up The Grapes of Wrath. By the time I was done with the first chapter I remembered why I liked Steinbeck so much. Aside from the social message of his novels, few writers have the ability to put you as a reader in the setting where the action takes place. By the end of the first chapter you feel like coughing from all the dust.
It’s been years since I read Of Mice and Men and even longer since I read Tortilla Flat; both of which I plan to revisit soon. Meanwhile, if you want either a refresher on Steinbeck, or to familiarize yourself with him, here are a few websites that might help:
The National Steinbeck Center
A brief biography of Steinbeck written around the time he received his Nobel Prize for literature.
For a more extensive biography and review of his works try this entry in Wikipedia.
A rundown of characters and summary of plots of some of his major novels
Technorati Tags: literature, author, Steinbeck, writing
Literary Website: Pablo Neruda
Literary Website: Pablo Neruda
February 2006
It’s been a couple of months since I did a literary websites piece. This month I thought I’d highlight one of my favorite poets, Pablo Neruda: Chilean politician, poet and Nobel Laureate. If there is a poet that got me into poetry back in my undergraduate days, it was Neruda. He just made poetry approachable for me. (If you saw the movie Il Postino, he’s the poet that goes to live on the island.) So why do I like Neruda so much? There are a few reasons. I think I made him my favorite poet after I read his piece “Poem XV,” otherwise known as “I like it when you are quiet.” (Me gusta cuando callas). It’s a wonderfully romantic piece. Despite all the jokes that guys tend to make regarding the first line. Another great romantic piece of his opens with the line “Tonight I can write the saddest lines” (Puedo escribir los versos mas tristes esta noche)
But even more than the romantic stuff, the one thing that really captured me about his poetry was that he was the first poet I read that wrote about mundane things: His piece “Ode to the Artichoke” (Oda a la alcachofa) “Ode to the onion” (Oda a la cebolla)are pieces where he applies his artistic interpretation of everyday items. He made these items that I had seen only as simple and uninteresting vegetables into these beautiful and mysterious. So I would urge you to check out Pablo Neruda’s works. I’ve included some links throughout this piece and a few links follow.
Enjoy.
Some great Pablo Neruda Websites:
Antologia de poesia hispanoamericana: Pablo Neruda
Plagiarist Poetry Archive: Pablo Neruda
Literary Website: Poetry for kids
Poetry Daily features a new poem daily. I looked through their "previously on Poetry Daily" link and perused some of the poems. I liked many of them, but the quality can be a bit uneven, but I'm willing to admit that it may simply be an issue of taste. Either way, I recommend you bookmark this site and add a bit of poetry to your day.
Giggle Poetry is just a fun site that has the aim of introducing poetry to children and making it fun. The topics range from dogs eating homework, to teachers boiling their textbooks. It's a fun website for kids and for adults that still have a little kid in them. I highly recommend it.
Take a look at those sites and tell me what you think.
Roberto
