Book Review - Burning Bright

Burning Bright (Mandarin Classic)Burning Bright by John Steinbeck
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Oh dear. I... have made a terrible mistake. Saw this book lying around and, without looking at the back page blurb, decided to read it. First up, I've been reading contemporary novels almost exclusively for several months now, and felt it might be nice to ensconce myself in something vintage. Secondly, and this is of great significance, I absolutely LOVE Of Mice and Men, it is my second-favourite book of all time; add to that my soft spot for The Grapes of Wrath, an elegant beauty with long-lasting impact. These are phenomenal classics, so how bad could this be, right? I wish I'd never tried to answer that question.

'Burning Bright' starts off in a circus before segueing elsewhere and spiralling completely out of control. The premise is archaic, and probably felt just as archaic when it was written. This book hasn't aged well at all. The dialogue feels uneven and unnatural and the central plotline ludicrous. I think we may also be inured to this central trope because it's a laughably poor one.

The issue with the plot is that the central, and only, female character has to have an unnaturally strong love for her husband to make the decision she does. Now, this is a play, hence we may not have enough background as we want to understanding the gravity of her motivation. Yet, it feels like the author loses focus part way through. A significant part of the first act follows the husband, Joe Saul lamenting everything when he suddenly mentions his yearning for offspring. That utterance is a springboard for the succeeding scenes, and soon the focus falls on the wife, Mordeen.

This novella struggles from its lack of gravitas. While 'Of Mice and Men' is similar in length and style, there is an authenticity to the characters and their relationships. The events are shocking, yet disheartening. It stayed with me a long time. To read that and then this, it feels at odds with one's expectations.

I don't think the foreword by Steinbeck's wife helped. Most of it was interesting, as it gave an insight into his writing habits, yet, it didn't shed much light on what brought about the creation of this book. That's always disappointing.

I understand that the reception to this book when it was originally released was a bit frosty; I understand it. Morality plays simply don't work (I may be generalising here), and the attempted experimentation of the character's changing situations (circus performers to farmers to shipping merchants) may have worked on stage, but in written form they were just confusing. Brilliant as many of Steinbeck's works were, this one was an aberration waiting to happen.

Moral of the story is this - ALWAYS read the blurb. Life's too short to regret reading a book. Zero stars, if possible.

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