It's so cool to finally hear his voice after all these years. I can't recall ever hearing it. I'm proud to say I grew up in the Salinas Valley, which he wrote so much about. One of the all-time greats.
Salinas Valley huh? I have driven through Salinas, Watsonville, Gilroy and the surrounding area several times when my brother was attending UCSC. It is nice lol
I know alot of people say 'Of Mice and Men' which is wonderful of course but 'East of Eden' was Beautiful. Will never tire of it and it's what set the path to wanting to read the classics . Cant get interested in the new age garbage they seem to throw around nowadays
I agree with other commenters that Steinbeck was one of America's greatest writers. He is one of the few writers whose life-work I have read most of. His sentences, paragraphs, and books were as clear as mountain springs. Cool to hear him give this speech, and to read some of the comments here, such as his Six Tips for Writers.
+Lawrence Hartmann i agree. he's one of the very few writers who i couldn't wait to read completely. his writing is easy to read yet phenomenal with its eloquence
Thank you so much for posting! John Steinbeck and I hail from the same hometown, Salinas, CA. I went to Salinas High where I took a class on John Steinbeck and read a good majority of his books. This is truly a gift. Thank you.
It is not just the responsibility of the writer to reflect on the needs of society, and to challenge previous ideas in order to better society, it is also the responsibility of mankind to act on these authors words/beliefs. Steinbeck was amazing at contorting previously accepted ideas. His was able to attack the corruptness of the time through his works, and distort the way people looked at the world. I absolutely love this speech. Again Steinbeck is subtly attacking society and outlining the importance, not only of writing protest literature, but also of reading and responding to it. Amazing..
I just read The grapes of wrath and I can say that I have enjoyed it so much, he definitely knew how to masterfully describes things and build powerful moving dialogues. Undoubtedly Steinbeck is one of the greatest novelist I ever read.
He deserved it.His novel:- “East of Eden” was my favourite.America has produced so many great novelists over the past 200 years. An amazing literary tradition.
Steinbeck is my favorite writer and I have great affection and respect for the man. It gave me great joy to see the video of him accepting this award. It's hard to imagine someone like him being nervous but clearly he is.
It's amazing to me on a personal level, knowing what I know now and reflecting back on my childhood and the fact that I grew up literally 3 houses down on the very street Steinbeck himself spent his exact years of youth, albeit several generations earlier. Not only was it the house he spent his early years but the very house he was born in (the now and since famous 'Steinbeck House'). Thinking back to my childhood days on Stone Street in Salinas, Ca., I realize now that parts of those memories are, in terms of the environment and surroundings of that street (i.e., the houses which have stood for generations and the surrounding street names and overlooking mountains), nearly exact to those of this great writer whom we honor here and remember. That, dear friends, is where the amazement lies.
+sunlitrain and then he was ostracized by the writing community saying all h ever did was champion the migrant farm workers in the U.S. Well freaking Duh!!! Thats exactly why he did deserve it you jealous fucks!!! Steinbeck was devastated at this betrayal, and quit writing fiction, but HEY! First non fiction was travels with charley! Not too shabby!
I wouldn't limit Sweet Thursday to that descriptor, but neither probably would you. I suppose that is the price to be paid, in part, of most visionaries. If one is not ahead of one's time, how can one lead the way? I am a visionary and a writer. I used to wonder why so many writers become reclusive. I hate that I am beginning to understand. I steal or feign no laurels off of Steinbeck. I simply and sadly marvel at the irony that the more candid and clear a communicator, the less appreciated. I think he touches upon this throughout Travels; folks don't trust the unfamiliar, and trustworthiness is uncommon. Thus unnecessary crucifixions still happen. Or maybe they're just a tort.
I just love him, I find it so weird I can relate to all of his travel and thoughts, sometimes I feel like I have been all the time with him, thank you Sir ❤️
This was a great moment for him. He really deserves to be award for his emotional books based on experiences and struggles of people's life. I am glad that his works was recognized by the Nobel Prize!=) btw I reallly love "Of in Mice and Men".
East of Eden awoke an understanding of true human emotion in me. The ones you have listed are all on my night stand, slowly but surely being digested by my young brain. I thank a power higher than myself that people who not only read but, cherish good literature exist in this day and age still. Rock on Stan! I hope to become a connoisseur of great American reads not unlike yourself some day!
My Steinbeckera connection For quite a few years, John Steinbeck and Doc Ricketts enjoyed a few beers together at Doc’s Office and Lab on Cannery Row… �In 1923 Doc Ricketts set up his lab on Cannery Row. Almost every day that he was at his lab, he walked over to the Chinaman’s grocery store across the street and would purchase a few quarts of beer. Also in 1923, John Steinbeck signed up for a biology course at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove. Meeting Doc Ricketts, as well as their mutual interest in marine biology, helped spark a deep friendship between the two. They hit it off immediately and became close friends. Steinbeck published his novel CANNERY ROW in 1945. The later part of the decade, Steinbeck and his wife moved to Los Gatos California but frequently visited Monterey and were hanging out with New York’s Elite mostly. When John Steinbeck and Doc got together they had a few quarts of beer. The men both liked their beer for 25 years on the row until Doc’s death in 1948. I can estimate at least 40,000 + quart containers + all the refuse from the lab was thrown thru his trap door into the bay. So there’s an excellent chance that my Amber Sea glass Jewelry or that era glass being made from Doc Ricketts, John Steinbeck or Mack and the boys (the characters from Steinbeck’s novel CANNERY ROW) quarts of beer. That was most of the 20’s and 30’s that Steinbeck lived in Pacific Grove. I have Prohibition glass, Chromium glass, Cadmium glass, Erbium glass, and Uranium glass. The list goes on. Montereyroseman.com
Everyone should read Steinbeck's quote in the info box. This man has more truth and reason to offer the world than what most other humans, as a collective, can create. He is the predecessor of many more great people and nobel prize winners, who undoubtably read his books in high school. I hope for myself and everyone else on this page has a great life filled with wisdom and achievement!
He kept a daily journal while writing East of Eden (The East of Eden Letters) and said he was going to put everything he knew about life into the story. He said the critics would hate it (they did) but Saul Bellow and Gore Vidal petitioned the Nobel judges on Steinbeck's behalf. At a press conference in New York a journalist asked him if he thought he deserved the Nobel. Steinbeck looked at him with his Salinas-blue eyes and said, No. Steinbeck was better than he knew and his critics (Alfred Kazin for one) were wrong. P.J. Kavanagh wrote about Steinbeck's published Letters and said they were wonderful. They are.
I feel today, more than ever before, we need good men to speak out loud these same virtues. Too often the virtuous man is cut down, ostracized and muted, sometimes by laws but more often than not it is the fault of the less virtuous.
If you like this you might like The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I think John Steinbeck would've been proud of her historic/activism stance. The first page gets you.
Several of his books I have. "The Grapes of Wrath" is my favorite in book form, as well as the famous movie of the same name with the great Hank Fonda. I still remember hearing on car radio of his passing in late 1968. He was and still is an American icon in literature.
A large part of his speech was skipped. You can see the flash of the skip on the screen at 2:33. Here's the full transcript: www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1962/steinbeck/25229-john-steinbeck-banquet-speech-1962/ The video skips from, "He knew that the understanding . . ." to "Understandably, I have been reading the life of Alfred Nobel . . . ."
According to my dad, this literary great was two or three dates away from becoming my great-uncle. He dated my grandmother's sister when they lived in Pacific Grove, and my dad shared several stories about Steinbeck, including meeting him for the first time while soaking in the tub (Steinbeck, not my dad).
To think that the judges considered him the best of a bad lot of writers that year (this was revealed when they unsealed the communication between the committee members in 2012) and that he only won it because he had produced something somewhat to form, in The Winter of Our Discontent, just blows my mind. Today we would all say Steinbeck deserved the Nobel prize but back then, not even he thought he deserved it. I grew up in San Jose and traveled many times to Salinas, and Monterey county cities. Love that area. He’s my favorite author and East of Eden is my favorite novel. Of Mice and Men my favorite novella (play really). Anyways, they don’t make writers like these any more.
I also prefer East of Eden, but love Grapes of Wrath. I also enjoyed the depth of emotion in Winter of Discontent. I believe his work was utterly superior to Great Gatsby, a novel I feel very overrated.
Surely you jest; there was no modesty in this speech. He claimed to have Godlike power and took great liberties in a gross misinterpretation of the Gospel of John. I think he was trying to persuade us towards his philosophy of the "oversoul" which I think is based on Transcendentalism. Even the opening paragraph which at first listen appears to be humbling is actually not really at all. Look how it is carefully worded: "In my HEART there MAY be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award over other men of letters whom I hold in respect and reverence".
I jest not. Worth remembering that Steinbeck, on being asked if he deserved the prize, said 'frankly no.' Also worth remembering that he only won it as a compromise choice: Karen Blixen died the September that year, and the judges were adamant that it shouldn't go to Robert Graves.
He claimed no godlike powers whatsoever; and he was an atheist. Twaddle about gospels, 'souls', over or otherwise were anathema to him - as to every reader over 14 and not stupid.
Wow. Are we talking about the same speech? If you prefer, put God in lowercase letters, "god", but quoting Steinbeck, "Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have." To say he claimed "no godlike powers whatsoever" because he was an atheist is incredulous. In this speech, can you show me or describe where he showed any modesty? Or did he just make you feel like he was humble? In fact, he said, "...I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession..." But, before that, he said: "In my heart there may be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award..." Now, the evidence for his modesty may be somewhere outside of this speech (I really don't know), but I don't see any evidence in the speech that he's trying to be modest. I see the opposite. I guess I'm not smart enough to understand you or to explain what I was trying to say. Can anyone else explain how I've misinterpreted him? I never got into literature when I was younger, in school, so I probably just don't know how to read it.
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Min Vackra Fru, Ladies and Gentlemen. I thank the Swedish Academy for finding my work worthy of this highest honor. In my heart there may be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award over other men of letters whom I hold in respect and reverence - but there is no question of my pleasure and pride in having it for myself. It is customary for the recipient of this award to offer personal or scholarly comment on the nature and the direction of literature. At this particular time, however, I think it would be well to consider the high duties and the responsibilities of the makers of literature. Such is the prestige of the Nobel award and of this place where I stand that I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession and in the great and good men who have practiced it through the ages. Literature was not promulgated by a pale and emasculated critical priesthood singing their litanies in empty churches - nor is it a game for the cloistered elect, the tinhorn mendicants of low calorie despair. Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed. The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species. Humanity has been passing through a gray and desolate time of confusion. My great predecessor, William Faulkner, speaking here, referred to it as a tragedy of universal fear so long sustained that there were no longer problems of the spirit, so that only the human heart in conflict with itself seemed worth writing about. Faulkner, more than most men, was aware of human strength as well as of human weakness. He knew that the understanding and the resolution of fear are a large part of the writer’s reason for being. This is not new. The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement. Furthermore, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat - for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in literature. The present universal fear has been the result of a forward surge in our knowledge and manipulation of certain dangerous factors in the physical world. It is true that other phases of understanding have not yet caught up with this great step, but there is no reason to presume that they cannot or will not draw abreast. Indeed it is a part of the writer’s responsibility to make sure that they do. With humanity’s long proud history of standing firm against natural enemies, sometimes in the face of almost certain defeat and extinction, we would be cowardly and stupid to leave the field on the eve of our greatest potential victory. Understandably, I have been reading the life of Alfred Nobel - a solitary man, the books say, a thoughtful man. He perfected the release of explosive forces, capable of creative good or of destructive evil, but lacking choice, ungoverned by conscience or judgment. Nobel saw some of the cruel and bloody misuses of his inventions. He may even have foreseen the end result of his probing - access to ultimate violence - to final destruction. Some say that he became cynical, but I do not believe this. I think he strove to invent a control, a safety valve. I think he found it finally only in the human mind and the human spirit. To me, his thinking is clearly indicated in the categories of these awards. They are offered for increased and continuing knowledge of man and of his world - for understanding and communication, which are the functions of literature. And they are offered for demonstrations of the capacity for peace - the culmination of all the others. Less than fifty years after his death, the door of nature was unlocked and we were offered the dreadful burden of choice. We have usurped many of the powers we once ascribed to God. Fearful and unprepared, we have assumed lordship over the life or death of the whole world - of all living things. The danger and the glory and the choice rest finally in man. The test of his perfectibility is at hand. Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have. Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope. So that today, St. John the apostle may well be paraphrased … In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man - and the Word is with Men.
I read up on the novel and decided to buy it. I hope they don't make Steinbeck out to be some type of villain though. After all the man was a story teller, and I wouldn't expect him to settle for the lesser story even if it would have been true. I thank you though for this! I hope the book is good!
he is my favorite american writer i absolutely love this man thanks for getting this on RUclips thumbs up if you think he is the best american writer from all times (if my spelling is not right is cause im Mexican)
He looks like a white Dizzy Gillespie, and sounds like the greatest writer California ever produced, which he was. The sort of chap who made the Europeans think twice before condemning us as cultural philistines.
the speech which John Steinbeck gave the Nobel Academy at the presentation of his prize in 1962. Oh, It is not for lack of having said nice things in this declaration, on the book, the literature, the world and the rest. He was an excellent writer even, if He was sometimes acerbic!
I will look into Marquez more! I am familiar with that title. and I love your blog. I have tried my hand (not for the last time I assure you) in writing before, and it is in no doubt of mine, a craft of pure human intelligence and emotion. Invoking great powers of strength in the mind and soul within not only it's readers but in the craftsman himself. Keep Writing! Keep Reading! Keep Teaching! I salute you!
I read every book he wrote and dropped out of school. Today I lecture to those who lacked the same abilities of such youthful perception. I've so far received 19 standing ovations, and 2 Honorary PhDs.
I read bunch of this guys books as a teenager. Now I'm bout to venture out on the streets as a homeless person, maybe I'll end up in Monterey like Mack and the boys though it gets awful cold there
![[#2024MAMA] ROSÉ (로제), Bruno Mars - APT. | Mnet 241122 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dgGqD28J6aQ/mqdefault.jpg)
It's so cool to finally hear his voice after all these years. I can't recall ever hearing it.
I'm proud to say I grew up in the Salinas Valley, which he wrote so much about.
One of the all-time greats.
Exactly how I feel, I was born and raised in Salinas and this is the first time I've heard his voice.
+David Armstrong Currently live in the Salinas Valley as well.
Have any of you visited the Steinbeck Center? If so, is it as wonderful as I've heard and has Rocinante on display?
Salinas Valley huh? I have driven through Salinas, Watsonville, Gilroy and the surrounding area several times when my brother was attending UCSC. It is nice lol
a legend in the making
I have goosebumps. Hearing his voice after reading all his books, biography, and A Life in Letters... oh, the real man!
"East of Eden" is my bible, my go-to for compassion and wisdom. Thank you, John.
Best novel I've ever read
I know alot of people say 'Of Mice and Men' which is wonderful of course but 'East of Eden' was Beautiful. Will never tire of it and it's what set the path to wanting to read the classics . Cant get interested in the new age garbage they seem to throw around nowadays
Yep.
An incredible book
Grapes of wrath is better
I raise my glass of cheap red wine to Doc Ricketts and the Paisanos, and the memory of a great wordsmith.
I agree with other commenters that Steinbeck was one of America's greatest writers. He is one of the few writers whose life-work I have read most of. His sentences, paragraphs, and books were as clear as mountain springs. Cool to hear him give this speech, and to read some of the comments here, such as his Six Tips for Writers.
+Lawrence Hartmann i agree. he's one of the very few writers who i couldn't wait to read completely. his writing is easy to read yet phenomenal with its eloquence
Truly deserved the Nobel prize this speech from a very true and humble man who in my opinion is one of America's greatest writers.
Thank you so much for posting! John Steinbeck and I hail from the same hometown, Salinas, CA. I went to Salinas High where I took a class on John Steinbeck and read a good majority of his books. This is truly a gift. Thank you.
Proud to say "East of Eden" is my number one, all time favorite novel.
“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” John Steinbeck, East of Eden
One of the Best Writer of all time.
It is not just the responsibility of the writer to reflect on the needs of society, and to challenge previous ideas in order to better society, it is also the responsibility of mankind to act on these authors words/beliefs. Steinbeck was amazing at contorting previously accepted ideas. His was able to attack the corruptness of the time through his works, and distort the way people looked at the world. I absolutely love this speech. Again Steinbeck is subtly attacking society and outlining the importance, not only of writing protest literature, but also of reading and responding to it. Amazing..
Well said.
I just read The grapes of wrath and I can say that I have enjoyed it so much, he definitely knew how to masterfully describes things and build powerful moving dialogues. Undoubtedly Steinbeck is one of the greatest novelist I ever read.
I just devoured his “East of Eden” the first time I read it.
Unforgettable writer. Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and men…
He deserved it.His novel:- “East of Eden” was my favourite.America has produced so many great novelists over the past 200 years.
An amazing literary tradition.
Steinbeck is my favorite writer and I have great affection and respect for the man. It gave me great joy to see the video of him accepting this award. It's hard to imagine someone like him being nervous but clearly he is.
I love how much he describes the beauty of California. California is a special place which I am proud to be from.
It's amazing to me on a personal level, knowing what I know now and reflecting back on my childhood and the fact that I grew up literally 3 houses down on the very street Steinbeck himself spent his exact years of youth, albeit several generations earlier. Not only was it the house he spent his early years but the very house he was born in (the now and since famous 'Steinbeck House'). Thinking back to my childhood days on Stone Street in Salinas, Ca., I realize now that parts of those memories are, in terms of the environment and surroundings of that street (i.e., the houses which have stood for generations and the surrounding street names and overlooking mountains), nearly exact to those of this great writer whom we honor here and remember. That, dear friends, is where the amazement lies.
Youre a very lucky man
Larger than Life, though so unassuming. Thank you for being you, John Steinbeck.
Back when Nobel Prizes in Literature were actually earned.
+sunlitrain and then he was ostracized by the writing community saying all h ever did was champion the migrant farm workers in the U.S.
Well freaking Duh!!! Thats exactly why he did deserve it you jealous fucks!!!
Steinbeck was devastated at this betrayal, and quit writing fiction, but HEY! First non fiction was travels with charley! Not too shabby!
I wouldn't limit Sweet Thursday to that descriptor, but neither probably would you.
I suppose that is the price to be paid, in part, of most visionaries. If one is not ahead of one's time, how can one lead the way?
I am a visionary and a writer. I used to wonder why so many writers become reclusive. I hate that I am beginning to understand. I steal or feign no laurels off of Steinbeck. I simply and sadly marvel at the irony that the more candid and clear a communicator, the less appreciated. I think he touches upon this throughout Travels; folks don't trust the unfamiliar, and trustworthiness is uncommon. Thus unnecessary crucifixions still happen. Or maybe they're just a tort.
This speech is arguably the most relevant speech for our times, for our struggle with the current pandemic.
His writing is simply art
I just love him, I find it so weird I can relate to all of his travel and thoughts, sometimes I feel like I have been all the time with him, thank you Sir ❤️
“Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.”
In this pandemic we’re all enduring now, these words ring true today more than ever.
My English class is reading books from Steinbeck.
Reading Travels With Charley for the second time. :)
Wow. The Man. Steinbeck.
My favorite American author.
The Grapes of Wrath one of the best books I’ve read in my life.
I love rereading it, especially as I get older and more experienced it makes even more sense
Finally.. the voice of The Narrator from “Grapes”. What a delight.
A great speech by a great author.
one of the greatest authors.... got to love this guy
😭😭😭💚💚💚John Steinbeck💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
This was a great moment for him. He really deserves to be award for his emotional books based on experiences and struggles of people's life. I am glad that his works was recognized by the Nobel Prize!=) btw I reallly love "Of in Mice and Men".
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this essential speech!!!
John Steinbeck`s The Grapes of Wrath is my best novel ever.
East of Eden is his best; even Steinbeck said so
@@TheMongolianMage to each his own
I prefer 'Eden' as a story, best book I've ever read, but at 60, I now realise that 'Grapes' is more important.
"Min vackra fru", he said in Swedish, meaning, literally: "My beautiful wife/lady".
You are beautiful. 🌹
What a brilliant yet humble man.
Let's be honest. Most of you came here cause you've never heard Stenbecks voice and was curious what it sounded like
Well, yes.
i love this man so much...east of eden is my faverouite novel ever
Mine too, together with the grapes of wrath and to a God unknown! Best writer world ever had.
East of Eden awoke an understanding of true human emotion in me. The ones you have listed are all on my night stand, slowly but surely being digested by my young brain. I thank a power higher than myself that people who not only read but, cherish good literature exist in this day and age still. Rock on Stan! I hope to become a connoisseur of great American reads not unlike yourself some day!
“Tin-horned mendicants of low-calorie despair”! Who speaks like that now?
Remarkable man and writer...
Thank You for posting this! An important message for all.
reading his book are wonderful journeys i really enjoy his books
The greatest american author so far IMO
agreed
Never more timely than now --and frighteningly so.
GOD, this is orgasmically wonderful, WHERE ARE THESE GENIUSES NOW?!
He was and always will be a great man!
Especially now that the world seems losing his morality..
That speech is really something. The good news is, we're still here.
I suppose, this is why he travelled America with his dog.
My Steinbeckera connection For quite a few years, John Steinbeck and Doc Ricketts enjoyed a few beers together at Doc’s Office and Lab on Cannery Row…
�In 1923 Doc Ricketts set up his lab on Cannery Row. Almost every day that he was at his lab, he walked over to the Chinaman’s grocery store across the street and would purchase a few quarts of beer. Also in 1923, John Steinbeck signed up for a biology course at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove. Meeting Doc Ricketts, as well as their mutual interest in marine biology, helped spark a deep friendship between the two. They hit it off immediately and became close friends. Steinbeck published his novel CANNERY ROW in 1945. The later part of the decade, Steinbeck and his wife moved to Los Gatos California but frequently visited Monterey and were hanging out with New York’s Elite mostly.
When John Steinbeck and Doc got together they had a few quarts of beer. The men both liked their beer for 25 years on the row until Doc’s death in 1948. I can estimate at least 40,000 + quart containers + all the refuse from the lab was thrown thru his trap door into the bay. So there’s an excellent chance that my Amber Sea glass Jewelry or that era glass being made from Doc Ricketts, John Steinbeck or Mack and the boys (the characters from Steinbeck’s novel CANNERY ROW) quarts of beer. That was most of the 20’s and 30’s that Steinbeck lived in Pacific Grove.
I have Prohibition glass, Chromium glass, Cadmium glass, Erbium glass, and Uranium glass. The list goes on. Montereyroseman.com
Thanks for the upload, I love Of Mice And Men. This guy was and always will be a writer who towers above many others.
Everyone should read Steinbeck's quote in the info box. This man has more truth and reason to offer the world than what most other humans, as a collective, can create. He is the predecessor of many more great people and nobel prize winners, who undoubtably read his books in high school.
I hope for myself and everyone else on this page has a great life filled with wisdom and achievement!
He kept a daily journal while writing East of Eden (The East of Eden Letters) and said he was going to put everything he knew about life into the story. He said the critics would hate it (they did) but Saul Bellow and Gore Vidal petitioned the Nobel judges on Steinbeck's behalf. At a press conference in New York a journalist asked him if he thought he deserved the Nobel. Steinbeck looked at him with his Salinas-blue eyes and said, No.
Steinbeck was better than he knew and his critics (Alfred Kazin for one) were wrong.
P.J. Kavanagh wrote about Steinbeck's published Letters and said they were wonderful. They are.
This helped so much for my research paper. Thanks. Steinbeck is a great writer.
To roar like a lion among men; without hesitation nor guilt and bring prosperity. That is my dream.
My favorite writer.
I feel today, more than ever before, we need good men to speak out loud these same virtues. Too often the virtuous man is cut down, ostracized and muted, sometimes by laws but more often than not it is the fault of the less virtuous.
One of my favorites. Bravo Steinbeck.
Be sure to read, THOMAS C. STUHR
THE DOGWOOD DISCOVERY. ☠❤
a shining beacon of conscience and elegance
truth to power John. Thank you.
I am Korean. I want to say that I would not have the same level of respect for American literature without Steinbeck. East of Eden is a masterpiece.
If you like this you might like The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. I think John Steinbeck would've been proud of her historic/activism stance. The first page gets you.
Several of his books I have. "The Grapes of Wrath" is my favorite in book form, as well as the famous movie of the same name with the great Hank Fonda.
I still remember hearing on car radio of his passing in late 1968.
He was and still is an American icon in literature.
I'm just finishing East of Eden
thank you for "Sweet Thursday" and "Cannery Row"
A large part of his speech was skipped. You can see the flash of the skip on the screen at 2:33.
Here's the full transcript:
www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1962/steinbeck/25229-john-steinbeck-banquet-speech-1962/
The video skips from, "He knew that the understanding . . ." to "Understandably, I have been reading the life of Alfred Nobel . . . ."
The voice of the masses.
According to my dad, this literary great was two or three dates away from becoming my great-uncle. He dated my grandmother's sister when they lived in Pacific Grove, and my dad shared several stories about Steinbeck, including meeting him for the first time while soaking in the tub (Steinbeck, not my dad).
To think that the judges considered him the best of a bad lot of writers that year (this was revealed when they unsealed the communication between the committee members in 2012) and that he only won it because he had produced something somewhat to form, in The Winter of Our Discontent, just blows my mind. Today we would all say Steinbeck deserved the Nobel prize but back then, not even he thought he deserved it. I grew up in San Jose and traveled many times to Salinas, and Monterey county cities. Love that area. He’s my favorite author and East of Eden is my favorite novel. Of Mice and Men my favorite novella (play really). Anyways, they don’t make writers like these any more.
Faulkner’s Nobel speech is a lovely poem
Grapes could be considered the greatest American novel of all time.
And how many times was it rejected by publishers before it was finally printed... 26 times?! (I forget.)
It wasn't. He already had a publishing deal with Viking after his old editor moved there.
I prefer East of Eden.
I also prefer East of Eden, but love Grapes of Wrath. I also enjoyed the depth of emotion in Winter of Discontent. I believe his work was utterly superior to Great Gatsby, a novel I feel very overrated.
Who'd he plagiarize it from? I've not heard this.
Unusually modest, especially for an American writer.
Surely you jest; there was no modesty in this speech. He claimed to have Godlike power and took great liberties in a gross misinterpretation of the Gospel of John. I think he was trying to persuade us towards his philosophy of the "oversoul" which I think is based on Transcendentalism.
Even the opening paragraph which at first listen appears to be humbling is actually not really at all. Look how it is carefully worded:
"In my HEART there MAY be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award over other men of letters whom I hold in respect and reverence".
I jest not.
Worth remembering that Steinbeck, on being asked if he deserved the prize, said 'frankly no.'
Also worth remembering that he only won it as a compromise choice: Karen Blixen died the September that year, and the judges were adamant that it shouldn't go to Robert Graves.
He claimed no godlike powers whatsoever; and he was an atheist. Twaddle about gospels, 'souls', over or otherwise were anathema to him - as to every reader over 14 and not stupid.
Wow. Are we talking about the same speech? If you prefer, put God in lowercase letters, "god", but quoting Steinbeck,
"Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have."
To say he claimed "no godlike powers whatsoever" because he was an atheist is incredulous.
In this speech, can you show me or describe where he showed any modesty? Or did he just make you feel like he was humble? In fact, he said,
"...I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession..."
But, before that, he said:
"In my heart there may be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award..."
Now, the evidence for his modesty may be somewhere outside of this speech (I really don't know), but I don't see any evidence in the speech that he's trying to be modest. I see the opposite.
I guess I'm not smart enough to understand you or to explain what I was trying to say. Can anyone else explain how I've misinterpreted him? I never got into literature when I was younger, in school, so I probably just don't know how to read it.
David Herpin
I think your last sentence is somewhat unfinished.
to me, John steinbeck writes about people the way they should be. the way groups of people should interact with one another. bar stools and bus stops
Used car shops, filled with people's noise and motor oil.
С России с любовью. мы вас любим. Russia loves you and very thankful for all the books. And that you were....
Mr. Steinbeck is the symbol of American literature.
Just started reading his "A Russian Journal" from 1948. Keen observations still valid today.
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Min Vackra Fru, Ladies and Gentlemen.
I thank the Swedish Academy for finding my work worthy of this highest honor.
In my heart there may be doubt that I deserve the Nobel award over other men of letters whom I hold in respect and reverence - but there is no question of my pleasure and pride in having it for myself.
It is customary for the recipient of this award to offer personal or scholarly comment on the nature and the direction of literature. At this particular time, however, I think it would be well to consider the high duties and the responsibilities of the makers of literature.
Such is the prestige of the Nobel award and of this place where I stand that I am impelled, not to squeak like a grateful and apologetic mouse, but to roar like a lion out of pride in my profession and in the great and good men who have practiced it through the ages.
Literature was not promulgated by a pale and emasculated critical priesthood singing their litanies in empty churches - nor is it a game for the cloistered elect, the tinhorn mendicants of low calorie despair.
Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it, and it has not changed except to become more needed.
The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species.
Humanity has been passing through a gray and desolate time of confusion. My great predecessor, William Faulkner, speaking here, referred to it as a tragedy of universal fear so long sustained that there were no longer problems of the spirit, so that only the human heart in conflict with itself seemed worth writing about.
Faulkner, more than most men, was aware of human strength as well as of human weakness. He knew that the understanding and the resolution of fear are a large part of the writer’s reason for being.
This is not new. The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement.
Furthermore, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit - for gallantry in defeat - for courage, compassion and love.
In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of emulation.
I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man, has no dedication nor any membership in literature.
The present universal fear has been the result of a forward surge in our knowledge and manipulation of certain dangerous factors in the physical world.
It is true that other phases of understanding have not yet caught up with this great step, but there is no reason to presume that they cannot or will not draw abreast. Indeed it is a part of the writer’s responsibility to make sure that they do.
With humanity’s long proud history of standing firm against natural enemies, sometimes in the face of almost certain defeat and extinction, we would be cowardly and stupid to leave the field on the eve of our greatest potential victory.
Understandably, I have been reading the life of Alfred Nobel - a solitary man, the books say, a thoughtful man. He perfected the release of explosive forces, capable of creative good or of destructive evil, but lacking choice, ungoverned by conscience or judgment.
Nobel saw some of the cruel and bloody misuses of his inventions. He may even have foreseen the end result of his probing - access to ultimate violence - to final destruction. Some say that he became cynical, but I do not believe this. I think he strove to invent a control, a safety valve. I think he found it finally only in the human mind and the human spirit. To me, his thinking is clearly indicated in the categories of these awards.
They are offered for increased and continuing knowledge of man and of his world - for understanding and communication, which are the functions of literature. And they are offered for demonstrations of the capacity for peace - the culmination of all the others.
Less than fifty years after his death, the door of nature was unlocked and we were offered the dreadful burden of choice.
We have usurped many of the powers we once ascribed to God.
Fearful and unprepared, we have assumed lordship over the life or death of the whole world - of all living things.
The danger and the glory and the choice rest finally in man. The test of his perfectibility is at hand.
Having taken Godlike power, we must seek in ourselves for the responsibility and the wisdom we once prayed some deity might have.
Man himself has become our greatest hazard and our only hope.
So that today, St. John the apostle may well be paraphrased …
In the end is the Word, and the Word is Man - and the Word is with Men.
John Steinbeck came up as a correct answer in the spoilers round on the Trebek “Double Dare.”
GRAZIE i never saw him in a video and i consider him greatest writer, thanks
I read up on the novel and decided to buy it. I hope they don't make Steinbeck out to be some type of villain though. After all the man was a story teller, and I wouldn't expect him to settle for the lesser story even if it would have been true. I thank you though for this! I hope the book is good!
he is my favorite american writer i absolutely love this man thanks for getting this on RUclips thumbs up if you think he is the best american writer from all times (if my spelling is not right is cause im Mexican)
of mice and men!!
best kid's bedtime story
da sempre il mio autore americano preferito.
He looks like a white Dizzy Gillespie, and sounds like the greatest writer California ever produced, which he was. The sort of chap who made the Europeans think twice before condemning us as cultural philistines.
Mr. ‘Texas is a state of mind’.... I love that quote 🤠
the speech which John Steinbeck gave the Nobel Academy at the presentation of his prize in 1962. Oh, It is not for lack of having said nice things in this declaration, on the book, the literature, the world and the rest. He was an excellent writer even, if He was sometimes acerbic!
Note how real the Cold War was.
John Steinbeck is awesome
A creative genius.
Elle P
I love his work so much!!!!
awesome!!!
So noble. Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!
The Greatest, with Dostoyevski, Kafka, Celine & Faulkner
...and Proust & Mann & Joyce & ... :)
And Tolstoy, Orwell, Voltaire and Tolkien
I will look into Marquez more! I am familiar with that title. and I love your blog. I have tried my hand (not for the last time I assure you) in writing before, and it is in no doubt of mine, a craft of pure human intelligence and emotion. Invoking great powers of strength in the mind and soul within not only it's readers but in the craftsman himself. Keep Writing! Keep Reading! Keep Teaching! I salute you!
The Grapes of Wrath is a brilliant novel.
Amazing would have loved to drink a beer or two with this man
Steinbeck hated being famous. He was actually really relieved when the Grapes of Wrath slipped from #1 on the book charts!
I read every book he wrote and dropped out of school. Today I lecture to those who lacked the same abilities of such youthful perception. I've so far received 19 standing ovations, and 2 Honorary PhDs.
What
John Steinbeck your'e 20th century's John the apostle!
I read bunch of this guys books as a teenager. Now I'm bout to venture out on the streets as a homeless person, maybe I'll end up in Monterey like Mack and the boys though it gets awful cold there
@scorpiowatertiger I'm a Brit and the American literary canon has always been my favourite. We are not all so ignorant, don't worry.
Better than Hemingway.