#4: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck

Selection #4: Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck 

In Monterey, on the California coast, Sweet Thursday is what they call the day after Lousy Wednesday, which is one of those days that are just naturally bad. Returning to the scene of Cannery Row, the weedy lots and junk heaps and flophouses of Monterey, John Steinbeck once more brings to life the denizens of a netherworld of laughter and tears from Fauna, new headmistress of the local brothel, to Hazel, a bum whose mother must have wanted a daughter.

249 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

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Missie Sue

"Everywhere in the world there are Mack and the boys."

Okay, people! Thank you for your patience; let's discuss Mack and the boys! For funsies, I'm going to post discussion questions for each book. Either answer them or just read through them and then post any comments about the book for a more organic discussion under each post. Right now, right here, I would like to see how many of us would be up for and able to decide on next Saturday the 19th around 9pm ish for watching the movie Cannery Row up on "the big tarp" outside here at the house to wrap up these books? And to also practice for our Late Night Double Feature Picture Shows we are going to also start doing for funsies...because, why not? So, hopefully the projector set up will work out and we can get this thing watched, weather permitting? What say, you?!

[The projector set up did not work, it was far too rainy and muddy out, so our movie had to be moved inside.]

Jodi Hebel

Enjoyed the stories, the memorable characters, and his writing style. Would choose Cannery Row over Sweet Thursday. I could probably list concrete reasons for the preference, but honestly Cannery Row just felt truer in my guts and was more pleasurable to read. The movie was a fun time, flawed in the fun way that makes it more entertaining, but not surprisingly the adaptation missed some main points (or my interpretation of the main points).

Missie Sue

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I enjoyed them both, also. I thought at first I liked Cannery Row better, but now I'm not sure. Overall, I generally liked it better, because I agree, it seemed a bit more sincere, but Sweet Thursday teetered back and forth on what the disturbance was, which I enjoyed, but also disliked every time it was directed at Suzy and it seemed like a romantic comedy that was going to play out and in some ways it did, which is mildly disappointing in a way but I will accept it because I believe there is a lot of male/female relations and personal worth lesson in this. I DID, however, love how that all played out and I really enjoyed the symbolic nature of her "going into her womb" when she went to live in the boiler, and the whole concept of the boiler is funny to me. The curtains, the space, all of it. The going onto your knees in order to go in or come out. The telling him she wants a man that's wide open and basically rejecting him, when he put his chauvinism aside long enough to go court a gal in a boiler, which still had a chauvinistic tone about it as he was pitying her curtains. I love how he was basically rejected, but it made him ultimately self-reflective. Why Doc is such a great character. And the paper thing...the PAPER thing, the BEAUTIFUL paaaper. Just let him write his fucking paper, he's gonna do it, just let him alone. Let him alone!! lol I can identify with that. The paper was a huge symbol for Doc.

I love Steinbeck's writing and I am interested to read something else and see if he keeps with such dense material that seems loaded with meaning and symbolism in every sentence. It was a little overwhelming because it was like a series of Steinbeck nuggets all strung together and I kept having to stop and be like...whoa. It was a little like listening to Jason Isbell, for me. He kept blowing me away with perspective and lessons. All pondering, no pandering. Remember, THAT'S why we were wondering about the other books when we asked Matt Lucas, because we were curious if it was because these were semi autobiographical?

I definitely dig Steinbeck and his writing. I liked all the stories, even the vignettes. Characters, very memorable. I didn't picture Hazel quite as stupid or as black as they made him in the movie, though. and I didn't picture Mack that "typecast" with his flower of two colors. As usual, the books win. Definitely a fun read, thank you David Mericle! It was good stuff.

• Missie Sue

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  *well, kind of playful pandering with the reaches at the romantic comedy. But, still. And like we had discussed, it is both interesting and odd how he details so much of some rather neutral things and glances over fairly graphic situations so matter of factly or nonchalantly...but I assume he has his reasons. Haha. Oh, those #steinbecknuggets

  

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  I need to add, for the record...I think we need to have a WALLAGER! But not any, this here's gonna be a TOM-WALLAGER!

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• Missie Sue

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  Or perhaps we can manage a BULL BITCH TOM-WALLAGER? (wasn't that it, I know that was in there somewhere? lol)

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• Missie Sue

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  "She's going to be a wallager!"

  "Did I say it was going to be a wallager!? This here's a tom-wallager!"

  (page 115, Sweet Thursday)

  #Steinbecknugget

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  "Appetites are good things. The more appetites a man has, the richer he is..." The Seer, pg. 57 Sweet Thursday

  #Steinbecknugget

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  "Woman and women is two different things," said Suzy. "Guy knows all about women he don't know nothing about a woman."

  Suzy, pg 89 Sweet Thursday

  #word #Steinbecknugget

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  "I tell you, if you got a streak of lady in you it spoils you for anything else." Fauna, pg 109 Sweet Thursday

  #Steinbecknugget

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  "Don't pretend to be something you ain't, and don't make like you know something you don't, or sooner or later you'll fall on your ass!"

  Fauna, pg. 120 Sweet Thursday

  #Steinbecknugget #truth

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  "The nicest thing in the world you can do for anybody is let them help you." Fauna, pg. 120 Sweet Thursday

  #Steinbecknugget #moretruth

  

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  "It's best to ask when you want to know." Fauna

  "Best way in the whole world to defend yourself is to keep your dukes down!" Fauna

  "One whole hell of a lot that passes for talk is just running off at the mouth." Fauna

  "I'm Suzy, and I'm nobody else. I'm a good thing. There ain't nothing like me in the whole world!" Fauna/Suzy

  pg. 121-122 Sweet Thursday

  #Steinbecknugget

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• Missie Sue

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  "For she knew that he who gives to you is in debt to you."

  #Steinbecknugget pg. 108 Sweet Thursday

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  "It is the hour of the pearl---the interval between day and night when time stops and examines itself." Cannery Row, pg. 78 #Steinbecknugget

  (I love the concept of "pearl time"...I want to call it that from now on! )

  

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  "Every man blames himself. People in their black minds remember sins committed secretly and wonder whether they have caused the evil sequence." Cannery Row, pg. 133 #Steinbecknugget