“Despite the usual label for this book as "propaganda", I actually think The Moon is Down portrays a realistic and compelling portrait of an occupation, both of the occupied and of the invaders. Both are sympathetic to the reader (insofar as the Nazis, while unreflective and indoctrinated into a horrible way of thinking, are still human and we feel sorry for them). And the final climax, no doubt intended to encourage the people of countries who were actually occupied, presented an honorable and respectable and intellectual view of sacrifice. Despite the lack of specifics, this is clearly intended to be Norway under the Nazis, and the character of Corelli (a curiously un-Norwegian name) is a nod to Quisling. This book is also usually said to not be one of Steinbeck's better works, but of what little I've read, it's my favorite. It certainly is far superior to Of Mice and Men. While it bears the same weak writing style (an establishment of setting for each chapter, and from then on nothing but dialogue), it is certainly not nearly so bad as Mice, and given the much more interesting characters and more harrowing situations, one doesn't notice this as much. ”
Michael wrote this review Saturday, October 10 2009.
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