Book review: “To a God Unknown” by John Steinbeck
January 27th, 2009 at 6:27 pmThis is Steinbeck’s second novel, published in 1933. It tells the story of the Wayne family – 4 brothers, farmers who moved to California from the east, focusing on Joseph, who came first and established the farm after the death of his father.
True to Steinbeck’s style, the main theme of this book is the land of California, and the special connection of the farmer to it. But there’s also another major theme, which is religion. And it’s not “normal” American religion (protestant Christian), but a weird mixture of it, with ritualistic customs of local Indians and self-made worship of the land, animals and trees. Steinbeck tries to explore the topic of religion in this book, and although I felt he’s trying to get somewhere, I couldn’t quite figure out where.
And overall, I liked the book less than other things by Steinbeck. Objectively, I can go as far as saying that this is the first Steinbeck’s book I didn’t really enjoy. Something in it is strange and unfinished, and I know myself for the strong dislike of anything mystical, so it’s not a surprise I didn’t connect with the plot.
One thing I did like in the book is the character of Thomas. His connection with animals and very unique character is described beautifully.
To conclude, I wouldn’t recommend “To a God Unknown”. IMHO it doesn’t present Steinbeck in his best light.
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February 19th, 2009 at 22:04
I agree, this book did not capture the author like so many of his previous books. However, I did like this book. I love mystical books and overall I enjoyed the novel.
April 14th, 2009 at 18:09
In my country, Indonesia, just a few people read Steinbeck. You know the English barrier still a handicap here. But many years ago, Sapardi Djoko Damono, one of our best writer/poet translated “The Anger” (?) become to “Kemarahan” in Indonesian.
July 10th, 2010 at 11:48
Not Steinbeck’s best but showing a lot of promise. I wish he’d developed the mystical themes a little more.