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13 - The Moon Is Down (the novel, 1942)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2010

Joseph R. McElrath, Jr
Affiliation:
Florida State University
Jesse S. Crisler
Affiliation:
Brigham Young University, Hawaii
Susan Shillinglaw
Affiliation:
San José State University, California
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Summary

Frances Alter Boyle.

The Moon Is Down.”

Library Journal, 67

(15 February 1942), 182.

Quisling has done his fifth column work so well that the little coal mining seaport is invaded with the loss of only six lives. The insoluble problem for the Nazis is to police the village and secure the good will of the inhabitants, so that the coal can be mined and transported to the Reich. Excellent psychological study, recommended for purchase…

L.A.S.

“Masters of Their Fate.”

Christian Science Monitor,

6 March 1942, p. 22.

Like Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's new book, The Moon Is Down… is a short novel written in the form of a play. And like the former book, it will be transferred to the stage (on March 31) with little alteration.

The Moon Is Down will have a wider appeal than its predecessor in this form. Its theme is both topical and universal; dealing with the resistance of the people of a small invaded country to their conquerors, it sings the unconquerable courage and strength of liberty-loving human hearts…

There are some superb character sketches: the gentle, scholarly mayor of the occupied town; his friend the doctor; his defiant cook who throws hot water over the soldiers tramping mud into her kitchen; the young widow who avenges her slain husband; the boys who flee to England to carry on the fight.

These on the defenders’ side. On the other no less vivid portraits: the popular storekeeper who turns out to be an enemy agent; the invader officers, sharply differentiated in background and character, but all dominated by the totalitarian philosophy to which they have been bred.

Type
Chapter
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John Steinbeck
The Contemporary Reviews
, pp. 215 - 238
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1996

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