Well, just sort of stalking him since he is no longer with us.
I've been reading "East of Eden" for the past few weeks and I'm loving it. It's been a slow read for me because I've been very busy with work and when I had some days off I kept it a slow read because I wanted to savor the story (I need it to be longer
). I've learned I have a preference for author's who write stories that take place in locations where I live (or lived) or have visited. I read a lot of Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz, Jan Burke and now I'm adding Steinbeck!
Anyway, I was working this week in Central California and decided to make a side trip for a couple of days to "Stalk John Steinbeck". Today, I spent about 3 1/2 hours at the
National Steinbeck Museum in his hometown of Salinas, CA.
One section of the museum is dedicated to "East of Eden" (others cover "Of Mice and Men", "Cannery Row", "The Red Pony", "The Grapes of Wrath" and more
). There were photographs of Steinbeck's family as well as some of the Hamilton family. Sam Hamilton does not look anything like I pictured him in my mind (in my head he was more like a thinner Santa Clause). They also showed a short clip from the 1955 film version of the book starring James Dean. The clip alone made me
not ever want to see the film. So many things were so wrong... the twins ages, who said what, when and where... it drove me nuts (ix-nay with the artistic license-ay).
Lots of pictures and maps of Salinas back then and some of the buildings still exist so, it's easier to imagine the book characters travels around town.
After, I left the Museum I drove back to Monterey to Cannery Row. I've been there several times when visiting the Monterey Aquarium but this time I tried to set the look of it in my mind so that when I read "Cannery Row" I can visualize it better. I also paid more attention to all the buildings with Steinbeck's name or picture on them which I had never noticed before.
That's my stalking adventure. Have any of you ever stalked an author or setting of a book? If so, please share because I need a new object for my stalking prowess.
