Benjamin's Reviews > A Russian Journal

Two things:

a) I wish Penguin would've gotten hold of some more hi-res versions of Capa's photos. You can find some of them at Magnum's online collection, and they're much better quality than the images in the book.

b) I wish Steinbeck had published an addendum to this journal after Khrushchev's Secret Speech exposing Stalin's crimes -- I know JS wasn't trying to be political or anything, but I would've been interested to see his interpretation of that time period with retrospective knowledge.

That said, I can't tell you how much I love Steinbeck. He's so perceptive and honest and funny. And powerfully emotive when the occasion calls for it. But mostly, his point is that people are people all over the world and deserve all the respect and dignity that we can afford, at all times, no matter who they are. Bums, communists, workers, socialites, farmers, migrants, orphans, they should live as human beings. And he's not afraid to say as much to people who don't let them do so. Or to shame them for it.

I love you, John Steinbeck.