The Moon is Down

Today I took a day off from dissertation-writing to meet my friend Terry for lunch, a mentor to me who actually sat on my Truman interview panel. Because she is a bit more of a local than I am, she offered some recommendations of things to do and see in London that I otherwise may have never known about.

One of these places was Daunt Bookshop on Marylebone High Street. Although it carries all sorts of literature, it is most famous for being a travel bookshop. But do not let that fool you -- it is by no means any ordinary bookshop. Organized by region, then country (and even by American States!), they cover the globe with not only travel guides, but literature that is written by authors native to the country/region, fiction and non-fiction that is set in the region, or likewise that is about the place. It is a most brilliant way to set up a bookshop, and as a result I happened upon quite the treasure.

Unbeknownst to many, John Steinbeck (yes, THE Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, James Dean, Steinbeck), wrote propaganda during WWII. He worked for two different agencies which eventually evolved into the CIA.

Why does this matter? Well, as I was browsing I "happened" upon the "Norway" section of the bookstore. Rather small and for the most part, predictable. There was Hamsun's Hunger, Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter, and, of course, all the Ibsen you would ever want to get your hands on. Tucked away in between which are (and rightfully so) the best known authors to come out of Norway, was this little novella by John Steinbeck.

I picked it up, confused but curious as to what Steinbeck's connection would be with Norway. The book, entitled, The Moon is Down (title taken from the 2nd act of Shakespeare's Macbeth), is a story of a North European country being invaded and occupied, and the silent but soon powerful anger and resentment that push the local people to a resistance. In effect, it is the story of Germany's invasion of Norway.

Written during the war, however, the piece was written as propaganda. Interestingly, in America the story received a great deal of criticism because Steinbeck humanized the enemy soldiers rather than simply portraying them as horrible occupiers. On the other hand, in Europe the piece immediately became popular and formative for the resistance movements. In the introduction it states, "It never occurred to them [The Europeans] that the novel was sympathetic to their enemy. In fact, they regarded it as far more effective than the prevailing formula propaganda, which struck them as comical because it was so absurdly exaggerated."

The stories, too, of how this piece of fiction was reproduced and smuggled from Sweden to Norway in everything from airplanes, to sleds and rail cars, as well as its spread to Denmark, the Netherlands and France, is astounding. Steinbeck, thousands of miles away in America, effectively caught the mood of the citizens opposing the German occupation. According to one Norwegian, the book was "the epic of the Norwegian underground."

I eagerly picked up the book, bought it, and am currently ripping through its mere 112 pages (imagining what it would have been like in thin tissue-paper pamphlet form, as it was when smuggled from Sweden and across the border).

Although Steinbeck again was successful in his writing of this, it is possible that the story behind the story may even be better than the story itself. We shall see.