Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Wow! Amazing book. My mom and brother both read this before me, and neither had too much to say about it, so I was expecting 300 pages (tiny pages - there's another version that's only 120 normal sized pages) of pretty boring stuff. Wow, was I wrong. The characters in this book are so rich and the stories told so well. It's a series of tales that revolve around a poor paisano man named Danny and his poor paisano friends, who live in a house that Danny inherited from his grandfather. They spend their days and nights scrapping enough money for wine and a little food. This book made me greatly reflect on how different my life is from that of the characters I've come to know. Their way of living is so simple and so joyous, so slow-paced and rewarding. Again, Steinbeck has such a powerful way of putting emotion and truth into his sentences. Man, what a read. It will make you cry, and I highly recommend it.

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