The Moon is Down (1942) - John Steinbeck

Written by John Steinbeck
Read by George Guidall
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Penguin Audio (Books on Tape)
Original Date: 1999
Duration: 3 hours 44 minutes
Occupied by enemy troops, a small, peaceable town comes face-to-face with evil imposed from the outside-and betrayal born within the close-knit community

Originally published at the zenith of Nazi Germany’s power, this masterful fable uncovers profound, often unsettling truths about war-and about human nature. While not directly naming either Norway or Germany, the reader understands that the setting is Norway during the Nazi German occupation, which began in 1940. Written for easy adaptation to the theater, Steinbeck evokes Ibsen with his play-like, scene-focused action.

When the novel was published, Nazi German forces occupied much of Europe and North Africa and the Anglo-American and Russian allied forces had yet to check Nazi aggression and expansion. Steinbeck has created a simple, strident and moving declaration of the indomitable will of a people who refuse to give in to tyranny. The character Mayor Orden, a symbol of unassuming yet steadfast resistance and leadership, sums up the theme of the novel when he says:

“Our people are invaded, but I don’t think they are conquered”.

Steinbeck’s self-described “celebration of the durability of democracy” had an extraordinary impact as Allied propaganda in Nazi-occupied Europe. Despite Axis efforts to suppress it (in Fascist Italy, mere possession of the book was punishable by death), The Moon Is Down was secretly translated into French, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, and Russian; hundreds of thousands of copies circulated throughout Europe, making it by far the most popular piece of propaganda under the occupation. Few literary works of our time have demonstrated so triumphantly the power of ideas in the face of cold steel and brute force.

…….And the book is less than 4 hours long!