Dear friends, this book consists of 182 pages and the main message of the story is the struggle for victory and the fight on the path of freedom.

The story is about the people of the town of "Qasabeh" and their struggle with the German occupiers. "Qasabeh" is a small village in "Nowruz". Its people are very peaceful and peace-loving and they only have 12 armed forces and local forces who were in trouble in the very first moments of the German attack.

Dear ones, unlike the patriotic and brave people of "Qasabeh", first, the post minister and the traitor of "Nowruz" handed over his country to Germany and Hitler with both hands. But the people of "Qasabeh" did not give up under this pressure and, under the leadership of the old mayor and the philosophy-loving "Orden", they joined hands and, with the guidance of "Orden", resisted and fought against the Germans.

One of the interesting points in this story for me was that "Einstein Beck" announced the exact hours of the occurrence of events and incidents. For example, at ten thirty-eight minutes, six soldiers were killed and buried in the ground.

Dear wise friends, this beautiful story reminded me of the traitor "Salman Farsi" or "Razib" who was in cahoots with the greedy Arabs and attacked our holy land. And the resistance of the people of "Qasabeh" reminded me of the maturities and bravado of the oppressed and innocent men and women of our dear land "Iran".

The mayor of the town, "Orden", said: The only impossible thing in the world is to constantly break the spirit of man.

Remember all the free and patriotic people of our land "Iran" always be dear.

Be victorious and be Iranian.

The people have an inherent aversion to being conquered, sir. They simply will not submit easily. Free men, by their very nature, may not initiate a war. However, once a war is thrust upon them, they possess the remarkable ability to fight on even in the face of defeat.

On the other hand, herd men, those who blindly follow a leader, lack this tenacity. They may achieve victories in individual battles, but it is the free men who ultimately emerge victorious in the long run of a war.

You will come to realize that this is indeed the case, sir. The spirit of freedom within the free men gives them the strength and determination to persevere through the harshest of circumstances. It is this unwavering spirit that sets them apart and enables them to claim victory in the most arduous of conflicts.

So, sir, do not underestimate the power of the free men. They may not always win the battles, but they will surely win the war.

The flies have conquered the flypaper.

Quick and melancholy, "The Moon is Down" is a remarkable work that tells the story of a quiet town that has been conquered and occupied by the Nazis.

This book was written with a specific purpose - to give hope to the allied forces during World War II.

John Steinbeck's words can be paraphrased as follows: "A town that has the will and determination not to be taken over will ultimately resist and prevail."

The story likely explores the themes of resistance, courage, and the human spirit in the face of oppression.

It shows how the people of the town, despite being under the control of the enemy, may find ways to fight back and maintain their dignity.

Perhaps there are characters in the story who emerge as leaders, inspiring others to join the struggle.

Or maybe there are acts of small defiance that gradually build up into a larger movement.

Overall, "The Moon is Down" serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of hope and resistance in times of war and occupation.

A small town finds itself in a difficult position as it is compelled to make a decision regarding the extent of its cooperation with a tyrannical invader. The power and the haunting presence of this tyrant are such that evil has seldom been revealed in a more genuine and banal form.

The numerous lessons presented in this book are highly applicable to the situations that we are witnessing across the globe today. It serves as a valuable resource for understanding the complex dynamics of power, oppression, and resistance.

Particularly recommended for those who are about to enter the military, this book offers insights that can help them navigate the moral and ethical dilemmas they may encounter in their line of duty. It provides a deeper understanding of the consequences of cooperation and the importance of standing up against tyranny.

Overall, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the themes of power, evil, and the human condition in the face of external aggression.

I went through most of my life completely unaware that The Moon is Down even existed. I haven't been the most passionate fan of John Steinbeck, and that could be the reason. However, in all the classes I've attended, in all the discussions about Steinbeck's work or stories of WWII, I've never once heard of this book.

When I came across it in my local used book shop, I couldn't help but wonder why it was new to me. I thought it must be a terrible book, unworthy of attention, a rare failure by Steinbeck. But I bought it anyway (it was only a buck and a quarter). Then it sat on my shelf for a couple of years.

I took it with me to the Caribbean (where we're staying for 2014 - 2015), determined to give it a try on the beach sometime. That time came over the Christmas break. After reading about twenty pages, I was trying to figure out the real reason for my ignorance of this book because it isn't a failure on Steinbeck's part.

The Moon is Down is concise, like all of Steinbeck's novellas, and there's a beauty in his chosen simplicity. The sparsely drawn characters seem to be a deliberate part of that simplicity. It's as if Steinbeck wants us to see ourselves in any or all of the men and women who inhabit this little world of conquerors and (un-)conquered, vanquished and (un-)vanquished. So he spares us too much detail that could get in the way of our ability to relate. And perhaps this is the reason why The Moon is Down has been pushed to the fringes of Steinbeck's work. Because the characters (at least two-thirds of them) that Steinbeck wants us to relate to are Nazis inhabiting a town during WWII.

We all know the discomfort that comes with being able to empathize with or relate to Nazi characters. And that discomfort is only intensified by the fact that Steinbeck himself never gives his occupiers the name Nazi. The only place the word Nazi appears in my book is on the back cover. I imagine anyone reading this book when it was released, or even those who might read it now without a back cover spoiler, would be angered when they realized that the Nazis in Steinbeck's novella are not so different from themselves or from their troops that might be occupying another place in the world at this very moment. Occupiers as hated by the occupied as Steinbeck's Nazis in The Moon is Down.

I'd be willing to bet a paycheck (don't get excited, that's practically nothing these days) that Steinbeck's book has been quietly set aside because of that very discomfort. Which is a shame because it's telling an important story that I'm better for having read.

Fantastic Antifa lit.

The first five chapters are truly perfect. They draw the reader in with their engaging narrative and well-developed characters.

However, as the story progresses, the plot sometimes gets a little muddled with the numerous characters and their complex machinations. But, fortunately, the end is strong and ties up the loose ends in a satisfying way.

This book is applicable to any country that has been occupied by foreign invaders. It makes the reader sense the resonance of contemporary relevance, as it explores themes such as resistance, freedom, and the fight against oppression.

The author has done an exemplary job of humanizing the evil enemy, making them more than just one-dimensional villains. This adds depth and complexity to the story.

Overall, this book exceeded my expectations. I had no idea what it was about when I started reading, but I was quickly hooked. I even skipped the intro until I finished the text, as I was so eager to get into the story.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good adventure story with a strong message.

Like anything Steinbeck wrote, this piece is truly remarkable for its excellent writing and profound insights.

It presents a rather grim and harrowing story that revolves around soldiers who have occupied a conquered village. The description of the situation is vivid and detailed, painting a picture of the chaos and despair that often accompany such circumstances.

The story takes an interesting turn at the end with a nod to Socrates. This reference adds a layer of depth and philosophical思考 to the narrative. It makes the reader stop and reflect on the broader implications of the events that have been described.

Overall, this is a powerful and thought-provoking piece of writing that showcases Steinbeck's talent for crafting engaging and meaningful stories.

"Free men can not start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat."

Free men never take up arms to enslave others. However, if their freedom is threatened and they learn to fight, it is difficult to stop them.

An unknown armed force invades a nameless town. Steinbeck does not reveal the identity of the invaders and the invaded. Focusing on the psychological and physical conflicts between the two sides with the mysterious identity, the story of "The Moon Is Down" unfolds.

In this short but powerful work, Steinbeck attempts to expose the psychology of both the victorious and the defeated. It is not easy to win the hearts of the people just by occupying a town or land. The general mentality among ordinary soldiers is also largely captured in the story.

As the representative of the leaderless people facing the enemy, Mayor Orden has a statement that leaves a deep impression: "If I tell them not to fight, they will be sorry, but they will fight. If I tell them to fight, they will be glad, and I who am not a very brave man will have made them a little braver."

He does not want to go along with any agreement to increase the people's courage even though he calls himself a coward.

The end of the story is unknown. It is not known whether the nameless town has been freed from the unknown invasion.

However, Steinbeck gives a message of hope by saying, "It is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars."

The free men may lose in a battle when they fight together, but they will ultimately win the war.

A complex and powerful interplay of various emotions such as anger, revenge, remorse, and loneliness unfolds in the case of an invasion. This involves the conquerors, the conquered, the traitors, and the rebels. The snow-covered backdrop further intensifies the somberness of the situation.

"The people don't like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars. You will find that is so, sir."

I am truly in love with this intricately crafted story and the mesmerizing prose. The author creates a setting of an anonymous peace-loving country that is suddenly and unprovoked invaded by a powerful neighbor. In the early days of the invasion, the town's population is confused and dazed, as if in a dreamlike state. However, they gradually begin to understand the consequences of being conquered.

This story not only highlights the psychology of those who have been conquered but also that of the soldiers carrying out the invasion. In many cases, these soldiers are mere pawns in the hands of the powerful, who call all the shots. That said, they are not completely absolved of their actions in such situations. As I mentioned earlier, it is a very complex, nuanced, and multi-faceted situation.

"Thus it came about that the conquerors grew afraid of the conquered and their nerves wore thin and they shot at shadows in the night. The cold, sullen silence was with them always."

"And the officers were a reflection of their men, more restrained because their training was more complete, more resourceful because they had more responsibility, but the same fears were a little deeper buried in them, the same longings were more tightly locked in their hearts. And they were under a double strain, for the conquered people watched them for mistakes and their own men watched them for weakness, so that their spirits were taut to the breaking-point. The conquerors were under a terrible spiritual siege and everyone knew, conquered and conquerors, what would happen when the first crack appeared."

Steinbeck endows the invaders with humanity. They are depicted as soldiers on duty, obeying orders, missing their country, home, and family. However, they have a misguided view, perhaps propagated by those in power, that the invaded victims should accept them and that their dissent is unjustified. Among them is the seasoned Colonel Lanser, who has witnessed wars and knows the true picture. He is portrayed as a practical man yet one who requires our understanding.

"Lanser had been in Belgium and France twenty years before and he tried not to think what he knew--that war is treachery and hatred, the muddling of incompetent generals, the torture and killing and sickness and tiredness, until at last it is over and nothing has changed except for new weariness and new hatreds. Lanser told himself he was a soldier, given orders to carry out. He was not expected to question or to think, but only to carry out orders; and he tried to put aside the sick memories of the other war and the certainty that this would be the same. This one will be different, he said to himself fifty times a day; this one will be very different."

I would highly recommend this impactful story by a fantastic author.

Well before the United States entered World War II, John Steinbeck became deeply involved in several government intelligence and information agencies. His motivation was a strong desire to fight fascism. By September 1941, Steinbeck made a significant decision. He decided that he would pen a work of fiction, drawing on what he had learned from European refugees. This knowledge pertained to the psychological effects of occupation on the people living in countries that had fallen under Nazi control. The result of this decision was a novella.

Set in a village of an unnamed country, the novella centers on the experiences of the locals as they grapple with occupation by the armed forces of another unnamed country. It is clear from the text that the occupier is intended to be Germany, and while the occupied land could potentially be several European countries, it closely resembles Norway. The narrative vividly describes the arrival of the enemy soldiers, the villagers' reactions to the occupation, and the soldiers' responses to the act of occupying. It also delves into the involvement of a local collaborator and the growing determination of the population to resist the enemy and fight for freedom.

Even though the work was specifically crafted as a piece of anti-Nazi propaganda, Steinbeck took a unique approach. He refrained from stereotyping the invading soldiers. Instead, he presented them as human beings with diverse attitudes towards their role. They were shown missing their homes and families and attempting to justify their position to the locals. This approach led to criticism. While many critics lauded the work, some influential ones accused Steinbeck of being lenient towards the Nazis and suggested that the novella might demoralize the victims of Nazi aggression in occupied Europe. However, these particular critics were incorrect. After the war, the King of Norway honored Steinbeck with a medal in recognition of the work's influence in Norway. It later emerged that although the Nazis banned the book, it was translated, illegally printed, and distributed throughout occupied western Europe. Moreover, it was not only circulated in Europe but also in parts of China under Japanese occupation. By portraying the occupying soldiers as human beings rather than monsters, Steinbeck effectively demonstrated that they could be defeated.

The work has the feel of a parable, almost like a fairy tale. It places a heavy emphasis on dialogue and is relatively light on description. Similar to many short works, the characters are sketched rather briefly than being fully developed. As is appropriate for a work of propaganda, it has a somewhat didactic tone. Overall, it is fair to state that in terms of literary merit, this is far from Steinbeck's finest work. Nevertheless, the simplicity of the writing served a purpose. As I read, it occurred to me that the work would have been relatively easy to translate. Translating a work of literature typically demands native-speaker level fluency in both the original language and the language into which the work is being translated. However, the language in this work is relatively straightforward, and complexities such as metaphor and idiom are avoided. Anyone with a reasonable level of competence in English could have translated the work with the help of a good dictionary. The fact that Steinbeck was able to adapt his writing style to such a degree while still producing elegant prose is a testament to his skill.

Even though this is not Steinbeck's best work, it remains a thought-provoking read. It earns four stars for being a satisfying literary work and an additional star for being an interesting historical artifact.

\\n  By 10:45 it was all over. The town was occupied, the defenders defeated, and the war was finished.\\n

However, this was far from the truth. In Steinbeck's 1942 story set in a small unnamed town invaded by an unnamed enemy, the war had just begun.

The book starts with an almost comical tone. The mayor is more concerned about getting his ear hairs trimmed before meeting the conquering colonel than the gravity of the situation. The ratfink mole who has been informing on the townspeople is shocked that he can no longer live among them. And one of the soldiers gets bitten by the mayor's feisty cook. Due to the ease with which the invading army took the town, the officers assume the locals will乖乖 accept them as their new rulers. But the mayor predicts otherwise. \\n  \\"The people are confused now. They have lived at peace so long that they do not quite believe in war. They will learn and then they will not be confused anymore.\\"\\n

Matters take a turn for the worse after an incident at the local mine. As the oppressed people start to take their revenge, the mayor's prediction comes true.

Steinbeck offers a distinct perspective on life during war and humanity's longing for freedom. His portrayal of the town and its people shows the complex emotions and struggles that come with occupation and resistance. It makes the reader think about the true nature of war and the lengths people will go to in order to regain their freedom.

I must confess that it's almost a foregone conclusion that I'll have an affinity for John Steinbeck. However, this particular book is simply breathtaking. It's not just the content that's captivating, but also its rich history.

Steinbeck selflessly volunteered to pen this book for the war effort. It was cherished by the people in occupied France, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands. They courageously risked their lives to print and distribute it, and even staged clandestine performances of it. (Definitely take the time to read the introduction and the story of Ferdinand Sterneberg.) Meanwhile, back in the States, it was ridiculed by some prominent literati. The reason? Steinbeck humanized the occupiers and didn't depict them as one-dimensional, goose-stepping caricatures. But that was precisely the whole point.

The concise story revolves around an unnamed country that is attacked and occupied by a force that suspiciously resembles the Germans, although neither the country nor the occupiers are explicitly identified. At first, the people are shocked, but they quickly realize they loathe being occupied. In fact, they despise it and detest their occupiers. ("We were told we'd be welcomed as liberators." Does that sound at all familiar?) Steinbeck chose to show us that the occupiers were still human beings who didn't like being hated and, later on, were constantly living in fear for their lives. Written as propaganda, it's so much more than that. There are numerous simple yet powerful scenes that I just can't get out of my head. (My favorite is Molly Morden's big scene, which I won't spoil.) I'm truly amazed that this book and the story behind it aren't more widely known.