Burning Bright by John Steinbeck

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame they fearful symmetry?

–William Blake

Steinbeck’s play-novelette “Burning Bright” opens with the first stanza of William Blake’s poem “The Tyger“. The novelette has four main characters whose lives are interconnected. I find it interesting that as a reader, I am given the opportunity to be in the shoes of an all-knowing being who can see the “symmetry” that their lives form altogether.

I’ve only read the first few pages but I am already hooked. Just as Steinbeck wanted it, the novelette reads like a play, but much easier. You can read the dialogues aloud and almost see the characters come alive.

Let’s see how it goes 🙂