Prose Roundup: In Dubious Battle (1936) by John Steinbeck
JAN 02, 2026
Prose roundups are posts where I run through the noteworthy snippets of books and short stories not yet in the public domain (that therefore can't be made into visual novels yet). The snippets are listed chronologically, grouped by chapters, and may contain spoilers up to their respective locations in their works.
Chapter 1
A Gillette razor was in the bag, four pairs of new socks and another grey flannel shirt.
It was a jarring thing seeing a brand name product on page one of Steinbeck's pinko commie novel. Intentional literary realism to be sure, but he should have been more mindful of idiot readers like me who didn't know Gillette was that old.
Chapter 2
"Well, the cops sent a dick to question the kids on the block, and a cop came and talked to my mother. Finally they said they’d keep their eyes open. And that was all. We never heard of her again, ever."
Heh heh… "dick".
Chapter 6
Me an' Jim here get a sock in the puss now and then.
Maybe laughing at the antiquated "dick" is too immature, but someone being socked in the puss — that's never not charming.
London sat on his bed, his tonsured head forward.
There are eight uses of the word "tonsure" in this relatively short book. It could be one of those tics of Steinbeck your eyes skip over until you start noticing everywhere. (See: his obsessions with milk and snakes and snake milk.)
Chapter 8
"Deus vult," said Burton. "Did you see those pointers of Anderson's? Beautiful dogs; they give me a sensual pleasure, almost sexual."
An unnecessary semicolon. Unimpeachable dialogue otherwise.
Chapter 13
Oh, he’s smart all right. Smart like a snake. Sam’s a rattlesnake, only he don’t never rattle.
For having such snake-infested writing, Steinbeck sure couldn't name any other types.
Chapter 14
An' granpaw fought in the Battle of Bull Run. He always said he thought it was a bull-fight instead of a battle he was goin' to 'til they started shootin' at him.
Not as bad as other granpaw on the prowl for man asses.
If there's a fight, an' our guys get first blood, they’ll put up a hell of a battle.
These idiots didn't learn nothin' from Rambo.
Chapter 15
"I like cats," Lisa agreed softly. "I had two cats onct, two of them."
The editor was too caught up in the riveting dialogue to catch the typo:
Unreadable.
Final Thoughts
Prose-wise, plot-wise, and character-wise, this book was a monotonous read. I'm glad the zany, unfocused Steinbeck that wrote Cup of Gold was dead by this point, but this book might still somehow be worse. There was just so little to get attached to here, especially in comparison to his later, far more compelling short stories and books.
Some parts of the book were almost interesting as a window into the times, seeing the politics and logistics of how these strikes worked. But this was also written at the same time as Upton Sinclair was doing his End Poverty in California (EPIC) system thing and already had The Jungle and Oil! under his belt. Whether or not those books are more accurate to socialist happenings, they're certainly more interesting.
So as with Cup of Gold, I'm once again surprised by how long Steinbeck took to find his footing, knowing the heights he reaches later on. Good for him?