John Steinbeck's first posthumously published work, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights is a reinterpretation of the Arthurian legend, based on the Winchester Manuscript text of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. This book by Sir Thomas Malory was the first book that John Steinbeck ever loved. In the latter half of the 1950s, having already won lasting fame as the author of Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, and East of Eden, Steinbeck was seized by a powerful urge to return to his first great inspiration. Setting aside the American themes and places that he explored in his immortal fiction, he took up the mammoth task of retelling Malory’s stories from a more modern point of view. Steinbeck took a "living approach" to the retelling of Malory's work. He followed Malory's structure and retained the original chapter titles, but he explored the psychological underpinning of the events, and tuned the use of language to sound natural and accessible to a Modern English speaker. Steinbeck's King Arthur begins with Sir Lancelot returning to Camelot from his latest successful adventures. Lancelot hardly sees himself as the perfect knight the revellers make him out to be. Meanwhile, Guinevere finds the party tiresome and boring. Her private desire is to spend time with Lancelot. Guinevere and Lancelot meet but narrowly escape the notice of King Arthur. Listen online to free English audiobook "The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights” on our website to experience John Steinbeck's novel.
