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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
Another stellar work of fiction from Steinbeck. What impressed me about this series of interconnected short stories was the extent to which Steinbeck establishes each character in their own private world before exposing that world to the light. If any narrative thread ties everything together, it has to be the corruption of innocence by clumsy exterior elements. Each of these characters lives an active fantasy or dream life, but they all to one extent or another understand that this fantasy is not a reality. Despite their own personal understanding of their fantasies, they are judged or feel judged by outside observers and their fantasies are corrupted. This same theme serves as an allegory for the region where Steinbeck set these stories. The land is unrealistically viewed by everyone as a dream landscape where their wildest imagined destinies await, but the land and their lives are corrupted over time. It's a contrast between their childlike vision of the world and the world's own harsh realities.
Also, I'm blown away by how rich and emotionally engaging this collection is, especially in light of the fact that it is only Steinbeck's second book.
Also, I'm blown away by how rich and emotionally engaging this collection is, especially in light of the fact that it is only Steinbeck's second book.
Another remarkable novel from Steinbeck. Perfectly captures the promise of newness, human desires and broken dreams in a series of stories. He somehow manages to maintain an overarching theme while giving each story is own peculiarities and stylistic flair.
Such a good book. I'm going through Steinbeck's book chronologically after re-reading Of Mice and Men and realizing how much I like him. I just love the way he writes such poignant stories about the human experience, and how mundane life can be and the minutiae of it. Though sometimes, he sprinkles in that little sense of spirit that we all embody at times that gives us an air of purpose that would otherwise be overlooked.
"It was a week before the soldiery found [escaped Indians], but they were discovered at last practicing abominations in the bottom of a ferny canyon in which a stream flowed; that is, the twenty heretics were fast asleep in attitudes of abandon.
The outraged military seized them and in spite of their howlings attached them to a long slender chain. Then the column turned about and headed for Carmel again to give the poor neophytes a chance at repentance in the clay pits." - chapter I.
"When it was done, he asked the teacher to dismiss the school. The pupils filed quietly out, but, once in the air, their relief was too much for them. With howls and shrieks they did their best to kill each other by disembowelment and decapitation." - chapter VI.
"Most lives extend in a curve. There is a rise of ambition, a rounded peak of maturity, a gentle downward slope of disillusion and last a flattened grade of waiting for death. John Whiteside lived in a straight line." - chapter XI.
"They climbed stiffly from their seats and stood on the ridge peak and looked down into the Pastures of Heaven. And the air was as golden gauze in the last of the sun." - chapter XII.
Ah, Steinbeck's writing is a fine filigree of unparalleled beauty. This collection of interconnected short stories revolving about the residents of an idyllic Californian farmland covers a lot of literary ground. It gives us glimpses into family dramas, personal turmoil, thoughtful character study, and even a touch of Southern gothic. Multiple chapters have light elements of ghosts and fairies, be they literal or metaphorical, and those were my favourites. One can have lengthy conversations about the symbolical meaning of the Pastures, as its residents come and go looking for new beginnings, or running away from their past. Lovely collection!
The outraged military seized them and in spite of their howlings attached them to a long slender chain. Then the column turned about and headed for Carmel again to give the poor neophytes a chance at repentance in the clay pits." - chapter I.
"When it was done, he asked the teacher to dismiss the school. The pupils filed quietly out, but, once in the air, their relief was too much for them. With howls and shrieks they did their best to kill each other by disembowelment and decapitation." - chapter VI.
"Most lives extend in a curve. There is a rise of ambition, a rounded peak of maturity, a gentle downward slope of disillusion and last a flattened grade of waiting for death. John Whiteside lived in a straight line." - chapter XI.
"They climbed stiffly from their seats and stood on the ridge peak and looked down into the Pastures of Heaven. And the air was as golden gauze in the last of the sun." - chapter XII.
Ah, Steinbeck's writing is a fine filigree of unparalleled beauty. This collection of interconnected short stories revolving about the residents of an idyllic Californian farmland covers a lot of literary ground. It gives us glimpses into family dramas, personal turmoil, thoughtful character study, and even a touch of Southern gothic. Multiple chapters have light elements of ghosts and fairies, be they literal or metaphorical, and those were my favourites. One can have lengthy conversations about the symbolical meaning of the Pastures, as its residents come and go looking for new beginnings, or running away from their past. Lovely collection!
Can't get over how much I loved this book. Being his second published, you can begin to see the evolution of his stylistic character development, abrupt tragedies, easy love, sweet emotional men, and fierce laughing women... I won't stop reading Steinbeck until I've read them all. And I'm not sure what I will do when I've finished doing that.
emotional
medium-paced
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I really enjoyed this classic. Steinbeck writes so beautifully with just enough description to make you feel as if you are there. I would have preferred if he made a few main characters, kept with them, and then throughout the story, included others, versus several short stories with the same characters mingled in.
Overall, a very good read.
Overall, a very good read.
Although presented with numbers, instead of names, this book is a collection of short stories which all take place within a fertile valley in central California, for which the book is named. There are short "chapters" framing the stories. This structure makes it clear that Steinbeck intends the book to function as a kind of portrait of the valley. Moreover, the frame makes it clear that the valley is a paradise to outsiders, but not so much to the settlers.
Thus, the book is very much akin to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. I enjoyed it much more, and think, as a collection of stories, it stands up with the best I've read, including Daudet's Lettres de mon Moulin and the early Hemingway books like In Our Time. The stories have a very balanced tone, even though each story tends to have a bleak outcome. Despite that, they offer an engaging picture of humanity, and are create vivid characters in a very few strokes. There is also a fairly strong humor running through some of them.
I first read Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden by Steinbeck and, while I liked them, I think they are both kind of overblown and obvious. In short novels, like Of Mice and Men and Torilla Flat, I thought he was better, but engaged in something different. They are more a kind of deliberate myth making. Here, his aims are in some ways smaller, and yet I think this is the best thing of his that I've read. It makes me think I should give some other of his lesser known books a chance.
Thus, the book is very much akin to Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio. I enjoyed it much more, and think, as a collection of stories, it stands up with the best I've read, including Daudet's Lettres de mon Moulin and the early Hemingway books like In Our Time. The stories have a very balanced tone, even though each story tends to have a bleak outcome. Despite that, they offer an engaging picture of humanity, and are create vivid characters in a very few strokes. There is also a fairly strong humor running through some of them.
I first read Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden by Steinbeck and, while I liked them, I think they are both kind of overblown and obvious. In short novels, like Of Mice and Men and Torilla Flat, I thought he was better, but engaged in something different. They are more a kind of deliberate myth making. Here, his aims are in some ways smaller, and yet I think this is the best thing of his that I've read. It makes me think I should give some other of his lesser known books a chance.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced