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A review by duffypratt
De himmelske græsgange & Den lange dal by John Steinbeck
5.0
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.