John SteinbeckThe Long ValleyBook-of-the-Month Club, Hardback, 1995. 8vo. 303 pp. First published, 1938.Contents*The Chrysanthemums [October 1937, Harper’s Magazine]The White Quail [March 1935, North American Review]FlightThe Snake [June 22, 1935, Monterey Beacon]Breakfast [November 9, 1936, Pacific Weekly]The Raid [October 1934, North American Review]The Harness [June 1938, Atlantic Monthly]The Vigilante [October 1936, Esquire, as “The Lonesome Vigilante”]Johnny Bear [September 1937, Esquire, “The Ears of Johnny Bear”]The Murder [April 1934, North American Review]Saint Katy the Virgin [1936, New York: Covici-Friede]The Red Pony:I.tThe Gift [November 1933, North American Review]II.tThe Great Mountains [December 1933, North American Review]III.tThe Promise [May 1937, Harper’s Magazine]Leader of the People [August 1936, Argosy]*In square brackets, details of the first publication. “Flight” was first published in this collection. ===================================================Four of the fifteen stories in this collection (“The Chrysanthemums”, “The Murder”, “The Harness” and “The Gift”) I had known from anthologies. I have nothing more to say about them except that I found them even more compelling studies of monotonous existence and lost youth (“The Chrysanthemums”), the ultimate bondage of marriage (“The Harness”), homicide as the road to marital happiness (“The Murder”), and childhood sensitivity, parental callousness and equine psychology (“The Gift”) than when I read them for the first time. The other eleven stories were all new experiences. Some of them didn’t leave much of a trace. “Flight” starts off well as an unconventional coming-of-age tale but wears out its welcome very quickly; the “flight” itself is much too long and not terribly exciting. “The White Quail” is a subtle portrait of a woman with overactive imagination and fetish for gardens, but I found the ending incomprehensible enough to ruin the whole story. If you know why the husband did what he did, please let me know too. “The Breakfast” is not a story but a sketch for one. Even with the benefit of some background about the working conditions of cotton pickers in California of the 1930s, the “story” remains too slight to be engaging. The bizarre plot of “The Snake”, as Steinbeck admitted himself[1], was firmly based on a real story. The rather crude hints about “sexual symbolism” towards the end do nothing to elevate the piece. Many readers may also find the details about animal experiments very unpleasant.None of these stories is unreadable or tedious. All of them are written with exquisite simplicity and deal, or attempt to deal, with deeper issues than mere entertainment. All of them, however, give me the impression of first drafts that were never fleshed out. The rest of the stories, seven pieces altogether, are a mixed bag, too, but on the whole they are worthier to stand besides the quartet that made it to anthologies.The whole thing.
I came to John Steinbeck's The Long Valley in the heels of his excellent novella, The Moon is Down. Not having read any of Steinbeck's writing for years, there was just something soothing about his prose that made me reach for another work of his. I must say that I was not disappointed. The Long Valley is a collection of ten short stories, published in 1938. The stories are: The ChrysanthemumsThe White QuailFlightThe SnakeBreakfastThe RaidThe HarnessThe VigilanteJohnny BearThe MurderAt 186 pages, it provides a healthy dose of variety, and a nice sampler of what Steinbeck, as a writer, was capable of. Those familiar with Steinbeck's writing will discover some familiar subjects and locations, especially the rolling California countryside where a lot of his work is set. Yet, while Steinbeck is undoubtedly famous for his work featuring the underdogs, and the out of luck characters he has become well know for, this collection of short stories explores a slightly darker side of his writing, one I was unaware of until now. The stories here are often dark in nature (not that Of Mice and Men was a cheerful tale by any means), and explore some darker thoughts inside the seemingly simple characters. There are stories of abuse, of murder, of revenge . . .Steinbeck is a master of fluid prose. His narratives effortlessly flow from one character to the next, from a city setting to the farming communities settled among the hills and valleys. He visits hard-working farmers, devoted wives, immigrants, traveling hobos, and passionate gardeners. A cast of characters one would encounter without giving them much thought. Yet, each one of them has an inner turmoil—at times subtle, and at time prominent—that adds a different dimension to each and every one of them. This dimension weaves in and out of the narrative, and can be overlooked unless the reader pays attention. Steinbeck's prose flows and flows, like a smooth stream where the rocks beneath the surface are hardly perceptible yet you are fully aware of their existence if you keep your eyes open. And these rocks, the dirty secrets and dark thoughts of the characters are what makes this collection worth reading. Unlike in our contemporary works where violence, instability, and inner turmoil are 'in your face' to the point of dominating the story, Steinbeck's portrayal is subtle and almost nonchalant. It requires an active participation of the reader, as do most intelligent works. Recommended for fans of Steinbeck, and for those who appreciate fine, timeless writing.
What do You think about The Long Valley (2011)?
" Molly, annesi öldüğü zaman ancak utanmıştı. Annesi halbuki hep yaşarken sevilmek isterdi, ama kendisini sevdirmesini bir türlü bilmezdi. Yapışkanlığı çocukları bezdirmiş, kendinden soğutmuştu..." Kitabın İçinde yedi hikaye vardı. Çok canlı konular , gerçekçi , ilginç karakterler içeriyordu. En sevdiğim hikaye, Bir Köy Öğretmeni isimli hikaye oldu. Moly 'nin hikayesinden çok etkilendim. Moly yoksul bir çocukluk geçiriyor. Çok yaramaz iki erkek kardeş, eve çok az uğrayan bir baba ve çocukların i
—Peri Kitapları
This is our next selection for Thursday, and I'm excited. I love this book so much, both for the depiction of setting and for the characterization. I have a feeling it'll go over well; the students loved both IN OUR TIME and THE OLD ORDER, and Steinbeck has many of the same characteristics. I've already expressed my feelings for "The Red Pony" here, but there's also the classic "The Chrysanthemums" (which I adore even if I can't always spell the title correctly), the underappreciated "Flight," the Freudian "The Snake," and the proletariat "The Raid." The stories are taut and (for a modernist) heavily plotted, but there is a beauty in the style that Steinbeck doesn't always get credit for. I was fortunate enough to tour many of the sites in these stories last August when I was invited to speak at a Steinbeck conference, and I admired Steinbeck's fidelity to the landscape.
—Kirk
I bought this book in October in Berkeley at Pegasus Books with "Cup Of Gold" and "America And Americans"The Long Valley is a collection of short stories from Steinbeck that he began writing with The Pastures of Heaven and To A God Unknown, but didn't publish as a collection until 1938. Included in The Long Valley are the stories "Saint Katy The Virgin" and "The Red Pony" which have are two of his most popular short stories and were published on their own outside of this volume, as well.Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories, which apart from "Saint Katy The Virgin" all take place in Salinas or Monterey and further illustrate the great descriptive storytelling of Steinbeck and the people he knew best. A few of the stories even have female main characters, which is something seldom seen from Steinbeck and offers a new perspective on his work. Many of the stories seem to end suddenly, without a whole lot of the moral structure stories are supposed to have, which may upset some people, leaving the stories open, but for me, this is why Steinbeck is great. His stories don't have to have huge climaxes and resolutions, and throughout the The Long Valley, he is illustrating everyday life for the people of the valley, just giving us a real, human glimpse into the life at the time. It's real, and it comes off that way.
—Andy
