The Long Valley

The Long Valley completes my research for Nanowrimo and my participation in the Armchair Challenge. I am so glad I bothered to find a first edition; I loved the book and plan to hold onto it and reread it often. With the exception of the very silly "St Katy the Virgin" about a reformed pig who can perform miracles, all of the stories take place in the Salinas Valley and in the "present day" (1930s Depression). The book also includes the well known novella, "The Red Pony" which is often times now taught as a separate book; I had to read it in 5th or 6th grade. Some of the stories are merely snippets, sketches of a moment: a breakfast shared, a snake spared, and so forth. Others are more elaborate and have elements of magical realism: a woman thinks she's a quail, a man is haunted by his nagging wife, an village idiot recounts the events before a suicide and so forth. All together these stories paint a picture of the Salinas area: its people, its geography, its culture, its beliefs, its sins and its dreams. If you want to learn about this area of California, start with this book.

Not a whole lot to say on this. I read it over a longish period, so I don’t remember every detail I liked and didn’t like, but I’ll do my best. I’ll start off by saying the writing was fantastic . The descriptions of virtually everything—especially the classic dreamy Californian countryside, which is typical of Steinbeck— are outstandingly beautiful and so vividly written that I could almost see the scenes described. It was like poetry on every page(not every page, but you get the idea). The book has the sort of “wholesome” feel to it that I have loved in his other novels I have read, but To A God Unknown (TAGU) does something different than the other Steinbeck I have read (only 3 others, but still.) TAGU, unlike the others, has got some plot twists (maybe someone else would just call them surprising moments, but I think they’re twists).They are blunt, sudden, and inconsiderate of our feelings as readers, which did annoy me a little, but I think it was probably essential for the meaning of the story to shine through. Also, Steinbeck works some funky symbolism in this book. Maybe funky isn’t the best way to describe it, but in this book, the symbolism is sort of blatant, yet also not. It was clear to me there was something being symbolized at parts, but I couldn’t quite tell what. Without typing every thought I had, I think a big theme was about man’s connection to the earth, and I think other things are symbolized, but I will probably not see them until I reread it once or twice( if I do:) One thing that I thought was interesting in TAGU was how it played with religion and one’s perception of God. Overall, I thought this was a good book that got bumped up to 4 stars because of the writing style that was extra nice to read and I am glad I read it although it took me longer that I would have like to finish it:)Btw This book was recommended before reading the east of eden to introduce some of the themes present in that book, so I’m hoping to read the grapes of wrath, east of eden, etc soon! I guess I had more to say than I thought...

I really want to give To a God Unknown more that three stars, because it's more than an average kind of novel. I wouldn't call it boring in places, but rather "trying". It requires patience and a blind belief from the reader that in the end this slow, seemingly pointless plot will pay off. And that's a lot to ask from a reader. I do trust John Steinbeck, so I stuck around until the end. I'm glad I did. There is nothing shocking or impactful that happens in the finale, but after turning the last page I still feel rewarded. Such is the power of quiet novels. This is a story of a man who felt connected to the land he owned to the point where his deeply religious brother accused him of pagan worship. This man was a rock for his family, but not emotionally part of it. His greatest fear was the cessation of the fountain of life all around him, while not really taking part in the society. In the end he became part of the land. How? You'll have to find out. Man, I really want to give it at least another half star.

One of my favorites from Steinbeck. The humanity and the humor bring much delight.

It's an odd book. The characters are interesting, definitely not the types of characters one is used to encountering often. The story of why and how this book was written helped me appreciate it a little more.

Eerie, foreboding, dark, grand.

A book so full of imagery and sufficiently portrays a man’s hidden emotions and pulls him away from the stoic, masculine stereotype.

I’ve never read a book so aggressively mediocre