John Steinbeck

James Nagel

These interconnected tales are devoted to a family living in a fertile valley in California, and the effects that one particular family has on them all. Two traditions are present: American naturalism (natural instincts versus conforming to society's norms) and the short story cycle.

The Pastures of Heaven

Wynter

"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!

A.L.L.

I was greatly entertained and my love of Steinbeck can definitely be attributed, at least in part, to this short story collection.

The Pastures of Heaven

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