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"Krysantemum" handler om ???
"Den hvide
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"Morgenmåltid" handler om ???
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"Den hellige jomfru Katrine" handler om ???
"Den røde pony" handler om ???
" 1. Gaven" handler om ???
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A Penguin Classic First published in 1938, this volume of stories collected with the encouragement of his longtime editor Pascal Covici serves as a wonderful introduction to the work of Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck. Set in the beautiful Salinas Valley of California, where simple people farm the land and struggle to find a place for themselves in the world, these stories reflect Steinbeck's characteristic interests: the tensions between town and country, laborers and owners, past and present. Included here are the O. Henry Prize-winning story "The Murder"; "The Chrysanthemums," perhaps Steinbeck's most challenging story, both personally and artistically; "Flight," "The Snake," "The White Quail," and the classic tales of "The Red Pony." With an introduction and notes by John H. Timmerman. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.… (more)
User reviews
The Long Valley is even more loosely organized than The Pastures of Heaven. The commonality is the location--the Salinas Valley of California. In the thirteen stories that make up this work, only the final two have the same characters, The Red Pony and Leader of the People.
The Long Valley is a disturbing work, because in it, Steinbeck, who clearly loved the land, just as clearly reveals that while he does not sit in judgement, he is at best neutral towards his characters; there is nothing like the affection he has for Danny and his friends and the ne'er-do-wells like Mac and the boys of Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row, respectively. Almost without exception the people who live in the Long Valley are driven by loneliness, despair, fear, shame, or a grim sense of duty that seems to render any kind of happiness impossible. In his most famous story, The Red Pony, he extends that viewpoint towards children. Jody has the spirit of any small boy, but his parents, particularly his father, place severe restraints on the natural exuberance of childhood. We all know that children can be cruel, but Steinbeck turns that remorseless eye of his on the way that cruelty can be expressed in actions towards animals that are either tolerated or actually encouraged as a way of dealing with farm problems. In today's world, it's not pretty.
Concerned all his life with social justice issues, especially that of agricultural labor, The Raid is a continuation of the sort of story about Communist labor organizers that he pursued at much greater length in the novel In Dubious Battle and later in The Grapes of Wrath. However, as In Dubious Battle, the characters in The Raid are wooden--stereotypes that never really come to life, living a life of hard-to-believe idealism when faced with acknowledged insurmountable obstacles. They simply are not real.
I have a real quibble with the organization of the book. Whoever determined the order of the stories made the final impact anticlimactic, ending with Leader of the People instead of The Red Pony. The innocent Jody of the first story is not the emotionally battered, distrusting Jody of the end of The Red Pony. The entire work would have been greatly improved by reversing the order of the two stories.
This was not an easy read. It is one of Steinbeck's darker works, revealing underneath gorgeous descriptive prose of his beloved Salinas Valley a view of the people in it that is not the easy affection of the Monterey stories, but a very somber look at the dark underside of Paradise.
As with all collections, some stories were weaker than others. In particular, I wasn't a fan of “The Murder,” a story which seemingly justifies the abuse of a wife. Having never seen Steinbeck as a raging misogynist, I chalk this story up to an objective portrayal of the culture at the time. Other stories in this collection may imply I'm wrong, however. We'll leave it at that.
Certainly, Steinbeck was primarily a novelist. He wasn't a masterful short story writer, but that doesn't mean he couldn't write a short story. Obviously, he could. I enjoyed this collection despite its limitations. Steinbeck fans should definitely get around to reading this one. Others may just wish to stick with the more heavily anthologized stories (e.g. “The Chrysanthemums,” “Flight”).
The Chrysanthemums - a woman feels the limitations of her existence, the containment of her potential.
The White Quail - a wife extrapolates her sense of self upon her environment, to the exclusion of her husband.
Flight - a boy's path to maturity also leads him to his fate.
The Snake - a mysterious incident unsettles a laboratory technican's quiet mind. Reads like a prequel to 'Cannery Row'.
Breakfast - reads like the memory of a perfect moment when Steinbeck knew a feeling of deep peace. A story requires conflict but this vignette serves as the sharing of life's deepest mystery, inviting the search for answers.
The Raid - explores the psyche of Communists who strive to meet in secret and take a beating for their effort.
The Harness - when a man's overbearing wife dies, he is freed of the rules she imposed. Maybe.
The Vigilante - a man participating in a lynch mob doesn't recognize guilt when he feels it.
Johnny Bear - an autistic savant mentally records private conversations to earn whiskey. This was my favourite story in this collection, minus that clunker of a final line. No subtlety.
The Murder - a wife becomes increasingly viewed like a farm animal, to be trained and managed to properly fulfil its role. An opportunity to turn this around is lost.
Lots to enjoy in this collection, and quite a bit of diversity in topics! "The Red Pony", is of course, the jewel of this book, and should be read by everyone, often! "The Snake" and "Johnny Bear" are creepy and bordering on a Twilight Zone type of
I really enjoyed reading this slowly, and took my time letting each story soak in. Very glad that I did!
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Omslaget viser en lang vej ude i et amerikansk landbrugsområde
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Long Valley" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Chrysanthemums" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The White Quail" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "Flight" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Snake" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "Breakfast" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Raid" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Harness" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Vigilante" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "Johnny Bear" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Murder" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "Saint Katy the Virgin" af Sigvard Lund
Oversat fra amerikansk "The Red Pony" af Sigvard Lund
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Pages
DDC/MDS
813.52 |