In 1776, a Spanish Corporal, separated from his troops in the mountains beyond the northern Californian Carmelo Mission, peaks a ridge on horseback. Awestruck by the lush, untouched valley he sees below, he whispers, "Holy Mother! Here are the green pastures of heaven to which our lord leadeth us!." So begins John Steinbeck's 1932 collection of stories The Pastures of Heaven.
Steinbeck Finds His Subject: California
Best known for his novels, like Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and the depression era classic The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck was one of only a very few writers to be awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for literature. In his 40 year career, he wrote more than 30 books, the majority of them set in his native California. The Pastures of Heaven, his second book, is considered the one in which Steinbeck "found" the subject matter --the people of the Salinas valley-- on which he would elaborate for the rest of his life.
Intertwined Stories Focus On Ten Families in the 1920's
Reading more like a novel than a collection of stories, The Pastures of Heaven is a series of 12 intertwined short stories, known as a story cycle, a genre older than the novel. The stories are generally held together by a common thread running throughout, but can be read as single stories unto themselves. In The Pastures of Heaven the thread is the valley/town of the title, in which ten families coexist.
Using a chronological structure, but staying within the years of 1928-29, Steinbeck examines each of the families with a story, commenting on themes that will appear in many of his later novels: societal interaction, economic struggles, the natural vs. "civilized", and religion, among others. Never, however, are these themes overtly thrust upon the reader, but rather "suggested" through strong characterization and just good story-telling.
Strong Characterization A Hallmark of Steinbeck's Fiction
Another unifying element, or thread is the recurring character of Bert Munroe, a respected citizen of the valley and the only character to appear in all of the central ten stories. This early work of Steinbeck's gives a glimpse of what will become one of his major strengths, that of inventing memorably unique characters.
Two examples from The Pastures of Heaven are Tularecito, or "little frog", a physically deformed, retarded boy with wonderous artistic gifts, and the Lopez sisters, whose "enchiladas"are known beyond the valley because of the special "service" given to regular customers. Well-wrought, touching (and touched) characters like these will go on to people most of John Steinbeck's fiction, but they first appear here.
Following the short prologue story introducing the valley, and the ten core stories about its dwellers, Steinbeck cleverly ends with an epilogue that serves to "envelope" the entire collection. Mirroring the prologue, which takes place long before action of the book, the epilogue fast-forwards to the future, as a group of modern-day tourists on a bus view the valley from above, just as the corporal did 200 years earlier. Their awe is from a different mindset, but of a similar nature.
While John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven may not have received the critical or popular attention that many of his later works did, it is an important link in the Steinbeck canon. Like many other of his lesser-known works, it could arguably be called a mini-masterpiece in its own right.
Steinbeck, John. The Pastures of Heaven, (1932) New Edition 1982 Penguin Books 205 pgs.
(ISBN #: 0-14-01.8748 0)
Dale Van Every - Dale Van Every is a freelance and fiction writer living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He earned his Masters Degree in English Literature from ...
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