读过 The Long Valley 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕
一个短篇集，基本全都设定在Salinas Valley，理论上今年已经读了好几本斯坦贝克，但是作者实在是过于versatle，直到现在还是每读一本都像认识了一个新作者……短篇就更是这种感觉……斯坦贝克的短篇信息量很大，许多隐喻和暗指，用很短的时间塑造出特点鲜明的人物（有一些明显符号性的人物，也有一些弧光非常完整的），更多时候话里有话，每个短篇都足够让你脑补出很长一段背后的故事。
印象最深的是The Flight，拉美裔男主从一个刚刚成年、自认为已是成人却仍旧不谙世事的男孩，突然一夜之间变成了真正意义上的男孩，只因失手杀了一个歧视他的白男，母亲亲眼目睹儿子的变化，深知对他而言死亡已无可避免，只能送他连夜出逃，并嘱咐他不要像禽兽一样死去……在极短的篇幅里，一夜长大成人的Pepe又在荒野逃亡中变成了一只匍匐前进、仅为生存挣扎的野兽，但当他终究无法逃脱寻仇的人的枪口，Pepe终于挺身站起，在死前重新做回了人……斯坦贝克的用词凝练又饱含深意，字里行间暗示着人物的命运，尤其在野外逃亡的Pepe逐步剥离了社会性、由人变为野兽的表述展现了作者对文字极为强大的控制力。
还有很喜欢的是菊花、白鹌鹑和Johnny Bear，这三篇里形形色色的女性，都在男性主导的社会边缘寻求认可最终幻想破灭。
小红马是最长的一篇，本质上是个coming of age的故事，主角生活中的几匹马，性格泼辣却猝然离世的小红马、年老体弱的老马、怀孕难产的母马，都有着鲜明的象征意味，成了无法预知难以掌控的生活中的一环。
这本几乎是每个故事听完都直接重听一遍……斯坦贝克永远不会让我失望
The Long Valley [Book] Google Books
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.
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.