‘The Pastures of Heaven’, linked stories, by John Steinbeck   (1932)  201 pages

John Steinbeck put together ‘The Pastures of Heaven’, this collection of linked stories about a rural area of central California, while still a nearly unknown writer. However his situation changed rapidly within a few years with the publication of the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ in 1937 and the full-scale novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ in 1939.

With this collection, Steinbeck was still developing his talent as a fiction writer. I found the early stories to be more sketches, although quite interesting sketches, rather than fully developed stories. For me, Steinbeck does not really come into his own until more than half way through this collection, until Chapter 8, which is the story of Molly Morgan. Abandoned by her good-natured entertaining alcoholic father at age twelve, Molly is hired as the teacher in the Pastures of Heaven grade school after a job interview. Molly soon becomes an integral member of the community. She still misses her father, but when a drunken man matching his description shows up in a nearby town she is agonized.

In all of these sketches and stories, Steinbeck finds redemption in even the sorriest of human creatures. He is accepting of all kinds of behavior as long as people mind their own business and do not interfere in other people’s lives. A generosity of spirit permeates these sketches and stories.

John Steinbeck, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962, is often described as a writer of the naturalism school rather than of the realism school. Emile Zola is considered the founder of naturalism. Whereas realism seeks only to describe subjects as they really are, naturalism attempts to determine the underlying forces influencing the actions of the subjects. Today, realism has seemed to have won out over naturalism as writers are most concerned with accurate descriptions of behavior rather than root causes for it.

The real Pastures of Heaven

For readers new to John Steinbeck, I would certainly recommend you read his two masterpieces, the novella ‘Of Mice and Men’ and the novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ first, and then perhaps read other of his work – perhaps ‘Cannery Row’ or ‘Tortilla Flat’ or the novella ‘The Red Pony’. ‘The Pastures of ‘Heaven’ I would save until you are fully immersed in Steinbeck.

Grade: B-