Short stories that give you a vignette glimpse into life in the West and always leave you wanting more. They fade out just as you want to see what happens next. Steinbeck was an incredibly gifted writer who knew how to craft a character and a scene. Lovely!

A collection of 13 short stories including The Red Pony. A good, quick read, although some of his stories really make me say "mmm?"

3.9 stars

I feel bad for books that I read during my slump because for a book with only 122 pages, it took me almost a whole month to finish it. I break the rating for the short stories as follows:
1. The Raid: 2 stars. I dont know exactly what I was reading
2. Breakfast: 5 stars. This is just short & pure delight
3. The Murder: 4 stars. Gruesome in a way
4. Flight: 4 stars. Love the details and the fear of lonesomeness it evoke
5. The Leader of the People: 5 stars. This is closes to real life as it gets
6. The Snake: 4 stars. Another one that make me scared but not knowing what the source of the feeling
7. The Harness: 3 stars. I hate one line of the writing when the author introduced the couple.

Spoiler

"Emma had no children." the singleness that the fault of not able to bare a child fall on to a woman, when it takes two to 'tango'. He should say that THEY had no children because Peter had no prior marriage and also had no children.

8. Molly Morgan: 3 stars. I gasped out loud reading this one. Yes, OUT LOUD!

I wont deny it, I love Steinbeck's writing. Would read more of his books soon!

The white quail was my favorite story

In contrast to my bogged-down struggles in Confessions, I raced through The Long Valley by Steinbeck in record time. All of the short(ish) stories in the collection take place in the Salinas Valley, where Steinbeck grew up and where he sets most of his tales, but they’re otherwise unconnected. “The Red Pony” is among this collection, and I distinctly remember picking that book up as a horse-crazy kid. I put it back on the shelf without reading it, for some reason, which is something I never did–I read every other horse book I found in the library. I’m so glad I left it there now. That story is NOT for children, especially ones who adore horses. I love Steinbeck with what probably amounts to an unhealthy passion today, even as I recognize that reading him at the wrong age would probably ruin a person for life. A year or so ago I remember overhearing a man in a bookstore proudly say that his 6th grader nephew had worked his way through all of Steinbeck. At the time I hadn’t read enough Steinbeck to know what that meant. Is it too late to time-travel back and save that kid’s innocence?

short story collections siger mig aldrig som i vitterligt aldrig noget & steinbeck im sry bae du kan ik skrive kvinder but i forgive u<3

I think I especially appreciate Steinbeck while surrounded by these diverse California Oaks.