The Chrysanthemums and Other Stories

by John Steinbeck

great book

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Literature, American

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Adem Yüce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu kitap Steinbeck'in az sayıda kaleme aldığı kısa öykülerin altı tanesini içeriyor. Edebiyatta fantezinin ağırlık kazandığı bir dönemde düz anlatımı, gerçekliği yüceltmiş olan güçlü bir yazardır. Kısa hikâyelerinde de ince ayrıntılarla karakter tasvirini unutamayacak kadar canlı tutmaya başarmıştır. Kitabın baskıları tükenmiş halbuki hala olması gereken güzel bir öykü kitabı.
🍁
"Hiç dikmesini bilen eller diye bir şey duydun mu?"
"Duydum diyemem bayan."
"Bak, insanın ne hissettiğini anlatayım sana. Tomurcukları ayıklarken olur bu. Bütün iş parmaklarının ucundadır. Sen sadece bakarsın onlara. Kendi kendilerine işler parmakların. Açıkça hissedersin bunu. Tomurcukları ayıklar, ayıklarlar. Hiç yanılmazlar onlar. Çiçeklerle karışır, çiçeklerle bir olurlar. Anlıyor musun? Senin parmaklarınla çiçekler. Kollarında hissedersin bunu. Onlar ne 
yapacaklarını bilirler, hiç yarılmaz onlar. Açıkça hissedersin bunu. Bir kere bu hale geldin mi, yanlış bir iş yapamazsın artık. Bilmem anlıyor musun? Anladın mı ne demek istediğimi?» Çömeldiği yerden adama bakmaktaydı. Göğsü hızlı hızlı inip kalkıyordu. .
Adamın gözleri kısıldı. Uzaklara baktı. Bile bile yapmıştı bu hareketi. «Belki anlıyorum.» dedi. «Bazı geceler, arabada ... » 
Bir yavru köpek gibi büzüldü, ,Adam: «Gerçekten güzeldir,» dedi. «Tıpkı anlattığın 'gibi. Ama karnı aç oldu mu insanın, hiç tadı kalmaz.» (Kasımpatları adlı öyküden)

[Richa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a melancholic book! A constant reminder of Cormac Mccarthy's books....sadness, violence, bleakness. But then Steinbeck is Steinbeck.

[Soma · Rating 2 out of 5]

خیلی کند گذشت.

[Fateo Aras · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب مجموعه‌ای از چند داستان کوتاه بود به قلم استاین‌بک. از ایشون فقط #ماه_پنهان_است و چند صفحه‌ای هم از خوشه‌های خشم خونده بودم. خیلی از ماه پنهان است متفاوت بود چون بنای این داستان‌ها بر توصیف‌های دلچسب بود تا اتفاق‌های مهم! هرچند داستان‌هایی هم داشت که با اتفاق‌ها همراه بودن.

برای من، داستان‌های بلدرچین سفید و قتل جالب‌تر بودن نسبت به باقی!
ولی نمی‌دونم کی قراره ترغیب به ادامه‌ی خوندن خوشه‌های خشم بشم.

[Nicholas Kinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flight: boring, sometimes interesting
The Murder: great, very dated, but chilling and good. Might adapt this one we shall see.
The Chrysanthemums: meh. Not really much to say.

[Alyssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure if these stories are typical Steinbeck, but I was not impressed. They seemed more like sketches than actual stories. Also didn't understand why people spoke so strangely (Pepe's mother with her "thee" and "thy"). Perhaps I'm just ignorant about Steinbeck? Feel free to help me out if you can clue me in!

[Terry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Making my way through a stack of the "Penguin 60s," nice, little square paperbacks they put out for 95 cents during Penguin's 60th anniversary in 1995.

Interesting to me for their California settings, these stories haven't aged particularly well.

[Kathryn Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a small book, so a nice quick read. I love Steinbeck’s descriptions and he has a great way with pulling you into a world. The symbolism within each story brings me pause and has me thinking back to the short-stories for a much longer time than it took to read.

[Sania · Rating 5 out of 5]

"تو مگه خودت وقتی برای چیزی دعا می‌کنی همون لحظه گیرت می‌آد؟ نه خیرم. بعضی وقت‌ها کلی منتظرش می‌مونی و حتی گاهی اصلا بهش نمی‌رسی. من تاحالا هزارویه چیز از خدا خواسته‌ام و رنگشون هم ندیده‌ام. چرا نذاری یه بار هم خدا یک هفته واسه پنج‌سنتی‌ش صبر کنه؟"

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good tough tales in here, that my dad also liked, but I can't remember much about it.

[Lyndi McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all of Steinbeck's stories!

[Tammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wavering between a 2 and 3. Well written but depressing short stories.

[Elizabeth]

kind of awful ngl!!!!!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories!

[Parsa.Hs · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 تا داستان دلبر از جان استاین بک.... ترجمه نیاز به تعریف ندارد

[Ardalan Safdarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

خوش‌خوان !
مناسب برای هدیه دادن ‌دعوت به کسانی‌ که کمتر کتاب می‌خوانند
داستان ابتدا و انتها را از همه بیشتر پسندیدم

[Rowland Pasaribu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Importance of Sexual Fulfillment

Steinbeck displays an extraordinary ability to delve into the complexities of a woman’s consciousness. “The Chrysanthemums” is told in the third person, but the narration is presented almost entirely from Elisa’s point of view. After the first few paragraphs that set the scene, Steinbeck shrugs off omniscience and refuses to stray from Elisa’s head. This technique allows him to examine her psyche and show us the world through her eyes. We are put in her shoes and experience her frustrations and feelings. Because she doesn’t know what Henry is discussing with the men in suits who come to the ranch, we don’t know either. Because she sees the tinker as a handsome man, we do too. Because she watches his lips while he fixes her pots, we watch them with her. As a result, we understand more about her longings and character by the end of the story than her husband does.


Steinbeck’s portrayal of Elisa seems even more remarkable considering that he wrote the story in 1938, when traditional notions of women and their abilities persisted in America. Many men unthinkingly accepted the conventional wisdom that working husbands and a decent amount of money were the only things women needed. Considered in this light, Steinbeck’s sympathy and understanding for women are almost shockingly modern. On the face of it, Elisa seems to invite the disapproval of traditional men: she is overtly sexual, impatient with her husband, and dissatisfied with her life. Yet Steinbeck never condemns her and instead portrays the waste of her talent, energy, and ambition as a tragedy. Instead of asking us to judge Elisa harshly, he invites us to understand why she acts the way she does. As a result, his attitude toward her is more characteristic of a modern-day feminist than of a mid-twentieth-century male writer.

Steinbeck argues that the need for sexual fulfillment is incredibly powerful and that the pursuit of it can cause people to act in irrational ways. Elisa and Henry have a functional but passionless marriage and seem to treat each other more as siblings or friends than spouses. Elisa is a robust woman associated with fertility and sexuality but has no children, hinting at the nonsexual nature of her relationship with Henry. Despite the fact that her marriage doesn’t meet her needs, Elisa remains a sexual person, a quality that Steinbeck portrays as normal and desirable. As a result of her frustrated desires, Elisa’s attraction to the tinker is frighteningly powerful and uncontrollable. When she speaks to him about looking at the stars at night, for example, her language is forward, nearly pornographic. She kneels before him in a posture of sexual submission, reaching out toward him and looking, as the narrator puts it, “like a fawning dog.” In essence, she puts herself at the mercy of a complete stranger. The aftermath of Elisa’s powerful attraction is perhaps even more damaging than the attraction itself. Her sexuality, forced to lie dormant for so long, overwhelms her and crushes her spirit after springing to life so suddenly.

[Serena · Rating 5 out of 5]

* As I've just finished "The Chrysanthemums", the below review is dedicated to "The Chrysanthemums" only.

Filled with metaphors and symbolism, "The Chrysanthemums" is an overwhelmingly realistic portrayal of a woman's struggles in a patriarchal world where intelligent women are sadly overlooked. With simple, narrative language, Steinbeck brings Elisa to life - a middle-aged woman married to a man who has absolutely no understanding of what she needs.

Throughout the text, it is apparent to readers that Elisa seems to be at conflict with herself. During the first scene when she is first introduced, she is gardening as she wears her "gardening costume" which completely masks her femininity. It is ironic that gardening, an activity often associated with domestic femininity, is significant in highlighting Elisa's masculinity.

However, as the tinker arrives to the scene, it seems that Elisa's character takes a sudden shift. No longer an angular, masculine figure, Elisa is now revealed as a feminine, attractive figure, as represented by her physical change as she takes off her gloves, "tore off the battered hat and shook out her dark pretty hair". Kneeling on the ground in front of the tinker, Elisa is in a sexually submissive position, which underlines to readers the alienation and loneliness she suffers. Her use of blatantly sexual language and position to a mere stranger stresses the vulnerability of Elisa, who is desperate to find her equal. This makes the tinker's brash, direct refusal more damaging to Elisa's feelings and needs.

In response to the tinker's refusal, Elisa tries to show him another side of herself - her witty, strong side, as she banters almost playfully with the tinker. She even gives a part of herself, the chrysanthemums, to the tinker. Similarly, after the tinker leaves, Elisa once again shows a pretty, feminine side to Henry, her husband. Instead of some heartfelt, articulate sentiment of appreciation, Henry comments to Elisa's transformation with a mere "so nice!", indirectly turning down her feminine side. This contrasts with the later scene when Elisa sees that the tinker, the one she holds so much hope and expectations for, has thrown away the pot of chrysanthemums, just as her own husband does.

Hence, Elisa's multiple, conflicting characters is vital in emphasizing her tragic isolation. Both her feminine side and masculine side have been turned down by the male characters in the text, starkly bringing light to Elisa's destroyed hopes, which is symbolized by the abandoned chrysanthemums.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I only read "The Chrysanthemums" (not the other stories pertained to this book), this was a wonderful read. I read the story for my Intro to Lit class, and at first didn't not grasp the symbolism, until I did my own research. After then re-reading the story once more, and re-thinking about it, the story itself finally hit me.

Elisa, I felt was deprived as a woman. Sure, this could be considered a feminist story, but I felt like it was a story about a woman who wasn't so happy with herself and gained confidence within her work by a different (non-married) man's point of view.

Henry, might have never understood Elisa's true feelings towards herself and their own relationship. As a result, perhaps at their dinner, he could have noticed something different about her sudden decline from confidence to self-doubt. But as an average man of this time period, we can sagely say it might or might have not occurred.

So, I give this short story 4 out of 5 stars. It didn't not win my favor over improving Elisa, but it shows some happiness can be achieved and lost all together.

[Jennifer M. Hartsock · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t catch the symbolisms at first, but skimming back over the story I was able to see better connections than before. I didn’t really enjoy the story, but it does hold symbolism and therefore fits the chapter.

Elisa seems like she’s uninterested in her husband, and seems to keep more to herself and her flowers. She meets a man who stops by who’s trying to sell pots. She becomes more “sensual”, describing how to plant the flowers in a sensual way. She also almost grabs his ankle, which shows she’s perhaps not sexually satisfied with her husband. The man doesn’t keep the flowers, but tosses them onto the side of the road as if what she loves most is meaningless. Elisa finishes off the night with wine and crying, a combination of escaping reality and being sad over it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only read "The Chrysanthemums" but what a sad and powerful story. A person can give you confidence and just as quickly snatch it away. You have to develop confidence in yourself. I think the story is so poignant because the protagonist, Elise, is looking for assurances from her husband and the "repair man". Her physical and emotional isolation leaves her very uncertain yet she has this ability to grow and nurture chrysanthemums. Steinbeck's genius with short stories is very evident in this one. He is able to write from a woman's point of view and he is able to use the symbol of the flower in a very memorable way. This is a story that will stick with me much like "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

[laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? Reading Steinback is like taking a step backwards at least 100 years into the last century. I thoroughly enjoyed these rugged little tales.
"The Murder" in particular provided a bleak reminder of the social progress women have accomplished in the United States. Steinback cleverly juxtaposes the loss of cattle to the loss of a wife. Strange. Women were actually property at one time. True to the classic double standards and the socially constructed norm of the time, the harsh dry reality of Western American living burns through these time-worn pages of tradition.

[Chiyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how everything was so visual and tied to nature. "Johnny Bear" was probably my favorite. Or it was the most memorable. "The Breakfast" was also really nice. I wanted to be there and taste that food...

[Kat Ioannides · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Steinbeck isn't considered an author of strong literary merit- by no means on par with Falkner and Hemingway; but i love his writing. Maybe when I age i'll see the flaws i've read so much about, but i really enjoy this author, despite critiques. Chrysanthemums was a stand out- brilliant.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Salinas valley, the kindness involved in tending an unusal flower, and the love towards a stranger which however is not appreciated. A cycle like a growing plant with a vine of feelings and movement. Bathing in the pale sunshine.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I oddly enjoy Steinbeck's short works moreso than his longer works of fiction. Heck, I even liked his non-fiction better than his novels. So who am I to judge? Well, I am and I judge this 5 stars. Excellent contributions to the American canon and to short fiction.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once in a while you read a book or short story that you never forget. The Chrysanthemums was one of those short stories. I read it at least 10 years ago and I've never forgotten it.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

only read Chrysanthemums

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Steinbeck's work at all, you'll love his short stories even more. The symbols he uses and characters he paints are perfect!

[Marnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Chrysanthemums" is another of my all-time favorite stories.