AudioLingo 73: Junius Maltby
A straight read of Junius Maltby, one of my favorite short stories. It was written by John Steinbeck and included in The Pastures of Heaven, published in 1932 originally by Covici-Friede and subsequently by Viking and Bantam.
(Note: Not the typical ten minute podcast. This one runs about 49 minutes.)
March 30th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
I just read this story for the first time, and got curious about what critics thought of it. I read on Wikkipedia that Steinbeck considered it pointless! Like you, it touched me deeply, and I just loved his language and the small details about people that he noticed. Thanks for reading the story. I will share it with my 12-year old daughter. I had told her the story in the briefest terms, and that I felt sad at how wrong it was that Junius had to abandon his ranch and his happiness due to social disapproval. Thank you.
March 30th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Thank you, Sue. I was about your daughter’s age when I read the story. I think I can truly say it taught me compassion.
I’m sad to hear that Steinbeck considered it pointless. Something tells me he was a much older man when he said that. Maybe he thought his early work lacked the depth of his later work or maybe he just forgot the point. In any case, the story meant a lot to me and I’m glad it did to you as well.
July 9th, 2007 at 7:50 am
I read this story in college, and it carried me through into a career in education, I’m enough of a romantic to have modeled both my fatherhood and my teaching on Steinbeck’s portrayal of Maltby (his Mary Martin, in the same book, is another fascinating teacher study).
July 9th, 2007 at 10:36 am
All I can say is you picked a fine role model. Thanks for sharing.