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The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

Start date: April 1, 2019

Finish date: May 1, 2019

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What Members Thought

Jul 26, 2011 ☯Emily Ginder rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Everyone today should read this book. It is so applicable to today's economy and to people's views toward anyone different than themselves. It shows man's inhumanity to man. The selfishness and greed of the haves contrasts brilliantly with the sharing and caring of the have-nots. You can observe this attitude throughout today's society. In addition, Steinbeck shows that whenever the haves or farmers or anyone of means felt threatened, they called their perceived enemies names. Back then, they us ...more

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May 27, 2011 Ali rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, ap-english, high-school, rory-gilmore-book-challenge, classics

The only work I've ever read of Steinbeck before is The Pearl, which in a word was torture. So needless to say I did not want to read 600 pages worth of Steinbeck. But he isn't a bad writer. In fact he's an incredible writer. Something that I didn't realize back in eighth grade. It's just his plots... Well he always makes the worst that could happen, happen. And it's really depressing.

The book is setup that you know it's not going to be a happy read. The Joads are poor farmers from Oklahoma duri The only work I've ever read of Steinbeck before is The Pearl, which in a word was torture. So needless to say I did not want to read 600 pages worth of Steinbeck. But he isn't a bad writer. In fact he's an incredible writer. Something that I didn't realize back in eighth grade. It's just his plots... Well he always makes the worst that could happen, happen. And it's really depressing.

The book is setup that you know it's not going to be a happy read. The Joads are poor farmers from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. They're kicked off their farms and they travel to California in search of jobs. Yet California is not the land of milk and honey as they thought. Jobs are scarce, money is scarcer and slowly and slowly their family keeps falling apart. Typically when this is the plot of a novel, I am not inclined to read it.

However, there were certain parts of the book that I really liked. Every other chapter was written vaguely talking about all the migrant farmers and their experience as a whole, which reminds you that even though the Joads aren't real, there were actually people who experienced that poverty. Plus the writing was really beautiful in those chapters.

Then, the reason I gave this book a three rather than a two, was the character Ma. The mother of the family, she's actually an incredibly strongly written female character. She acts as emotional support to the whole family, but she eventually turns into the leader of the family. She's the one who gets them into California and keeps the remaining family together through all the trouble they face. Her character was so inspiring and I loved the way she was written. She could have been like any other mother character who's just their and the other characters just sort of take advantage of. Ala the mother in Native Son who was completely irritating and I wanted to punch her. I mean I liked her character but when I started writing my essay, I just went off on a complete tangent that made me realize I didn't altogether hate the book. I didn't love it, but it wasn't as bad as I had originally thought. ...more

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May 27, 2015 Henry Le Nav rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

With the flood of ink over the years regarding the Grapes of Wrath, I sort of regard my opinion about the book to be much on the order of Ma's reaction to Rosasharne's worries about sin:

“Rosasharn, you’re jest one person, an’ they’s a lot of other folks. You git to your proper place. I knowed people built theirself up with sin till they figgered they was big mean shucks in the sight a the Lord.’’
“But, Ma——’’
“No. Jes’ shut up an’ git to work. You ain’t big enough or mean enough to worry God much

...more

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Sep 10, 2010 Capsguy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: americant

I can see why this may be so highly esteemed among Americans. The work itself wasn't bad or anything like that, just I am somewhat unmoved by works set in The Great Depression as during my upbringing there was little mention of it other than it being 'bad' and a lead-up to WW II (and if so, almost always cited in foreign countries). If I had grown up in the US or was more well versed in America's history of white's settlement and the subsequent lack of workers/human rights especially during The ...more

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Feb 24, 2014 Marina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, in-love

Heartwrenching. Steinbeck made me see poverty in a new light. Feelings like outrage and despair are largely explored in the narrative, particularly during the expository chapters. An unforgettable read! Ps: And yes, that last paragraph? Talk about leaving the reader lost and unsatisfied. But after thinking better upon it... I think I get it. The breastfeeding means hope. Although it might seem a tragic ending, to me it was incredibly hopeful.

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