Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Grapes of Wrath

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

12 reviews

pbeeandj's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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hannahsutherland's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

This is a piece of history. You can tell that the social issues portrayed in the book were really close to Steinbeck's heart. His passion comes through very clearly. Alternating chapters between the main narrative and more informative chapters made this book very informative.

At first I found the book slow and it took me a little while to connect with the characters, but once I did, I was sucked in.

At first I felt like the book ended quite suddenly, but the more I think about it, the more the ending makes sense.

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kristiniad's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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traingossip's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

favourite book. An excellent look at the great depression which alternates between a close up journey of a family, as they try to survive the economic and social hardship of the dust bowl, and sermons, which contextualise the events and systems experienced by the characters in the broader societal and economic structures that enforces these. How anyone can read the deeply passionate and empathetic words of Steinbeck and not be affected is beyond me.

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signeskov's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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another_dahlia's review

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 🍇
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

🍇 The plot: When Tom Joad is released from prison and returns to his family's farm in Oklahoma, it is to find them packing up to move west. The 1930s Dust Bowl crisis has decimated their land and the corporate farmers who own it are driving them out, toward the too-good-to-be-true promise of prosperity in California. The trials and tribulations of the Joads' journey mirrors the broader story of workers at this point in the development of modern capitalism.

If you'd have told me when I'd just started this book and read a whole chapter about corn that this would turn out to be a five star read, I wouldn't have believed you. There are significant caveats to those five stars, but overall, this one really surprised me!

With chapters alternating between the Joad family's story and the broader plight of migrant workers, the scope of this novel is incredible. I think a lot about how separated I am from the production of most of the things I need to live, and this book charts the rise of this separation in America, as machines enable corporate farmers to put profits before people. The chapter in which an angry farmer has it explained to him that a company is not a person, and there is nowhere he can go and no person he can reason with to change its doing, is a perfect illustration of how capitalism works to alienate and disempower workers.

The novel highlights the solidarity and humanity found in migrant camps, as well as the deep corruption of the US police. If you think the Defund movement is only a few years old/ only relevant to Black Americans/ that one of the key functions of policing isn't to protect property of the rich, read this book.

On that note however, as I said before, there are caveats to my praise for this novel. Firstly, it focuses solely on the white migrant experience, so its depiction is by no means comprehensive. You'd also think from this book that there were 10 men for every one woman in America. And finally there's some evidence Steinbeck plagiarised a lot of it from a woman whose notes he read without her knowledge. So definitely let that inform your reading!

🍇 Read it if you like books that deal with how individual stories fit into overarching historical trends, particularly capitalism.

🚫 Avoid it if you're avoiding stories featuring police violence or stillbirth, if you don't like novels that read a bit like fables, or if you'd rather invest your energy researching an intersectional history of the Dust Bowl crisis (very fair if so, this is a big book)

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