Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Grapes of Wrath

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

32 reviews

eraserharris's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

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everyatom's review

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

The way that the Grapes of Wrath moves as a story is unlike anything else I remember reading. The story makes the reader feel the abrupt pain of

losing the family members that walk off, leave, or die

. It never feels whole or complete or like those characters'

endings

were justified. Because they weren't. And the folks they left behind weren't able to

get closure or process the absence of their loved ones. I mourned not only the characters as well as how their family was deprived of proper mourning

.

I felt the big swell of the message. Where the Joads' story and pains

got continually harsher, slimmer, and harder to comprehend

the message of the book becomes stronger and more epic in scope. The chapters between the story of the Joads' were so important to help the reader get that scope and to see the place of the Joads in the larger, unfair system.

I'll be thinking of this book for years. Can almost guarantee. Just sits deeply in me and feels magnificent in scope, message, and pain.

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sundayfever's review

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This read much faster than I expected given how long it is. Interesting and made me reflect. The core issues around class, poverty and respect for the land are still issues today, despite the age of this book.

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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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meanbeanreads's review

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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menomica's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective sad slow-paced

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

We can’t depend on it. The bank—the monster has to have profits all the time. It can’t wait. It’ll die. No, taxes go on. When the monster stops growing, it dies. It can’t stay one size.

Reading this book made me fall out of love with reading. It made me give up my no dnf goal for the year. It’s not a bad story, and John Steinbeck is a good storyteller in his own right, but he definitely is not a good writer. I do like the way he portrays events effecting the Joads as effecting the rest of the migrants into California; the only problem is he is just really bad at prose and syntax.
Also, in the words of femkereindeer, I never want to read this man talk about a woman’s body ever again, thank you very much. Like my god, this is so creepily horny for all the female characters in this book, or very weirdly sexualizes them.
I think it’s weird how this book got flack for being communist propaganda when it was literally just like «poor ppl got fuck over domestically because of capitalist practices that denied ppl access to basic needs like food and shelter, not because of lack of access but because of lack of capital» which is, exactly what happened!
Tom was kinda funny cause he really would just say whatever and not give a fuck. Love that for him.

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was my first fully fledged novel Steinbeck novel and honestly, I had my doubts. Sure, I loved The Pearl and Of Mice and Men but they were novellas, and I wasn't sure if he could keep me enthralled in its entirety when it comes to a 500+ page novel. I am happy to say he actually pulled that off, and it was really impressive considering half of the book is about a

'road trip'

while the other half mainly involves

people moving around and working in farms.

Those are generally not the most exciting events for me to read about, but somehow this one was a page-turner. It was a ruminative experience, something so poignant yet hopeful at the same time. Not sure if I can do justice to this book with my thoughts ( might edit this review later ), but I can't talk further without getting into spoilers as well so feel free to stop reading here if you mind those.

So Grapes of Wrath focuses on the Great Depression and the mass migration that happened during that era. We read about the Joads family embarking on such a long journey towards California after losing their land and the several hardships faced by them during and after the aforementioned journey. It's definitely one of the most immersive novels I have ever read, since as I felt as if I was with them throughout the whole time, witnessing everything first-hand, sharing their pain. The prose is nothing short of amazing ( ofc it's bloody Steinbeck we are talking about so that was never in question! ) and everything just felt so raw and real. I have never empathized with a family so swiftly and wholeheartedly like I did in this novel, and I think Steinbeck nails the characterization, dialogue and atmosphere in such a way that even the people that appeared for a short time managed to instill such a keen sense of sadness in me due to how real it felt. I never really cried at any part ( which is extremely rare when it comes to books anyway ) but there were several moments that left me either shocked or devastated, like when

the Joad family left Wilsons behind, Preacher's sudden brutal death, the ending itself which felt a bit weird at first, but fitting if you ask me now considering what it truly conveys.

I liked the biblical parallels, and regardless of how depressing things were, there was always light at the end of the tunnel. Tom, Ma Joad and Preacher were my favorite characters and the strength and iron-will exuded by Ma Joad throughout the story is nothing short of inspiring. The ending is a bit abrupt for sure and makes you wonder

what happened to everyone after, but I think that's intentional and apt. Did the Joads survive or did they starve to death? How can they possibly survive winter without money and food? We do not know. They are just one family like the hundred thousand others remaining stuck there without any financial means. But they will always help each other no matter what ( Except for Al perhaps, screw that horny boy! 😄). I think both Tom and Rose of Sharon's arcs help to move us from caring about Joads family only to the plight of everyone in general.

Tom's arc was also great considering

the novel pretty much started with him and the preacher, and he eventually follows the road paved by the latter.

The only thing I would consider as a drawback ( which personally isn't a drawback for me since I find it powerful and it fits the theme very well ) is that the somewhat 'meta commentary' can occasionally feel a bit heavy-handed. I can see people considering this book simply a tirade against Capitalism or as Communist propaganda only, but I think there's more to it than all that. For me it's about the everlasting hope and persistence, that innate goodness within us, helping people even during our worst moments ( signified further by that ending ). It also shines light upon how hard people suffered back then, how hard refugees these days may suffer, and how easily they can be dehumanized ( I feel like we could always use more empathy when it comes to these matters in general anyway ). Steinbeck acted as a voice for those unfortunate souls back then, and considering the current affairs, it remains eternally relevant. This quote below is a favorite of mine and conveys the message way better than I ever could.

"Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers live—for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live—for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know—fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe."

I think it's safe to say this novel is gonna stay in my mind for a while.. Can't wait to read East of Eden one day but I will get to Cannery Row and other novellas before that, saving the best for last.

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gabriella_'s review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad slow-paced

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

4.75

God, what a great read.
Let me start with the problems.

I have some critiques. First - I felt like it didn’t capture the breadth of displaced Americans for the time. Second - It was very white-centric and seemed to buy into Manifest Destiny shit. I take major issue with both of these. These are my narrative issues

Clearly not as pressing but the pacing at point was inconsistent and dragged on. But I know at points that was the point.

Now the pros.
I really loved the way Ma and Tom were characterized throughout. The family relations at points felt complex. There were really moving moments throughout, and great commentary that’s still relevant now.

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gewrgia_lightwood's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever come across
Beautiful writing, brilliant story. Touching, hard, raw.

It deals with a very real problem, a problem as relevant now as ever. The consequences of capitalism, of greed, of money as a ruler are spread thought out this book.
If there is one thing to take away from this book is that solidarity and kindness will always be the weapon of the people. It’s at the darkest times, the people come closer, the people speak up, the people rise up.

Μόνο ο λαός σώζει τον λαό.

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mondovertigo's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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