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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This is one of the books that gets you thinking and meditating on the good and bad in humanity itself.
If you are looking to read something simple, keep looking. But if you are ready to get really close to some humans like me and you, thinking their thoughts, fighting their wars, feeling alone and yet hopeful, this is for you.
“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?”
“Our people are good people; our people are kind people. Pray God some day kind people won’t all be poor.”
“...in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
If you are looking to read something simple, keep looking. But if you are ready to get really close to some humans like me and you, thinking their thoughts, fighting their wars, feeling alone and yet hopeful, this is for you.
“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?”
“Our people are good people; our people are kind people. Pray God some day kind people won’t all be poor.”
“...in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.”
Maybe it is the current political climate, but this book felt particularly timeless to me. The idea of big corporations trampling over human rights in order to turn an even bigger profit just felt so real and likely today.
I somehow went 35 years without actually reading this book although I did see the movie in my twenties and the play in my teens, so I was already familiar with the story but I found it to be written in an engaging and heartbreaking way that kept me interested even though I knew the ending to come.
Anybody who does not believe in regulating business and thinks that the market will always self-regulate needs to read this book to help open their eyes to the plight of the downtrodden worker trying to swim upstream in a world that is does not care about the plight of the proverbial little guy.
From Chapter 25:
"The little farmers watched debt creep up on them like the tide. They sprayed the trees and sold no crop, they pruned and grafted and could not pick the crop. . .
"This little orchard will be a part of a great holding next year, for the debt will have choked the owner.
"This vineyard will belong to the bank. Only the great owners can survive, for they own the canneries too. . . And the canned pears do not spoil. They will last for years."
From Chapter 29:
"No work till spring. No work.
"And if no work - no money, no food.
"Fella had a team of horses, had to use 'em to plow an' cultivate an' mow, wouldn't think a turnin' 'em out to starve when they wasn't workin'.
"Them's horses - we're men."
I somehow went 35 years without actually reading this book although I did see the movie in my twenties and the play in my teens, so I was already familiar with the story but I found it to be written in an engaging and heartbreaking way that kept me interested even though I knew the ending to come.
Anybody who does not believe in regulating business and thinks that the market will always self-regulate needs to read this book to help open their eyes to the plight of the downtrodden worker trying to swim upstream in a world that is does not care about the plight of the proverbial little guy.
From Chapter 25:
"The little farmers watched debt creep up on them like the tide. They sprayed the trees and sold no crop, they pruned and grafted and could not pick the crop. . .
"This little orchard will be a part of a great holding next year, for the debt will have choked the owner.
"This vineyard will belong to the bank. Only the great owners can survive, for they own the canneries too. . . And the canned pears do not spoil. They will last for years."
From Chapter 29:
"No work till spring. No work.
"And if no work - no money, no food.
"Fella had a team of horses, had to use 'em to plow an' cultivate an' mow, wouldn't think a turnin' 'em out to starve when they wasn't workin'.
"Them's horses - we're men."
What can you say about the Grapes of Wrath? It's not my favorite Steinbeck novel but it's way up there. It's long and it's dense and it's worth the time it takes to read it.
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Had to read it for English 1A when I got tired of taking high school English and took my last English class ever at the junior college. I ended up having to read it twice in the same semester because I am an overachiever and I finished it before my professor expected us to have started it. So then I had to read it again to follow the class discussions. Being from California originally and having to read a ton of Steinbeck in school, I think all of John Steinbeck's work is a little overrated but this one was okay until it got driven into the ground by school. I think I would have liked it better if the class hadn't sucked the life out of it.
I'm super glad to get to this classic, and I doubt I'll add anything new with this review that others haven't mentioned in past ones.
Quick thoughts:
The Grapes of Wrath depressed me and caused lots of rage while reading this. The suffering and plight that happens in this tale is not for the weak of heart.
The Great Depression is a sad moment in history and we should always remember how the working class was abused, taken advantage of, and denied all dignity for wanting something more.
Steinbeck doesn't get political with this book but he does make a great case on what capitalism and organized religion can do to society.
If the people controlling those systems are not responsible for lifting others up and producing a better life, then the system will eventually crack and become corrupt.
We must try to lead with hope that things are good for everyone in society, not just the rich and powerful.
I felt like he relayed this well with the Joad family and how they try to survive and still help others when they had nothing.
I think we could all try to be a bit more like the Joad family. Don't you?
Quick thoughts:
The Grapes of Wrath depressed me and caused lots of rage while reading this. The suffering and plight that happens in this tale is not for the weak of heart.
The Great Depression is a sad moment in history and we should always remember how the working class was abused, taken advantage of, and denied all dignity for wanting something more.
How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children?
You can't scare him - he has known a fear beyond every other.
- John Steinbeck
Steinbeck doesn't get political with this book but he does make a great case on what capitalism and organized religion can do to society.
If the people controlling those systems are not responsible for lifting others up and producing a better life, then the system will eventually crack and become corrupt.
We must try to lead with hope that things are good for everyone in society, not just the rich and powerful.
I felt like he relayed this well with the Joad family and how they try to survive and still help others when they had nothing.
I think we could all try to be a bit more like the Joad family. Don't you?