Reviews

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

jsay96's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

cydneynj's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

miguelcoronamas's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

jessi_2000's review against another edition

4.0

this book was so well written, but also :(

begentile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

krickyreads's review against another edition

3.0

I don’t even know how to rate this book…I will say that I did not enjoy this, which feels traitorous to say considering I loved both East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. I did not like the story, or lack thereof, but Steinbeck’s prose is beautiful as always.

dreiac's review against another edition

5.0

Steinbeck’s words hit you right in the feels.

biolexicon's review against another edition

1.0

I didn't like it. At all. I liked East of Eden so I thought I'd give this a whirl. I ended up thinking that this book is only praised because it accurately depicts a time period. I was hoping it would depict a human struggle with a time period as a backdrop. I was so bombarded with dust bowl I lost sight of the characters within it.
The dialogue in the book is written in that area's patois. At the time that made the book really accessible for common people to read, it spoke their language, used their words. Now it's just giving me a headache.
In short, East of Eden is way better. I feel like this was a history lesson snuck into English class/the English canon.

knuckledown's review against another edition

5.0

This was my favorite book from American lit in high school. Steinbeck impresses me on so many levels. The layers of meaning that exist in the book are amazing: the basic story, the allegory, moral, spiritual, biological. The story of the Joad family is broken up with "interpalary" chapters that explain different aspects of the lives of migrant workers in the 1930s. Apparently some critics find them distracting, but I thought they added a great sense of scope to the story and were written in cool abstract ways. One in particular that describes how the rich landowners no longer had the hunger for land is just beautiful.

The moral and spiritual undertones of the book are really interesting to me. At first I thought Jim Casy, the former preacher, might get on my nerves, but he had the most profound lines in the novel. My English teacher told us that he is a Christ-like figure, and it was such a revelation to me. This is why I love literature.

rkade93's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0