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carpetconcretecrocodile's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
(4.5 Stars)
One of John Steinbeck’s greatest writing strengths, to me, is his ability to craft realistic scenarios that connect with people and encourage examinations of human life. And despite my love for East of Eden, I find that The Grapes of Wrath truly exemplifies that strength the most, and it makes perfect sense that it was banned upon release.
The way economic and social disparity is described in this book is often harrowing. The way each character in the Joad family portrays different personalities’ reaction to these disparities is part of what makes it so harrowing, as often times you can relate these characters to people that may be in your life, or perhaps even yourself. And I believe that’s how Steinbeck riled so many people up with this book- showing average, realistic people taking on the horrors that the Great Depression befell onto them, which allows for a much deeper connection and emotional response to the themes.
I found this book amazing, and it’s hard to describe in detail why that is. So I implore anyone who hasn’t to read it, and find out themselves.
One of John Steinbeck’s greatest writing strengths, to me, is his ability to craft realistic scenarios that connect with people and encourage examinations of human life. And despite my love for East of Eden, I find that The Grapes of Wrath truly exemplifies that strength the most, and it makes perfect sense that it was banned upon release.
The way economic and social disparity is described in this book is often harrowing. The way each character in the Joad family portrays different personalities’ reaction to these disparities is part of what makes it so harrowing, as often times you can relate these characters to people that may be in your life, or perhaps even yourself. And I believe that’s how Steinbeck riled so many people up with this book- showing average, realistic people taking on the horrors that the Great Depression befell onto them, which allows for a much deeper connection and emotional response to the themes.
I found this book amazing, and it’s hard to describe in detail why that is. So I implore anyone who hasn’t to read it, and find out themselves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
larseneiii's review against another edition
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
....why the fuck did it end like that....
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Ableism, Confinement, Genocide, Self harm, Slavery, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Suicide attempt
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
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
4.75
I bought The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck because I enjoyed reading Of Mice and Men in high school.
Blurb:
In this novel, Steinbeck alternates between macro and micro views of history. The bulk of the book follows the Joad family as they are forced out of their farmland by corporate landowners during the manmade environmental crisis known as the Dust Bowl. They pile their large family and most important worldly possessions into a sedan-turned-pickup truck and make the arduous drive from Oklahoma to California in search of work. In the alternating shorter chapters, Steinbeck outlines the migration of sharecroppers and other poor farmers from regions affected by the Dust Bowl to California, where they struggled due to low wages, inhumane business practices, and hostile locals. These chapters frame the story of the Joads as part of a larger historical movement.
Review:
There is no getting around the fact that The Grapes of Wrath is a slow-paced read, description-heavy, and full of small details. However, this appears to be intentional—any boredom or frustration the reader feels helps them empathize with the main characters, who must tediously travel halfway across the country in an old, rickety sedan-turned-pickup truck that could break down at any moment. Herein lies the genius of The Grapes of Wrath: Steinbeck writes his narrative and characters so realistically that I actually felt as though I was along for the ride with the Joads as they drove to California and searched desperately for work. Every character in this novel feels like a real human being, and Steinbeck avoids falling into the common trap of depicting lower-class characters as either monstrous or angelic. I rooted for the Joads every step of the way: their victories were my victories, their defeats my defeats. Their dialogue is full of wisdom: if I were a person who annotated my books, I would have highlighted and starred several phrases per page.
The realistic portrayal of the migrants and their travails as well as the intelligent, brilliantly written social commentary transforms this book into a powerful anti-capitalist work. I have never read a book that so effectively made me despise capitalism and the American police institution. Steinbeck achieves this without appearing preachy or sacrificing the realism of his story. The Grapes of Wrath absolutely deserves its status as a Pulitzer Prize winner and American masterpiece.
Sidenote:
The Grapes of Wrath contains several instances of sexism and racism (including the occasional use of the n-word). The racism is restricted to a handful of off-hand remarks made by the characters, while the sexism shows up more frequently. However, these instances serve mainly to accurately reflect the attitudes of the people it follows, and I personally did not get the feeling that the author was championing such views. The story itself contains several strong, capable, well-written female characters and the book’s overall message champions human dignity. However, every reader will have their own interpretation of these aspects of the book, and it is important to keep in mind if you are sensitive to these topics in literature.
The Grapes of Wrath contains several instances of sexism and racism (including the occasional use of the n-word). The racism is restricted to a handful of off-hand remarks made by the characters, while the sexism shows up more frequently. However, these instances serve mainly to accurately reflect the attitudes of the people it follows, and I personally did not get the feeling that the author was championing such views. The story itself contains several strong, capable, well-written female characters and the book’s overall message champions human dignity. However, every reader will have their own interpretation of these aspects of the book, and it is important to keep in mind if you are sensitive to these topics in literature.
The Run-Down:
You will probably like The Grapes of Wrath if:
· You have enjoyed other works by Steinbeck (if you have not read any of his other work, I recommend starting out with a short story or novella by him first to see if you like his writing style)
· You are a fan of the artistic movement known as realism and/or you enjoy stories that realistically portray the lives of everyday, working-class people
· You want to learn more about the human side of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl
· You are interested in anti-capitalist and anti-police literature
· You have experienced displacement from your home due to environmental, political, or social factors
You might not like The Grapes of Wrath if:
· You dislike description-heavy, slow-paced books where “nothing happens” for pages on end
· You dislike stories with ambiguous/open endings
· You want to read a cheerful story
A Similar Book:
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (1906). Similarities between The Jungle and The Grapes of Wrath include:
· Stories that follow migrant working-class families who attempt to build a life for themselves in a harsh, cruel capitalist system
· Pro-socialist messages
· Realistic depictions of working conditions in American history
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Car accident
calamityin's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Violence, Police brutality, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Slavery and Murder
Minor: Kidnapping
bakunzi1990's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
writtenontheflyleaves's review against another edition
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)
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🍇 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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Racism
avsdhpn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Abandonment
mondayxius's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs and Police brutality
Minor: Miscarriage and Vomit
loveislandkentuky's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
4.5/5
I think this is the best classic I've ever read. I have not read a lot of Steinbeck but I'm starting to think maybe I should. Going into it, I had no expectations for what the book would be like except that I had gotten a good recommendation, so you can imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the most anti-capitalist book I've ever read.
Throughout the book, Steinbeck portrays heavy anti-capitalist, anti-cop, anti-big-owner, ideas and it was very interesting to read about. When the book was released originally, it was met with great backlash due to this but I think no matter if you loved it or hated it, it really gets you thinking and questioning your own beliefs, which I believe is above all, the mark of great literature.
Although it is an old book, the ideas are not too dated (besides of course use of the n-word as well as some misogynistic family value ideas) and the language is still very easy to understand. Steinbeck's work remarkably stood the test of time.
I think he has an interesting portrayal of characters as well as just enough plot so that his ideologies do not take over the book completely. I really enjoyed his in-between chapters, where Steinbeck would enter an entirely different point of view and discuss happenings of the time. It added great context to what was happening at the time as well as what you could expect from the chapter. It was like every chapter had its own little prologue which I really liked.
This is not to say that the book was perfect, there were some questionable points, but overall the book was very enjoyable for me, and I really did like it a lot. It's a long read, but I would definitely say it was worth it.
I think this is the best classic I've ever read. I have not read a lot of Steinbeck but I'm starting to think maybe I should. Going into it, I had no expectations for what the book would be like except that I had gotten a good recommendation, so you can imagine my surprise when it turns out to be the most anti-capitalist book I've ever read.
Throughout the book, Steinbeck portrays heavy anti-capitalist, anti-cop, anti-big-owner, ideas and it was very interesting to read about. When the book was released originally, it was met with great backlash due to this but I think no matter if you loved it or hated it, it really gets you thinking and questioning your own beliefs, which I believe is above all, the mark of great literature.
Although it is an old book, the ideas are not too dated (besides of course use of the n-word as well as some misogynistic family value ideas) and the language is still very easy to understand. Steinbeck's work remarkably stood the test of time.
I think he has an interesting portrayal of characters as well as just enough plot so that his ideologies do not take over the book completely. I really enjoyed his in-between chapters, where Steinbeck would enter an entirely different point of view and discuss happenings of the time. It added great context to what was happening at the time as well as what you could expect from the chapter. It was like every chapter had its own little prologue which I really liked.
This is not to say that the book was perfect, there were some questionable points, but overall the book was very enjoyable for me, and I really did like it a lot. It's a long read, but I would definitely say it was worth it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, and Death of parent
lowkeymarie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Almost DNF'd this one a few times in the first couple hundred pages but I'm glad I stuck it out. Such a moving story with memorable characters and themes that are still infuriatingly relevant today.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Child death
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Classism