Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - The Grapes of Wrath

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The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

6 reviews

elissa_t's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This is my second Steinbeck book and I’m starting my third tomorrow. I will not lie, this book is thick and I was super intimidated by it, but the sorry captivated me and the themes are still very relevant in 2025. I like how the chapters were broken up by small chapters that described tbe scenes, the mood of people and the economics of the time. That helped illustrate the story even more so, along with the characters and dialogue. As someone who lives in California who’s grandparents immigrated here like tbe Joads, I had an extra layer of empathy and understanding. And also sadness. The shear magnitude of how poor, desolate, distraught, worried and lost these characters are made me very emotional. The ending was also perfect. Sad. But perfect.

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aristarcodisamo's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective 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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larseneiii's review against another edition

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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....

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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 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

calamityin's review against another edition

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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

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amehlia's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

“How can we live without our lives? How will we know it’s us without our past?”

I picked up Steinbeck’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, The Grapes of Wrath, in a Waterstones in Surrey several years ago and just a few minutes after purchasing had the ending spoiled for me immediately. I didn’t pick it up to read for a long time, but I am so glad I did.

This novel is brilliant and heart-wrenching, it carries you on an immense journey through Dust Bowl America during the Great Depression, beautifully and tragically capturing the plight of the migrant labourers in California in both his extended chapters dedicated to the Joad family and also the alternate shorter chapters that do a fantastic job of contextualising their situation and setting the wider scene. Steinbeck does a fantastic job of hooking you in and committing the reader to the Joads and their story. It took me a long time to finish because I didn’t want the story to be over

and because I knew what tragedy was awaiting the family, and I wasn’t in a hurry to get there,

.

The slow pace of this book meant it took a couple of chapters to get me hooked, but when it did I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m not sure what to do with myself now that I’ve finished it. Any book that has this sort of effect on a reader is, in my opinion, an epic novel. It makes for a bold social commentary not just in its own time, but is relevant today with negative attitudes towards migrants, and natural disasters and conflict displacing many more families that will undertake a journey similar to that of the Joads.

Overall, one of my new all-time favourites although I don’t think this will become a re-read. I’m not sure I can put myself through it again.

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