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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Very bleak look at depression america and the american dream - Of Mice and Men's older brother. Ending is brutal
challenging
dark
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
feeling crushed and gutted in a way only steinbeck can achieve!! š
a painful reminder that in times of injustice and longstanding hardship sometimes the only thing to do is push on blindly and lift others up whenever you can
ārepression works only to strengthen and knit the repressedā
horrifyingly relevant
a painful reminder that in times of injustice and longstanding hardship sometimes the only thing to do is push on blindly and lift others up whenever you can
ārepression works only to strengthen and knit the repressedā
horrifyingly relevant
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Miscarriage, Murder
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok SO - I did actually like this, even though my review is going to be pretty nitpicky. Good first - I liked the characters and thought they were pretty vivid. I liked the setting and the plot, even though it was slow. The language was accessible and fun to read, even with the dialogue being formatted to the language of the time and area. It's a good classic, and I see why it's read a lot in school. I also see why it's banned, since it talks about worker's rights and unionizing. I'd definitely recommend it to my teenager for that alone.
Now the bad - the structure of this was ROUGH. Why did the chapters need to be 50-75 pages??? That is so hard to read, because it means you can't pick this up until you have a large block of time free, and that's really frustrating. And the short little chapters in between the long ones - I appreciated that they broke things up a bit, but they were really unnecessary. We got all the same content following the Joad's, just follow them the whole time.
The ending felt kind of...lackluster? Like, there wasn't really any resolution, it just ended. I even checked to make sure I wasn't missing any pages, but nope. Just ends on that weird note.
This is going to be sacrelidge, but it's very late when I'm writing this so here it goes anyways. I obviously know this is the og classic here, and I don't want to take away from that. But if you want a dust bowl book...I'm sorry but The Four Winds is more interesting. It's faster paced, more condensed, and has a better ending. I feel like I might get flayed for that take, but that's all I could think about for the last quarter of the book.
So yeah. Again, I did like it and do recommend it, but there were some glaring negatives to point out. Time for a lil classic break!
Now the bad - the structure of this was ROUGH. Why did the chapters need to be 50-75 pages??? That is so hard to read, because it means you can't pick this up until you have a large block of time free, and that's really frustrating. And the short little chapters in between the long ones - I appreciated that they broke things up a bit, but they were really unnecessary. We got all the same content following the Joad's, just follow them the whole time.
The ending felt kind of...lackluster? Like, there wasn't really any resolution, it just ended. I even checked to make sure I wasn't missing any pages, but nope. Just ends on that weird note.
This is going to be sacrelidge, but it's very late when I'm writing this so here it goes anyways. I obviously know this is the og classic here, and I don't want to take away from that. But if you want a dust bowl book...I'm sorry but The Four Winds is more interesting. It's faster paced, more condensed, and has a better ending. I feel like I might get flayed for that take, but that's all I could think about for the last quarter of the book.
So yeah. Again, I did like it and do recommend it, but there were some glaring negatives to point out. Time for a lil classic break!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
āwhen a majority of the people are hungry and cold, they will take by force what they need. and the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed. the great owners ignored the three cries of history. the land fell into fewer hands, the number of the dispossessed increased, and every effort of the great owners was directed at repression. the money was spent for arms, for gas to protect the great holdings, and spies were sent to catch the murmuring of revolt so that it might be stamped out. the changing economy was ignored, plans for the change ignored; and only the means to destroy revolt were were considered, while the causes of the revolt went on.ā pg. 238
i donāt have words really. i think the quote i picked out encapsulates the theme pretty well. and i can understand why the government felt compelled to ban this novel. it disgusts me that itās not used more, as a tool, for change. the portrayal of poverty and social injustices broke my heart over and over again. itās always a person who has nothing that is willing to give everything and anything, and that fact has not changed in this oligarch society we live in to this day. like this book was published in 1939 for goodness sakeā¦emotional depletion from this one was real.
i donāt have words really. i think the quote i picked out encapsulates the theme pretty well. and i can understand why the government felt compelled to ban this novel. it disgusts me that itās not used more, as a tool, for change. the portrayal of poverty and social injustices broke my heart over and over again. itās always a person who has nothing that is willing to give everything and anything, and that fact has not changed in this oligarch society we live in to this day. like this book was published in 1939 for goodness sakeā¦emotional depletion from this one was real.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated