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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I read this book in high school for a book report and stayed up late into the night to finish it the night before it was due. I didn't have enough time to prepare for the oral report that I was to present to the class. I bombed after about 30 seconds, partially because I suck at public speaking, and partially because I was so jarred by the book I couldn't put it into words. So my teacher said, "Catherine, did you even finish this book? What happens at the end?" So I had to describe the last scene in front of an entire room of 16 year olds. AWKWARD.
Despite this, it's still one of my favorite books and I'm glad that my high school nemesis, Ms.Stake, insisted that I read it.
Despite this, it's still one of my favorite books and I'm glad that my high school nemesis, Ms.Stake, insisted that I read it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story is set in the 1930’s (during the Depression). It centers around the Joad family. They have a farm in Oklahoma where they raise crops. There are bad dust storms throughout the Mid-West. The crops of the Joad’s and many other families fail. Without their crops to sell, the banks who hold the mortgages take over the farms and force the farm families off their land. The banks have big farm machines that they send to the farms. These machines can do a lot of the work on the fields that the farm families previously did. And they can do the work way faster. Handbills are circulated all through the Mid-West saying that there is plentiful work in California. They paint a real rosy picture of the work situation in California. The Joads decide that they must move to California to find work. They do some modifications on a truck so the truck can carry 12 people (11 Joads and a former preacher who is a friend of theirs), a dog, and stuff that will help them make the trip. It takes a lot of faith and desperation to make a 2,000-mile trip like this. The story of the Joad family is interspersed with chapters that talk more generally about what went on during this mass exodus to California and what went on in California. The two most important characters in the story are Ma Joad and one of her sons, Tom Joad. They center the story. What people expected in California and the reality are far different. The story goes from there. The author writes great prose. He writes very detailed descriptions. The story is slow paced, but that didn’t revent me from enjoying it. I didn’t always agree with what the characters did. But I was invested in their story. The Joad’s are very resilient in the face of tremendous hardships. This is a sad, disturbing story. The characters do experience occasional pockets of joy. There are deaths and grieving. There are animal deaths. There is a detailed description of pigs being slaughtered and prepped for eating. One character likes to run over animals while driving. There are abusive police. There are beatings. There are killings. Some Christians are portrayed in a very poor light. There is some talk of sex. There is some talk of spousal abuse. There is talk of disciplining children that most of us would consider excessive now. There is a little racism. I recommend this book to someone who wants to read about what it was like in the Mid-West and California during Dustbowl times. And someone who wants to read about a very resilient family. If any of the concerns I mentioned are problems for you, you may not want to read the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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:
Yes
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book was recommended to me by someone whose opinion in books I really admire. I believe he said something along the lines of The Stand and the Grapes of Wrath are the two greatest books ever written. I agree with The Stand, but not so much with Grapes of Wrath. Certainly some very lovely imagery, a lot of history brought to life, but not really a book with a strong plot that made me want to keep reading. More literary fiction than anything else, which I guess I should have realized, but some classics (The Count of Monte Cristo) are definitely more exciting.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No