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tanisha_112's review against another edition
2.25
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage
amehlia's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Police brutality, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Minor: Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry
noshelf_control's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Police brutality, and Murder
smoothgoat's review against another edition
Moderate: Addiction, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death, Blood, and Murder
elisegjerdrum's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Child death and Death
elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Police brutality
Moderate: Racial slurs
sandyd's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Police brutality