Reviews - The Grapes of Wrath

5.72k reviews for:

The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck

3.79 AVERAGE

nikkodaniel_l's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous hopeful sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I don’t really see why this book had to be several hundred pages long, but despite the slow beginning, the latter half definitely had me putting off my other current reads. The themes are good, the characters unwavering in their ideals, and as for the ending,

I was warned of something jaw-dropping, but it wasn’t as appalled as everyone made it out to be. While the act of breastfeeding a random stranger is slightly disgusting, it made sense in context, so it is naturally expected.

Anyway, Steinbeck had to do something right to get not 1 but 2 of his books in the required American curriculum, so for that, I applaud.

writtenbygrace's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

one of the most subtly (not even) racist and sexist books i’ve read in a while. i recognize it’s of its time. it captures an important part of history and it is beautifully written. I appreciate Steinbeck as an author of our times, but there were moments that were hard to swallow.

stuff4bd's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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: Complicated

Beautifully written with such descriptive language. I was surprised by how many of the themes were relevant almost 100 years later.

amoebver62's review against another edition

5.0

I completely entered this worldscape when I read it. Maybe it's my own genetic lineage to these same displaced workers, but I felt this book more than anything I had read to date. One of my all-time favorites.