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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
medium-paced
challenging
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While a decent exploration of the great depression and the book certainly begins to hold water near the end, I couldn't find myself engrossed in this novel. While I acknowledge Steinbeck as having done a great job of contextualizing the characters ' lifestyles at the beginning of the book, the characters are about as interesting as watching paint dry. They hold very few facets to their personality, and almost every character feels like they could be described in a sentence or less and be very well summarized. The pacing near the beginning of the novel is also incredibly slow. I love a good, slow read as much as the next man; however, a lot of the scenes feel like they linger and repeat information. That's likely the point, so many repeating scenes of people being poor and then someone vaguely hinting that California isn't all it's cracked up to be. These experiences happen to repeat a lot of the family looking for work, being underpaid, and mistreated. At a certain point, this becomes somewhat dull. Only near the end of the book, when we begin to see the idea of people supporting one another, does the novel begin to hold much interest for me. Seeing the government camp has people each other, or Casy during the strike, finding a certain religiousness and the fervor of the strike. It comes a bit late for me. Showing how the government actively made people's experiences worse and how people do a better job supporting each other is interesting commentary. The ending is the ultimate extrapolation of this. It just feels like it never gets to the point of being taken to the next level, other than just being shown. Undoubtedly, this book is a classic, though plasterboard characters, slow pacing, and theme, which while shown excellently don't feel like they go the extra mile, end up with what is, in my opinion, quite a dull read.
how nice of steinbeck to name tom after the springsteen album
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
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.
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.
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.
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.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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:
No