The Grapes of Wrath

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Summary: You can't break an Okie
Review: That's what we learn from reading this Steinbeck masterpiece. The irrepressible Joad family takes an unforgettable journey west to the promised land of California from their bank-confiscated farm in desolate Oklahoma. Steinbeck utilizes the setting of the Great Depression to the fullest through his vivid imagery of the colors of grey and red, his naturalism, which makes the land a character in its own right, his transcendentalism and symbolism, both which bring ulterior meaning to many seemingly mundane goings-on throughout The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck brings to life characters that I empathize for and felt after 200 pages as if I were a member of their family rooting them on after all they had persevered through. The struggle of the Joads to put food on their plates at the end of the night after picking cotton or peaches all day long for next to nothing makes me extremely thankful to have food and shelter -things most of us take for granted. The Joads struggle for their place in society and for their identity, which was unconscionably taken away from them and thousands of other "Okies". The Joad family undergoes a stark transformation from naive idealists to destitute pessimists and finally back to optimistic and hopeful for the future. Te Grapes of Wrath proves to be the definitive novel of the Great Depression and one that every American should read in order to fully understand the most apocalyptic time in American history and fully appreciate our lives today and the many luxuries that we all take for granted. Undoubtedly one of the top 5 American novels of all time.

Rating:
Summary: intense and powerful
Review: Here's another book I once avoided, an arrogant young student impressed with my collection of bitter satires by bitter, younger writers who thought just as little of humanity as myself. Surely my decision to drift through a test and a paper on other people's discussions (ranging from 'greatest book ever' to 'a tiring, endless bore')was appropriate at the time for my cynical inexperience had not yet adjusted me for the sheer force of humanity of this titanic struggle.

A story in pictures and abbreviated words, The Grapes of Wrath paints an honest vision of crushing defeat endured through hard times when visualized hopes were the only things required for living. We are swept in to a duststorm, a cascade of brief apocaylpse that batters our eyes shut only to force them open to see what is going on beneath the howl of the wind. This is what calamities cause and here is how man will always scramble for survival.

The world opens up and becomes filled with people, beginning with the solitary wandering of a just-released inmate ambiling through the dead, dried out land, to search for his family. People join and surround Tom--later the Joads--and the dazed survivors all travel, bringing customs, and search the wide world for a new place to make a living. Their dreams and ambitions mix and then expand, groups are formed, families split apart and multiply, the crush of the storm has infected the people and now they go forward and tear up even more of the land in the search for a home.

The book ends in the rain, all pain and dryness washed away into the mud, the dreams coming to an end, situations grown more desperate but at least temporarily endurable--the truth about where hope lay shining and glistening before them, lost in the bible or dreams of wealth or hopes for the future or the nucleus of a loving family surrounding them. Something is planted in that rain, finally, the milk of human kindness mixing with the mud to burst forth flowers and dew and yet another new chance to make something out of survival.

It really is a wonderful story told with great wisdom, dignity and style.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but a little slow
Review: Overall, this book was fantastic. It was interesting with lots of backround information, and showed how people struggle in life, and even though I am only eleven, I know struggling is something even our modern generation can relate to. My only complaint is that for the first one or two hundred pages it was very slow, and practically nothing happened. I put the book down for nearly a month before I felt like reading it again. Although when I did finish reading it it was very good, even if the ending was abrupt (that always makes me so annoyed!).

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Summary: A wonderful audio version
Review: Dylan Baker manages to give distinctive voices to the Joads and to each of the other memorable characters in this masterpiece --without obscuring the essential voice of Steinbeck himself. This is a reading worthy of this magnificent novel.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: I'm not a huge John Steinbeck fan, so I was a little hestitant to read this book. I wasn't sure what to expect. Fortunately, this book was beyond my expectations. I was able to absorb the characters depths. John Steinbeck allows the reader to grasp each and every characters personalities and traits. He writes in such a fashion where it felt like I was actually there. The plot was fantastic and moved at a relatively quick pace. I didn't find any lulls in the story developement. The only weakness, which isn't a big one, was the ending. I thought the ending was akward. I was expecting a bit more to happen. This certainly is one of the best books I've read, and it's one that doesn't leave your mind the day after you finish.

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Summary: From the Dust of The Bowl
Review: "The highway is alive tonight, but nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes. I'm sitting down here in the campfire light, searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad."

--Bruce Springsteen, The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)

And John Steinbeck's novel is still with us, still proving relevant. I would suggest listening to some Woodie Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska or Ghost of Tom Joad while reading this. Though many people clamored for Steinbeck to create another "Grapes of Wrath" throughout his career that would have been a shame. "Grapes of Wrath," is definitely Steinbeck's best-known novel and maybe most socially-conscious, but not the pinnacle of his writing. He creates far more in less pages in works like Cannery Row and Of Mice and Men.

The strength of Grapes of Wrath lies in capturing the migration West of people in need, people from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas during the dust bowl of the 30's coming to California to find work and a new beginning. The historical accuracy of the plight of the Joad's is up to debate. That is the strength of the Viking Critical Library editions of literature, because the reader gets all the background information divided into the social and creative context as well as a section on criticism. I would highly encourage The Viking Critical Library editions of any great works of literature you are planning on reading.

Back to the point of historical accuracy, there are articles from Frank J. Taylor and Carey McWilliams that give a point-counterpoint to what the Dust Bowl migrants actually went through during that time. Maybe the squalid pallor and rancid prejudice experienced by the Joad family wasn't the average migrant family's ordeal, but I have no doubts that there are elements of migrant families lives pieced together. But the historical accuracy isn't really what a work of fiction should be judged against. Steinbeck never claimed it to be gospel, just a work of literature.

What is most interesting is Steinbeck's concept of the "phalanx" or a group of people formed together to act as one person in defense or in survival. Steinbeck portrays that beautifully here. For further reading on that idea and Steinbeck, I would highly recommend Jackson J. Benson's Steinbeck biography, "John Steinbeck, Writer" as a companion piece to Grapes of Wrath. It will illuminate the man behind the writing.

This is not a book that would make my ten best list, though other Steinbeck works would. But I can say I wouldn't have wanted to miss reading it. We find ourselves in times of struggle. We sometimes find ourselves to be people we hadn't known before. We find others as well. You will find this with "Grapes of Wrath."

Rating:
Summary: Interesting plot, but not entirely developed
Review: I am also a teen who had to read this book for high school summer reading, and I entirely disagree with the statement of teens not being able to read "mature" books. I think George Orwell was a great writer (1984 especially), To Kill a Mockingbird was excellent, and I absolutely loved Les Mis, just to name a few. This book definetley has an interesting background plot, and the writing style is very good, but like another reviewer commented, it seems half-finished. Almost like Steinbeck got the idea in his head and then half-way through developed writer's block. It was a pretty good story, but it just didn't have that deeper kick to pull me in.

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Summary: Tragic and Hilarious.
Review: I read this tragic story with a constant smile on my face. The characters are so completely enjoyable. The situations heart rending yet so vividly described that it is entertaining/amusing.

The story is not so much amusing because it is humorous. The smile is pure amazement over Steinbeck's ability to create this work where I could be a first hand witness to the characters and events. Some situations are laugh-out-loud funny although serious. Even the tragic events bring a smile and a lump to your throat at the same time. Every page pulled at my heart, my mind, and my face. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It is also a real eye opener to the industrial revolution, big finance, and the depression era.
As another reviewer wrote 'This is a book which will make you feel different about your fellow man.'

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Summary: To the reader from Silverdale, WA
Review: I find it highly irritating when others start acting condescending towards people just for not liking their choice in books. I am eighteen years old, and I read THE GRAPES OF WRATH "for fun" (in other words, it was not a school assignment) in high school. I did not like it. Does that make me an "immature" reader? I don't think so! Contrary to what you seem to think about those who hate TGoW, I do enjoy "serious" books (The Good Earth; The Butcher Boy; Animal Farm; 1984; those not serious enough for you?) You would do better to stop making such outrageous presumptuous remarks based on a teenager's taste in books. Obviously, you cannot be much more mature than the readers you criticize, if you cannot handle a difference in taste. I personally love Lord of the Flies, for instance, but I understand that there are those who do not. Unlike you, I do not go around saying that those who do not like LotF are simply missing the bigger meaning behind the work.

Rating:
Summary: suprisingly wondeful
Review: At first I was very skeptical about how much I would like The Grapes of Wrath, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found it to be extremely readable and engrossing. The story is not at all dull, the characters are pleasant, and even the feel of the book is comfortable(the paper is not starchy and hard to handle like so many novels). I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a beautiful read that not only provokes the mind but also the senses.
PS: read it, you won't get the same effect from cliff's notes