The Grapes of Wrath

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest American Novel Ever.
Review: If you give the book a chance it will change you in ways you never before dreamed of. The Grapes of Wrath stacks up in its theme and scope to the greatest world novels, such as Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, Of Human Bondage, War and Peace. Its scope and theme are universal. Its ultimate message: Human dignity and suffering. If the Grapes of Wrath doesn't stir and shake you, check your pulse. A powerful and arresting masterpiece that should be required reading for anyone who considers themselves a member of the human race, and who has ever suffered deeply and wishes to be healed by the power of humanity. Read it and treasure it.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written
Review: This book stands out as simply fantastic in a sea of mediocre others. The writing is brilliant, the plot is moving, and the characters are earthy and memorable. It's not a small book, but as with other great family sagas--Prince of Tides or Bark of the Dogwood--it covers a lot of territory and the size is justified. The movie made with Henry Fonda is also great, but there are scenes missing (things that couldn't be shown) and so the book is unparalleled. One of the best books ever written.

Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD

Rating:
Summary: Truly a Classic
Review: I'm shocked I was never forced to read it in High School. However, I think by reading it some years later I likely have a better understanding and appreciation for the book. Steinback's writing is truly impressive - each detail provided so that the reader really feels a part of the story. You feel the pain and sacrifice of the family... you share in their small joy and heartache. Lives up to its "classic" standing without a doubt...the Grapes of Wrath is my new favorite.

Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best book ever written
Review: This book like no other one before it or after it expresses the dire situations that captalism and the endless need for profit that is built into the human psyche can create for our race. Steinbeck, a moderate leftist, portrays a family of "Dust Bowl" migrants as they travel through the Midwest to California, to seek land and new jobs(the banks supported by the government[in many cases being the same thing] pushed millions of people off their land at the time), but when they arrive all they find is people who are so corrupted by money and an endless fear of loss of capital that they do not offer the family any support or aid.
Steinbeck wrote this book as a summation of real events that happened in the 1930's. His book realizes the need for social change in America and the world. It does not make anyone look "evil" or "bad." It simply makes the system humanity follows seem like the one tearing us apart. Just one of the things that makes this novel maybe the best one ever written. If only steinbeck was alive today, maybe he'd write a novel or two to take Bush down.

Rating:
Summary: The Joads represent everybody
Review: 'The Grapes of Wrath' is one of the most famous books written by John Steinbeck, and it also is largely praised as one of his best works. The book received a Pulitzer Prize and was made into an Award winning movie. This novel is one of the best when it comes to portrait the consequences of the Great Depression in the life of poor families that were forced to leaver their homeland to search for food and jobs.

The narrative is filled with details of the landscape and the people. The main characters are the Joad family who embarks in a road trip to California, where they expect to find a better life. Throughout this journey they run into every sort of people --good and bad -- that will help, or not, them. Every new stop is a new challenge for the family, a new barrier to overcome.

Not only is the story beautiful, but also very compelling. Steinbeck created an unforgettable portrait of those lives, which were so sad and difficult. One of the major qualities of 'The Grapes of Wrath' is the language. While the narrator has a clear and grammar-perfect voice, the author could reproduce the dialogues with perfection. They were written in the way those migrants would talk. It is difficult for the contemporary reader, but not impossible. Such device requires more attention of the reader, but it gives more pleasure once one gets used to this language.

This novel interweaves two different kinds of chapters. In one of them the writer sets a general view of the migrants, their way of life, their habitat and such. In the other he talks about the Joads. Using such device, he makes the Joads' story universal. This single family could be everyone's who has to leave their homeland to find job and food in another place. The problems this family face are very down to earth. And, this kind of thing still happens everywhere.

With 'The Grapes of Wrath', John Steinbeck created a story that criticizes not only the ferocious capitalism, but, above all, the human nature. The evil nature that always wants more and more, and that doesn't mind exploiting, deceiving and hurting other people to fulfill its ambitions.

Rating:
Summary: The Slow Road to Sadness
Review: In Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath", readers are introduced to the Joad family in their miserable living conditions in Oklahoma and their dreams of a new and better life in California. All thirteen Joads pack up in one old truck and begin their journey on Highway 66 to California along with thousands of other families looking for any work. Their trip take them through the loss of five of their passengers for various reasons, bullying from cops, threats of starvation and no money, and even the death of their dog. Yet, there is some sunshine as they meet up with another family halfway through who become their travel mates for a while. As the Joads enter California, they eventually find refuge at a government camp for migrant families looking for work. However, their luck is minimal as they know they can't stay and continue on, looking for better work and wages. This brings them to their last stop in the novel which isn't any better than the last few. Steinbeck leaves the readers almost wishing they hadn't even read the book, because there is no solitude for either the Joads or the readers.

I gave this novel two stars, because it did not appeal to me. The story itself was depressing; it starts out sad, gets worse, and ends even more sad than it started. The bad plot doesn't make the novel any better, either. The book is literally just about a family riding in a car, looking for work. Another big factor was the writing style. I don't know if this novel is an example of all of Steinback's writing, but only half the novel was actually about the Joad family. The chapters alternated between the Joad family story and a story about migrants in general. This approach wasn't appealing. I found the book to have a very slow start, and once it started moving along, the chapters about the migrants just seemed to be in the way, prolonging the story for nothing. I wouldn't recommend this book, unless you're a fan of Steinbeck.

Rating:
Summary: John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
Review: Hello!
I'm Betti from hungary, I need for a help. I'Ve read the novel, The grapes of wrath by John Steinbeck and I need a very good title or idea about which I can write a 30 pages long essay connected to this novel. If somebody has a good idea please send it to my email address: [e-mail]
Thank you very much!

Rating:
Summary: A Sure Thing
Review: Since I tend toward family sagas that take place over a long period of time (Prince of Tides, East of Eden, Bark of the Dogwood), I naturally gravitated toward this book. It's not only one of the best-written novels that this country has produced, but an excellent documentation of a part of American history, albeit a sad one. Though dealing with the dust bowl, there's little in this book that is dry. While I wouldn't call it a page-turner, it definitely will keep your interest in more ways than one. But the most explosive and emotionally charged scene in the book is saved for last. It's a scene that will engrave itself on your mind. It sounds cliche to call this a classic, but that's exactly what it is. I would also recommend that those interested in "Grapes" read Jackson McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" and Conroy's "Prince of Tides."

Rating:
Summary: ...the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy.
Review: Interpretation of great American literature usually requires some perspective...indeed one must have lived a large portion of life to fully appreciate it's hardships. This philosophy is never more evident than when considering John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". At once a testament to human fortitude while also a study for the historian to obtain a more humanistic perspective on the Great Depression, Steinbeck achieves a sort of literary pantheon with this timeless classic.

This is the story of the everyday mid-western crop farmer during the great "dust-bowl" tragedy of the Depression. Forced by economic and personal factors to disband their farms and land (leaving generations of family history behind), they head to California to start anew with the promise of economic stability. Alas, this notion is soon discovered to be false as life there becomes even more destitute than the one that they have just left. Steinbeck's fictitious Joad family most assuredly mirrors the many similar groups that actually made this treck across a suddenly barren mid-western United States. Hardships and sorrows accrue as their savings run out and the promise of work becomes an ever lengthening ideal. Steinbeck presents a tome that emphatically enforces this personal sorrow while maintaining a fast paced novel thats unique in literary circles. Historical accuracy is never compromised as Steinbeck keeps the State and Federal governments' skewed Depression Era's economic policies at the forefront of the story and shows how these mis-guided actions indirectly become the driver for Franklin Roosevelts "New Deal" policies.

The overriding virtue of this work, however, is Steinbeck's ability to take the reader along and make him a part of the story. Time and again, I truly felt the compelling sadness and overwhelming desperation of the Joads plight and when this is coupled with the incredible "readability" of the story, one can see why this work has long been considered "the great American novel". Having half-heartedly read this in high-school, I'd submit that it should be re-read by those who now have families and responsibilities...a new appreciation will most assuredly be gained and I give this my highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: The book to read if you read one anually
Review: As staged in the 1920¡¦s, Steinbeck starts with a subtle beginning. A slow developing plot, but worth while if you be patient. This book is definitely worth the time and effort, if you read a book once a year. A mixture of both intimidation and desperation sets fills your mind, and entices you to continue reading. The Joads, a family of four from Oklahoma, are on a journey westward toward California, with grandpa and grandma, after a famine sets over and destroys most of their crops. As the story continues on, the Joads realize that death and hatred pay a significant part out of their country. Death was the biggest cost from reaching their goal. Many family members died, and so, the family started to question the destiny. Being intimidated and threatened treason from the other states, the Joads feel despised. There is only one communication that Steinbeck wants to communicate, ¡¥the hard workers survive¡¦. The weak does not. The perseverance and indifference from the other people create this silence war from other states. Some where nice folks and some didn¡¦t crack a smile at all. People not only scorn them, but actually refuse to serve them. As a book, it would be one of the most memorable one, and to compensate the slow pace, the conclusion. The Great Depression brought many people down, and this is actually what life was during that time.
It is fairly a nice body, with many uses of southern accented language. Steinbeck should be famous for using all those apostrophes and accents, which I would never know how to do it. ¡§I ain¡¦t got nothin¡¦ for you, boy,¡¨ quotes the Joads, as an example.
The ending was actually quite a shock. It was like, ¡¥then I woke up and it was all a dream¡¦ endings. I don¡¦t want to spoil it, and certainly I wouldn¡¦t tell you. It was abrupt and unexpected. A must read to all people of all ages, but beware; you are in for many surprises.