The Grapes of Wrath

Rating:
Summary: The Yardstick
Review: If you are reading this review, along with the 400 or so others, you obviously understand the magnitude of this book. It is all worth it, worth the read again and again.
Chapter 14 is all the world needs. Thanks John . . .

Rating:
Summary: Truely one of the greatest American novels
Review: I had John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath sitting on my bookshelf for several years and always wanted to read it. I started it one summer, but only got about twenty pages or so into it before I gave up. I didn't get back to The Grapes of Wrath until my freshman year of college when I had to read it for a Geography class. I wasn't sure why the book was assigned for Geography, but was glad that I finally had an excuse to read through the book. It was assigned at the begining of the semester, and I think that I finished it about a month before we even started talking about it.

This book deserves every bit of praise that it has recieved. It tells the story of the Joad family, "Okies" who are journeying to California after their farm has been destroyed by both the effects of "The Dust Bowl" and the attempts of the United States government to control crop prices. At first, they believe that the "Golden state" is abundant with oppertunaties; Grampa is so excited that he says he wants to smash grapes all over his face when he gets to California. Yet soon all their hopes turn sour. Their trip exposes the rural farm family to the hardships of literally surviving during a time of economic downfall. The Joads experience loss of several family members and blique hopes for steady employment when they finally reach California; yet by the novel's end Steinbeck ensures that the Joads--and all the migrant farm workers in general--will continue to endure. Steinbeck inspired the characters in The Graphes of Wrath with heartfelt emotion, and by reading it you will truely experience their difficulties.

A unique characteristic of the novel is that it contains "interlude" chapters after every narrative chapter or two. These chapters describe the the overall effects of others during The Dust Bowl and weave their way into the events of the Joads themselves. The first interlude chapter about the turtle is quite interesting and serves as a symbol of the story overall.

This book is a must read for anyone and can be interpreted on quite a few different levels, including an allegory of the journey to the promised land. There are even a few funny jokes that I underlined in my text to remember. Although the novel may not imediately seem all that interesting, stick with it because it is worth finishing.

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest Books of All Time
Review: Truly one the greatest books of all time, and my favorite book as well, from my favorite author. This book has two different chapter styles, one is the traditional story, the other is strange, poetic observational view of the immigrants plight as a whole and the twisted, corrupt world they must live through. The story begins with Tom Joad returning to his home in Oklahoma from prison. When he gets home however, he finds his family kicked off their farmland. Since the family before their eviction had been getting notices from california that made California seem like some kind of utopia full of food, long green fields, and happiness seeping from the land. So the family, along with some other people, head on to California across the country. Along the way however, the family witness trauma, injustice, and hardships as they head onward to California. And when they finally get there, they recieve even more pain and agony, and are constantly geeting abused by the oppression and injustice forced upon them by everyone else around them, from the law enforcers, to the regular California citizens.

This book is not quite for the light of heart, or the hopeful and optimistic, and possibly conservative. This book hits you heavy, and leaves you in a glum, melancholy state. Any glimpse of hope or happiness found within the dark confines of this book is ripped apart, raped, and thrown into the infinite blackness within these pages. John himself that he wanted the reader to not quite feel satisfied but rather deppressed and sad after reading this book, And John succeeds greatly. John, who I consider the king of character emotion and development in literature, perfectly paints the dark and twisted world he set out to create, and has perfect characters to inhibatit it to boot. I won't tell you about anything else so you can read the book in a comftorble cloud of uncertainty, But prepare to see characters strained and twisted and bent under the injustice they must endure, as well as characters who break under it all.

The other style of chapters in this book is interesting and further establishes this book's identity. It is a poetic style of prose that observes the plight of the immigrants as a whole, from their land evictions, to finding a car with the little money they have, to the journey westward and the perils that follow it, the the pain they must enudre in California. These chapters hit you so hard that you may find yourself recuperating from the book and laying down on the couch, resting your fractured head. This just makes the book all the more disturbing in its power.

Besides the fact that this book does drag on a little bit in a few parts, I can't really think of a problem with it. I have heard that some people (Mostly rule following scholars and other people of such a type) din't like it because of the book bring too sentimental, and the talkin' style of the Joads and immigrants was a littl' stupid or somethin' like that. I for one found the dialogue interestng, and anybody that thinks this book overtly sentamental is most likely an emotionally hardened, cold person. A true classic.

Rating:
Summary: Better than Harry Potter
Review: Grapes of Wrath may look daunting at first but it, like most Steinbeck, is very easy reading and well worth the read. The book is one of the major landmarks of American Literature and has permeated our entire culture and served as the voice of those striving to move west during the Dust Bowl and, even more so, the American spirit. Preacher Casey and Tom Joad have become classic characters and have even been the subject of many songs by the likes of Woody Guthrie and Bruce Springsteen.

When you're reading this you're a piece of American history at its finest and most tragic. Steinbeck paints a wonderful picture of the human condition against the back drop of one of the most interesting, exciting, yet tragic times of American history. If you're looking for a long, easy read pick Grapes of Wrath over Harry Potter and you'll certainly get your reward at the end.

Rating:
Summary: Time is working against this book
Review: One of the most important rules for writers is to write about what you know. John Steinbeck was not a migrant farm worker. True, he RESEARCHED them. But that's not the same as being one. And it really shows in this book. The characters seem contrived and phony, and the dialogue is really awful. In the dialogue, Steinbeck breaks another rule: Don't try to imitate dialect in writing dialogue. Use the telling dialect word occasionally, but don't go through the whole darned book writing things like "We'll thinka sumpin."

"The Grapes of Wrath" is an interesting slice of the American past: the depression and the horrific plight of the displaced Okies.

By the way, I studied John Steinbeck for my senior author's report way back in 1963. I always felt that "East of Eden" was my favorite among his books, along with the stories about Monterey and his life as a marine biologist. I just opened this book up three days ago, after many many years of being away from it, and was kind of shocked by what I found. Creaky old stuff. It's probably time for English teachers to stop forcing this down the throats of young readers. You'd do much better with "Madame Bovary" or something well-written.

Rating:
Summary: A literary portrait of the necessity of unions
Review: I write this review from the perspective of a union-side labor attorney. Prior to reading this novel, I only knew that the subject of the novel was a group of "Okies" (dust-bowl farmers from Oklahoma) and their struggle to survive the Great Depression. However, that is just the protagonists' starting point. From these origins, the Joad family is evicted from their nearly worthless farmland and are forced to travel westward to California. California to the Joad family--and thousands of families like them--is a promised land of milk and honey. As they continue to travel and ultimately arrive in California, they discover it is anything but a promised land.

And here is where Steinbeck's utter rage shines through. The Joad family (and thousands of families like theirs) travels to California because they have seen flyers proclaiming the need for grape pickers, peach pickers, cotton pickers, etc. The flyer states that 500 pickers are needed. In reality, only 250 pickers are needed. Additionally, the printers of these flyers (the greedy farm corporations, replacing the individual farmers) distribute these flyers to far more than 500 people. Thousands and thousands of people receive the flyers, creating the farm corporations' dream come true--a glut of starving workers fighting for any job they can get.

Therefore, the starving workers undercut each other. While one worker says he will work for $.25 per day, the other worker who is hungrier says that if he gets the job, he will only require $.20 per day. The vicious cycle continues. The rich get richer, and the workers starve. And the outbidding is really the best time of the year--in the winter, there is no work and hence no bidding or money. Whenever anyone talks about organizing the workforce, he is labeled a "red" and either put on a blacklist or killed on the spot.

This book is really a rallying cry for the necessity of unions. There are people who now say that unions have served their purpose and are no longer necessary. To that, I must respond that those people do not really understand the watchdog effect of unions.

It seems that people remember "The Jungle" as more of a tribute to unions than "The Grapes of Wrath." I have read "The Jungle" also, and while I think it is a great book and a very important one, it lacks the literary finesse of Steinbeck. Both books are stories of rage, but Steinbeck's prose is beautiful, haunting, both mournful and intensely angry. As he writes an indictment of the farming corporations, he also writes a love song to America, highlighting the beauty of its land and the bravery and kindness of its people. The Joad family is overwhelmingly good even in the face of one of the cruelest chapters of American history. The last paragraph of the novel both breaks your heart and renews your faith in humanity.

Rating:
Summary: Good novel
Review: I read Grapes of Wrath just out of interest when I saw it sitting on a bookstore shelf, it wasn't part of my school ciriculum or anything of the sort. I found it was not really entertaining and at times it's not really a page turner, but you will want to read till the end to see what happens.
The problem I have with GoW is that it repeats the same monotonous message over and over again. The same lesson, the same insight, the same issue. While this may be effective in driving home to the reader the fact that the migrant situation during the depression had a far reaching and catastrophic impact on certain americans and the segregation there was in the community, I just wish I didn't need to know the same details constantly.
Steinbeck did do a great job of creating a wonderfully written (sometimes poetic, especially inbetween chapters) story with wonderful characters but I do see areas where there could have been improvement. There is little description in a characters actions or movements. While you may feel what the character is going through, it can be a little more difficult to 'see' whats going on as Steinbeck was sparse with descriptions. If that's his writing style then so be it, I didn't really like that about the novel.
GoW throws the reader through problem after problem, with only the strength of will of Tom and his mother keeping the family glued together, you do feel the injustice and hardships that they experienced, and the vain hope that they can obtain a piece of land.
The ending is a bit of a mystery to me, I can't quite catch the metaphor in the last scene but I do see how it works overall. Anyway, if you are interested in tasting a bit of classic work, read GoW. You'll come away satisfied.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: I used to be dubious of the fame that some books have achieved, and wondered if the popularity was often earned. This is one of those famous books we all hear about. I was delighted to find that, not only was the writing beautiful and profound, but the characters seemed life-like, and the story well developed. When reading the story of the Joad's struggle, the only thing that you cannot feel is apathy. I found myself enraged by the atrocities committed against these migrant people.

I honestly believe that 95% of everyone who reads this book will be impressed and, to some degree at least, transformed. Out of my favorite books, this one is probably in my top five.

Rating:
Summary: A Piece of History That's Still Alive
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read, and it certainly is the most American. John Steinbeck shows us the same place every time, but it's a place worth going to, where the hills roll dustily to infinity and the horses run free; where there are men who will never stop "westering"; where men are MEN--something that seems more than a little obvious, but when you compare Steinbeck with other authors you realize it just isn't so. The book centers on one of the most unjust, trying, disgusting (call it what you will) times in America, and by the end you ARE one of the heroes, one of the simple men, one of the hardy westerers who only have each other and know it, but also know that that's all they need. The book is, if anything, far more necessary now, for Steinbeck's breed of men have faded from our America, and only a book like the Grapes of Wrath could ever bring them back. Read it; it's not only worth your while, it's worth America's.

Rating:
Summary: Keeping up with the Joads
Review: This is a wonderful story that will take you on an often painful journey. The characters are so vivid and one can really emapathize for what they are going through. The story tells the larger story of a nation in transformation. No longer will small farmers be able to compete with large corporations. The spirit and determination of Ma is admirable as she maintains perspective and hope in the face of so many tribulations. This is a story of survival and the strength of family.