Rating: 
Summary: Most Moving Book Ever Written
Review: When I read the last page of this book I was stunned in a way that is hard to describe. I have never had such a deep emotional reaction to any book before or since. Just read it. It's an incredible experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Pass the Prozac
Review: Let me preface this review by saying that I absolutely LOVE Steinbeck. I would consider him one of my five favorite authors. I think East of Eden is one of my favorite books of all time. I especially like Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat. I even liked The Wayward Bus. HOWEVER, having said that, I must say that I cannot handle The Grapes of Wrath. My tolerance for pain is not nearly high enough. I have to be honest - I've never actually read the entire book. It's much to difficult to read through the tears in my eyes. I am sure that it is, like most of his other novels, a well-written, fascinating account of the lives of some very interesting people. I simply cannot willingly subject myself to such abject despair. I read novels for enjoyment, and I don't enjoy the feeling of having my heart pulled apart piece by piece, page by page. Undoubtedly it is to Steinbeck's great credit that he is able to draw that kind of emotion out of a person through simple words on a page. Only one or two books have ever been able to move me in that way. Unfortunately, it is not a feeling I desire. Perhaps I'm overly sensitive. The book made me want to open up a vein, but apparently millions of people loved it...
Rating:
Summary: excellent all around
Review: Steinbeck is a wonderful writer and extremely thoughtful in writing this book. he incorporates several different aspects and allusions including biblical ones, marx, emerson into the book without making the story heavy or boring. there are many different symbols, ideas, and themes of steinbeck in this book and one cannot help but appreciate how much work steinbeck has put into it, and how he intertwines it all in a perfect ending. steinbeck uses interchapters between plot chapters to explain symbolism and key ideas. he also has a great style and is quite a literary genius.
Rating: 
Summary: Personal Favorite
Review: I am a high school student, and i had to read this book for my english class. This book is very accurate in depicting the events that occured when the great depression was at its peak. It is easy to read, steinbeck does not use big words :) . I would recommend this book for any american reader!
Rating:
Summary: Where are you from?
Review: A thousand years from now this book book will be in the Bible, like Job. ... If you're a high school student forced to read this for a class, forget it. It won't mean a thing to you. But if you have children and parents dependent on you, only a paycheck away from disaster month after month, this book will resonate with your rage.
Rating:
Summary: American Dream and Reality
Review: This book absolutely strikes at the core of the American spirit. We, like the Joads, are all immigrants. Their story is the story of America. The migration from Oklahoma to California mirrors the migration from Europe and Asia to America. We all have a common bond with the "Okies." While Steinbeck does seem to propose a collective style economy in several of his works, he also is able to identify the fierce individualism that has allowed a nation of immigrants to survive and prosper in a harsh and unsettled land. I think that he is off the mark in demonizing the haves and glorifying the have-nots. The true story lies in the battle of the just against the unjust. The struggle between givers and takers. There are good and evil on both sides. I did not especially care for the ending. I would have preferred that he follow Tom to some sort of climax as he stood out as the central figure all along. Of course, Ma was equally important and worthy of attention. In summary, we have become a soft people. We have forgotten the struggles and hardships that were overcome by our ancestors so that they might simply survive. There is, most likely, a strong spirit within most of us today. Unfortunatley, this spirit is buried very deep and held down by our numerous creature comforts and distractions. The Joads, and all of those like them, were no better than the rest of us. The circumstances of their lives, the proximity to mortality, forced their spirit to the surface. To me, the importance of this book is that it causes the reader to take a breath and to reflect on the struggles that we all are confronted with. We all have our desert to cross. We are all the same no matter how hard we try to be different.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing literary adventure
Review: What amazes me about this book is the writing. Steinbeck was a wizard of desription and characterization. His book challenges you to see the world with new eyes- the unfairness of things as well as the beauty of small gestures. I am shocked by some of the negative Amazon reviews. It appears that some of those writing have no concept about the ideas presented in this novel or are in denial about American history. But getting back to this book: read it slowly, linger over Tom and Ma and Rose of Sharon and their sorrows, their daily sacrifices. There is nothing boring here but you will be challenged as to your religious and political stances. The Joads are America itself. Powerful stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Poor and Dusty Road's
Review: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck took place in Oklahoma. Steinbeck shows many classic examples of the events in the 1930's. For an example how farmers in the Dust Bowl suffered not only from the drought but the Depression also. I liked how Steinbeck is always paying attention to detail when he describes the family's and the living conditions.
The 1930's was a very bad time for this nation. I think that Steinbeck not only shows the Depression setting but also what they done in order to survive. Steinbeck gives many examples of how the family's lived and their everyday lives. I think that this is important because unless you lived during the 1930's you wouldn't know how things were.
He gives many examples along the journeys of the family's life from their home place to search for more work to feed their families. By doing this it gives the reader a glimpse of how they might have had to live if they lived during that time period. Sometimes it feels as if you are right there on the journey with the families. Like the world today only the strong survived the Depression in the 1930's. Some of the events that happen in The Grapes of Wrath are very sad and touching all at once.
I suggest that if you want to learn about the Depression and the 1930's this is the book to read. It is not only is packed full of examples but takes you along with the family's journey for success in California. This book will make you glad that you're not in the Joad family's shoes.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece
Review: Most people read this book for the first time in an english class. Thus they have to read it fast and they don't get as much out of it. I did not. I chose to read this book, partly because I had heard more good than bad about it, partly because though it was in the 50's, my dad took route 66 from Missouri to California, but the main reaso I read The Grapes of Wrath is because after I got out of High School I wanted to read Literature finally at my own pace, and mainly read the books I never did in school.
I dont think I would have liked this book had I had to read it in school because it is 600+ pages but I tell you this. The Grapes of Wrath is the best book I've ever read, and Steinbeck is far up if not the best American author of all time. This book can be compared to Huck Finn. Poor folk, some in trouble with the law make an odessy to a new place, far away. The thing that separates the Steinbeck from Twain is that in this book there were chapters, almost every other one, that didn't pertain to the Joads. They were more an generalized vignette of expiriences that happened to many families who made this journey. May it be lack of food and water on the road or the dustbowl storms destroying a corn crop.
Steinbeck weaves characters like a master and Tom Joad's final speech will live on in my mind forever: "Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever they's a cop beatin' up some guy, I'll be there.... An when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build-why, I'll be there."
In short, this book is fantastic, one of the best and a must read for anyone. It is a great story of a family's strife against the elments, struggle for enough money to live, and their belief in the good things getting them by.
Rating:
Summary: A Dissapointing Book
Review: The Grapes of Wrath may be to many people a triumph of American storytelling, but I found it to very stale and overwrought. This may be due solely to the fact that I do not enjoy Steinbeck's writing style, but I think it is also because he pushes the story to the limit, and in essence milks all of the entertaining qualities of his characters to death way before the story is over. While the Grapes of Wrath has several 'nuggets' of brilliance (my favorite one involving a Native American chief), they are so swamped in boring sub-plots and narratives that switch back and forth that the novel can hardly be considered a masterpiece. By the end of the 619 pages you hardly care what happens to the Joad family, just as long as the darn thing is over with. In short, while I hate to discourage those who think this book is a triumph of 'American perseverance', I have to say that if you really want to know about the Dust Bowl (which is actually a fascinating period in history) read a history book, not this novel.
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