The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) | John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) | John Steinbeck | Classic for Good Reason

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The Grapes of Wrat...

	The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition) John Steinbeck Penguin (Non-Classics), 2002 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 588 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Forced from their home, the Joad family is lured to California to find work; instead they find disillusionment, exploitation, and hunger.

A master at his craft!

I just finished reading "The Grapes of Wrath." Steinbeck's simple but poetic prose shows a mastery of subtlety and expertise. The dialog was very believable and realistic. The period in which J. Steinbeck wrote as did Hemingway was the realism movement, which never really strayed too long into what the characters were thinking or feeling. The characters words on the surface is what portrayed who they were and Steinbeck expertly reveals all of them, even down to his tertiary characters, Ruthie and Winfield. Ma Joad and Tom are beautifully realized as was Casey the former preacher.

If I have any quibble with the story, it's some of the chapters, which were a little too polemical and didactic. I felt Steinbeck trying too hard to drive his personal beliefs down my throat about "The Man versus the corporation and big business." Overall however, I still came away with great admiration for what he tried to accomplish with this story, considering we had just come out of the Depression only about five or six years later followed by the destructive Dust Bowls, created by man.

I now understand why this novel is considered in such high esteem by so many experts and admirers of fiction. "The Grapes of Wrath" is truly one of the great American novels!

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Classic for Good Reason

I thought The Grapes of Wrath was entertaining, depressing, and inspiring all at once - a little long at times, but still a great read. Basically, it's hard to feel sorry for yourself and easier to feel sympathy for others when you're reading from this book every morning. I hope people continue to read The Grapes of Wrath for a long time; it's a reminder of how lucky we are right now, how quickly things can go wrong, and how important it is to be kind to one another and preserve a sense of community. The beginning drags a little bit, but the rest of the book is worth it. Great book.

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A top classic of American History...but some weaknesses

I love this book for a variety of reasons, and I'll share these before offering my criticisms:

1) Wonderful tale of a painful time and place in American history

2) Great characters - and powerful bonding between them. I loved their ability to sacrifice for each other - at great costs.

3) A metaphorically redemptive message: this book shows the strength of human perseverance in the face of awful odds

4) Incredible local color - accents, speech, behavior! John Steinbeck really knew his stuff, and brought it to LIFE! Kudos!

5) Beautiful writing - so many times Steinbeck wrote scenes that sing off the page, transcending the story, the characters, and himself

6) I just love Steinbeck's character of Preacher Casy. He adds such a strong dimension of honesty, emotional courage, and truth-seeking to the book... He's one of my favorite characters in all of literature.

My criticisms:

1) Having previously read this book fifteen years ago, I learned then that the "filler" chapters - the ones NOT about the Joad family - were unnecessary to the story, so I skipped them this time around. This made the book infinitely more readable and enjoyable. I would guess these skippable chapters account for about a third of the book's volume...

2) I found the ending cheesy - didn't like it fifteen years ago, and still don't. I won't go into details (don't want to be a spoiler), but I found it too intellectual and emotionally disconnected to the pulse of the story...
3) Steinbeck uses various of his characters (particularly Preacher Casy) to make all sorts of philosophical comments on life, but never does he state the obvious, much less come near it with a ten-foot pole: DON'T HAVE SO MANY KIDS! The whole book is about people trying desperately to feed their children - for whom they cannot provide. To me this leaves the parents - sharecroppers, who, at the best of times, had life REALLY hard - and not just society, responsible. Even ONE little comment to this effect would have been welcomed. Yet has anything changed since the 1930s? Does anyone suggest that starving adults in Darfur not have children? (Or the EMOTIONALLY starving adults right here in the rich USA???)

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The Grapes of Wrath

The book came in great condition and in a timely manner. It was a pleasure doing business with this seller on Amazon.com

[Good] required reading

Yup, I'm one of the freaks who actually likes this book, despite my roommate's information that it is highly melodramaticized. I don't care. I think it's great writing, and I love the interspersing stories that have nothing to do with the plot, and yet are so insightful.

Sorry, but I was actually touched.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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