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Loading... The Grapes of Wrath 75th Anniversary Edition (original 1939; edition 2014)by John Steinbeck (Author)
Work InformationThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Author) (1939)
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I am at a little bit of a loss to describe just how profoundly this book has impacted my perspective of this time period and of life in general. All at once it portrays the most ugly and the most beutiful aspects of humanity and has left me in awe of the precision with which Steinbeck paints his portriat with mere words. ( ) I last read this book several decades ago when I was in high school. I had put off re-reading it because I remembered it as a hard book emotionally. After decades of life experience, I didn't find it to be the gut punch it was when I was a teenager, but I still wore the book somewhat. What I either didn't remember or, more likely, didn't comprehend about this book years ago was just how important Ma Joad is to the story. The importance of women not only in a family but in dealing with life as it comes is emphasized by Steinbeck beautifully. The one thing I remembered from my first reading was the final scene with Rose of Sharon. I cried then and I cried again today about how it emphasized the humanity of these characters. I believe it was Ma Joad earlier in the book who declared (and I paraphrase), "Only the poor will help the poor." The book is both about man's inhumanity to man and man's humanity to man, and the need to keep forging ahead without knowing which of those you will face next. Late thoughts and consequently a little less coherent. Steinbeck gets polemical, but I don't fault him in the slightest. Honestly, I don't know the mindset that would be offended by this; I could only get guilt at my ignorance and complicity. I think the scary part is the recognition of the same capitalistic impulses around us today, the xenophobia, the sense of dignity and defeat that characterises the Joads and their fellow migrants. I've read some who thought the ending was abrupt, but I feel that betrays the desire for a neat conclusion, a happy ending, some grand finale. There was no real happy ending to the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, only war; people just died, and those who killed them spewed their indignation as they continue to do now. If there's one thing that bothers me, lacking the Christian fervor, it's that I don't think the hope and threat in the title came to pass, not in the novel and certainly not in real life. The grapes of wrath didn't grow heavy in the souls of the people, mine eyes have not seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, and deliverance from oppression will not be automatic. Read this, build some empathy, and decide what you're going to do about it. A fictional telling of the fate encountered by countless families during the great depression, The Grapes of Wrath takes the reader on a journey of degradation and subsequent diminishing of a social setup deemed obsolete by the rise of industrialization and urbanization. The novel features a rural farming family in the dust bowl whose members are forced out towards the urban areas in search of livelihood. John Steinbeck pulls no punches as he accusingly points his finger to the several elements responsible for the dehumanization of the American society through the eyes of the protagonists. The book features versatile, fleshed-out protagonists, each of whom has a meaningful arc. The unique narrative style of this novel also acquaints the reader with the geographical and social setup of each stop during the journey of the protagonists, which not only helps preserve history, but also ensures that readers across generations will have proper context without feeling detached from the story. Filled with moments of serenity, happiness, sadness, and displays of unity and perseverance through tough times, The Grapes of Wrath is truly one of the most complete novels I've read, and I'm glad I used this as an entry point into American Literature.
Seventy years after The Grapes of Wrath was published, its themes – corporate greed, joblessness – are back with a vengeance. ... The peaks of one's adolescent reading can prove troughs in late middle age. Life moves on; not all books do. But 50 years later, The Grapes of Wrath seems as savage as ever, and richer for my greater awareness of what Steinbeck did with the Oklahoma dialect and with his characters. This is the sort of book that stirs one so deeply that it is almost impossible to attempt to convey the impression it leaves. It is the story of today's Exodus, of America's great trek, as the hordes of dispossessed tenant farmers from the dust bowl turn their hopes to the promised land of California's fertile valleys. The story of one family, with the "hangers-on" that the great heart of extreme poverty sometimes collects, but in that story is symbolized the saga of a movement in which society is before the bar. What an indictment of a system — what an indictment of want and poverty in the land of plenty! There is flash after flash of unforgettable pictures, sharply etched with that restraint and power of pen that singles Steinbeck out from all his contemporaries. There is anger here, but it is a deep and disciplined passion, of a man who speaks out of the mind and heart of his knowledge of a people. Belongs to Publisher SeriesDelfinserien (162) dtv (10474) — 23 more Gallimard, Folio (83-7343) Keltainen kirjasto (11) Keltainen pokkari (25) Lanterne (L 272) Nobelpreisträger Coron-Verlag (weiß) (1962 (USA)) Penguin Modern Classics (833) Tascabili [Bompiani] (496) Zephyr Books (28) Is contained inContainsHas the adaptationIs abridged inWas inspired byInspiredHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
"Traces the migration of an Oklahoma Dust Bowl family to California and their subsequent hardships as migrant farm workers."--Amazon.com. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.52Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1900-1944LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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