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Loading... The Grapes of Wrath (original 1939; edition 2002)by John Steinbeck
Work InformationThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Author) (1939)
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While a classic, this book just was not satisfying for me. Maybe it's because I've read so much about the Great Depression and the Okie migration, I feel this book stereotypes them. I think I "hear" Steinbeck preaching throughout the book "Rich is bad, poor is good." Yeah, Steinbeck, the Okies set up really safe and socially just camps, eh? The ending was also less than satisfying; but then, there isn't always justice, is there? Too long! What I liked: great feeling of time and place. ( ) This is justifiably an out and out classic of 20th century American and indeed world literature. It tells of the migration of impoverished tenant farmers westwards from the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma to a supposedly better future in California. Alternating chapters detail the travels and experiences of the extended Joad family, with every other chapter containing more general descriptions of the experiences of the broader mass migration westwards. The style is very matter of fact in describing the struggles of the Joads as they move across the country, losing members of their party to death (two grandparents) and desertion (one son, one son-in-law), and their increasingly desperate search for work of any description and to get enough food to feed their party. They move through a succession of camps of varying quality and face provocations from the police and local populations in many areas, denounced as "Okies" swarming into California causing civil disorder and labour unrest, and even preaching "red revolution" merely for wanting to find the dignity of adequately paid labour to feed their families. A monumental and moving work. It was long and the characters could sometimes go over and over the same issues and using the same dialogue: for example, Rosasharn bemoaning her absent husband Connie. Nevertheless, and in spite of the omniscient POV, it was very riveting and beautiful; for writers, it's a case study of omniscient, using rhythm to imitate singing, and many other craft techniques. It’s hard to find something to say about The Grapes of Wrath that hasn’t been said, but I’m still going to give it a go. It’s amazing how relevant this book is to major issues today – cost of living, migration, government assistance, banks and big companies, increased automation and just trying to make it through when everything is against you. I really felt for the Joads and everything they went through in the book. The lack of an ending to their plight also makes this book more haunting. The story is set in the 1930s as the ‘Dust Bowl’ storms and drought make life difficult for the Joad family and their neighbours in Oklahoma. Their son Tom, just released from prison, finds the family farm abandoned after the Joads were forced to leave. Tractors and big business are taking over, and they (nor the banks) care for the humans on it. It’s about money and the companies and banks are relentless in their pursuit of it at all costs. Along with a former preacher, the Joad family leave for California like many other families after hearing about the great weather, growing conditions and plentiful work. What they don’t know is how many thousands of families from the region have the same idea and how big business is taking over the Californian agricultural industry. A reasonable amount of the novel is dedicated to their trip on Route 66 in a secondhand ‘truck’ (I think Australians would be more likely to call it a ute) and the tragedies, losses and problems that come along their way. If you are familiar with the cars of the 1920s and 30s and their basic mechanics, there is a lot here to entertain the reader as Steinbeck knows his engines. Interspersed with the Joad family’s pilgrimage are shorter chapters taking a wider view of what is happening to America from multiple perspectives – the tractors, roadside diner operators, business owners, rich people and the Californians in residence. It gives a lot of perspective, particularly reading the story from a historical perspective rather than a contemporary one. Although there are kindnesses shared, usually between those who have very little, the book is rife with cruelty. The migrants are very poor, at times too poor to eat with their families starving. Elderly relatives can’t afford to be buried as registering a death costs money, so they are buried in unmarked graves in the wilderness. The migrants also experience a lot of prejudice from the locals, who treat them with suspicion and later anger as the oversupply of workers drives down wages. The business owners see them as labour that gets cheaper and cheaper. The law also sees them as a nuisance and many times deputy sheriffs try to raise the people’s ire in order to arrest them and give move on notices. The government is largely absent in the story, with the exception of some time the Joads spend in a camp. It’s a happier time, but all too short as the work disappears when the fruit and vegetables are picked. The Grapes of Wrath is not a happy story. Just when the reader thinks things can’t get worse for the Joads, they do and in more cruel and sadder ways. Everything is against them from other humans to the weather. Steinbeck creates fascinating characters with their own faults that you can’t help but wish for something better for. Every word is worth reading and savouring over and it begs the question – have humans really come that far nearly 90 years later? Or do we continue man’s inhumanity to man in the name of capitalism? This should be an essential read for everyone in these times so we can try to be better. http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
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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