Name: The Grapes of Wrath
Rating: 3.760608856088561 (542 reviews)
ISBN: 9780670018086

John Steinbeck

Peter Lisca

Text and Criticism

The Grapes of Wrath

Depicts the hardships and suffering endured by the Joads as they journey from Oklahoma to California during the Depression.

I struggled through this just to have it end like that?! That’s not even nice, Steinbeck. Ma is the standout character here- she is the mover and the shaker of the fam’bly. Gritty and an eye-opener, but there are plenty of authors who have done the same, but better. 

Kristen Aiuppa

Furore

Non riesco a descrivere la tristezza che mi ha messo addosso al momento 

Annabella

Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. It tells of the Joad family who travel West in search of the promised land, and find only broken dreams.

I guess there's a reason Steinbeck always comes up in recommended reading lists, this book is masterful. 

Laying bare the very human impacts of capitalism on the populations of the United States in the 1930s. This book is so raw and full of empathy. 

Liam Richardson

I guess there's a reason Steinbeck always comes up in recommended reading lists, this book is masterful. 

Laying bare the very human impacts of capitalism on the populations of the United States in the 1930s. This book is so raw and full of empathy. 

Strongly recommended reading.

Set against he background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who are forced to travel west insearch of work - First published in 1939.

Sarah Sammis

Tobias V. Langhoff

This was an interesting book to read in the current political climate; very probably it's always relevant. Set after the First Red Scare in the US, and during the Great Depression and the start of the New Deal, it's a great historical novel about an American period in particular, but parallels to today's loss of work forces to automation, mass migration in Europe, and of course Trump's rise and support from rural US states, were all in the back of my mind while reading.

Most of all, the novel is about capitalism. It can probably serve as pretty eye-opening for people not familiar with social dumping, union crushing, the role of cops as protectors of the capitalist class, and so on. I understand why people at the time considered it communist propaganda.

There's also a lot of obvious religious imagery, as there also was in East of Eden, the most obvious probably being the initials of the forlorn preacher Jim Casy. The ending also seems pretty religious. I suppose it was in part meant to be a part of the theme of family, which is pervasive throughout; family is the most important bond, but that among the labour migrants, everyone is family.

Steinbeck's prose is second to few. I partly listened to this book as an audiobook narrated by Dylan Baker; at first I disliked his narration but loved his voices and accents, but I ended up very impressed by his interpretation.

Erin Darlyn

I read up to chapter 11, then read reviews and summaries of the book before reading the ending and moving this to my “did not finish” shelf. 

(Note: I had to create a “did not finish” shelf just for this book. I am not the sort to perpetually start reading books only to toss them aside unfinished.)

I could see what the author was doing and appreciated that he accomplished his goal so well but I just have no interest in spending more hours of my life continuing to read the rest of the book. 

The descriptive scenes of the environment are beautifully cinematic in their composition and there is a description of an iron man on an iron monster (a tractor driven by a man who has become little more than a replaceable cog in a wheel) that is so stunningly written that I dog-eared the page so I could easily find it again.

Aside from those two things of note, however, the book has no redeeming qualities. Not every story needs to have a happy ending or to be uplifting or positive or hopeful to be a good one (this one has none of those qualities), but when it is also not in the least bit enjoyable to read, I have a hard time justifying spending time I can never regain on continuing to read it. 

Not one of the characters introduced thus far is at all likable or endearing. Their dialogue is so excessively riddled with profanity that I counted over 80 occurrances before I stopped numbering them (and remember, I only read chapters 1-10). The ending is not at all satisfying and is actually quite strange; perhaps even a little disturbing. 

All in all, this was just not the book for me. There are others that I think far more worthy of the descriptors commonly bestowed upon masterful works, and I could not be happier (or more relieved) to put this book away knowing I shall never finish it so I can move on to another (much better) classic.

maddie

literally the most boring ever (it was for school lol)

‘To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.’

Drought and economic depression are driving thousands from Oklahoma. As their land becomes just another strip in the dust bowl, the Joads, a family of sharecroppers, decide they have no choice but to follow. They head west, towards California, where they hope to find work and a future for their family. But while the journey to this promised land will take its inevitable toll, there remains uncertainty about what awaits their arrival…

Carmen Maria

Lila R E

completing this was a FEAT. steinbeck if you're reading this i do adore you but i'm going to have to take a break from you now <3

Michael Springer

I liked The Grapes of Wrath quite a bit, but I think East of Eden is a better book. This book was a lot of bleakness and darkness, with a conclusion that surprised me but worked very well for the book. That being said, a couple of the characters were developed so slightly that I had trouble keeping track of which one was which. The main four or five characters, however, were all very well developed.

Ioana Kardos

Starting from simple truths such as "the more grace a girl got in her, the quicker she wants to go out in the grass", Steinbeck introduces the reader to the world of immigrants, to the people who were kicked out of their houses by the corporates, people who have experienced tragedy, who have mounted pain and suffering that is beyond human understanding. But they're not angry, they're fond of their folks, but never show it. To others they are the ones who would renounce shoes and clothing, and when even hope is gone, they would have the rifle and nothing else. They have to leave all their belongings, sell them and go away, to unknown and foreign places. But here come some questions: "How can we live without our lives? How will we know it's us without our past?" On the other hand, in the little ones world, empathy for the big brother, who went to prison because he killed another man, makes children fight to be 'the prisoner' in their games. Throughout the book, Steinbeck makes you feel like you're one of them too, gradually feeding the wrath and outrage in his reader's heart. Why wrath? Because there's no way out once you encounter the world of immigrants, of dirty people who live in tents, who seldom take a bath, who would work all day for some bones for soup. You empathise for Tom and hope at least his life would turn out ok, you feel sory for Rose's unborn child but in the end... You finally get to understand that the author's scope is achieved for every reader, because you feel WRATH.

 is an excruciating chronicle of 'mighty' america's downfall that still resonates today. the migrants' suffering is so poignantly written it makes my heart hurt, and i keep thinking about the end of chapter 19 which works as a summary of the entire thing: 'pray god some day kind people won’t all be poor. pray god some day a kid can eat.'

kemi

the grapes of wrath is an excruciating chronicle of 'mighty' america's downfall that still resonates today. the migrants' suffering is so poignantly written it makes my heart hurt, and i keep thinking about the end of chapter 19 which works as a summary of the entire thing: 'pray god some day kind people won’t all be poor. pray god some day a kid can eat.'

Dave | Storyphoria

Full review at:
https://aicpod.com/2022/02/10/john-st...


The Grapes of Wrath brings a beautiful and heartbreaking focus on humanity. Through this story we are given a look at the true power of family, the horror of how far people will go to maintain their positions of power, and ultimately how, no matter what, there is a determination to find a way to survive no matter the cost.

This isn’t a fairy tale with a happily ever after ending.

It’s a dark read that will wear on you as you push through it. But it’s a journey worth taking, if only to gain an appreciation for what that generation of people had to go through in order to simply survive.

Without their determination and grit, OUR generations wouldn’t exist. And this story serves as a tremendous monument of thanks that is worth the journey to experience. Heavy subject matter makes for heavy reading, and this look at the intense brutality of the Great Depression is not to be taken lightly. 

It’s every bit deserving of it’s legendary status, but it is incredibly difficult to get through. A heartbreaking story with moments of beauty that seep through the ever present horrifying darkness and difficulty of life for these characters.

The bottom line is that it’s a grind to get through, even though it’s FULL of masterful, powerful, and beautiful writing from John Steinbeck.

Second time through. Still love this book. Still so very relevant.

Jeffery Battersby

A.L.L.

Excellent, excellent book. I understand why it's a classic. 

More importantly, I understand why it's on so many required reading lists. The Great Depression may have passed, but the conditions of farm workers is still pretty bad in so many places in this country. This book brings home the importance of fighting for better and more fair working conditions. Trade the dust bowl migrants for any migrant worker in the USA and I think your empathy will grow.

The Grapes of Wrath Text and Criticism

Reviews

Highlights