PENGUIN The Grapes of Wrath

No, I actually really must be missing something. This is supposed to be iconic 20th century American literature and people rave about this book. However, I was quite disappointed.The majority of the book is reported speech and the dialect is rural 1930s mid-West America. I generally had to read each sentence or paragraph 2 or 3 times before I understood which is more of a review of me than the book but it needs to be said. I find reading French easier than reading this book. The other style used by Steinbeck is a monologue of one of the characters thinking...which is a nice twist but it all went on for far too long for me at over 500 pages. I'm sure this review will cause offence to the literary gurus should they happen to read it but this is my honest experience of the book.

I’ve been working through Steinbeck this year, after finally picking up my edition of Of Mice And Men, that I only bought because my friend did the photography for the cover.I’d been putting of this and East of Eden simply because I am intimidated by long books.Well I finally grabbed the nettle of Grapes a few weeks ago.It is extraordinary. So prescient. So relevant. The story is fiction, and yet entirely truth. The appalling treatment of the families moving west. The lies they were sold by the handbills. The hate they encountered. The fear of the Californians.The treatment of them is not dissimilar to the treatment of the slaves of the south. But in microcosm instead of over 100s of years of course.The books is frequently hopeless, but also frequently funny, uplifting and empowering.Everyone should read it. Especially Chapter 19. Which tells a story so familiar it’s chilling.

I was put off reading this "Classic" for many years having read Steinbeck's "King Arthur & the Knights" and "Travels with Charley" which I thought were very unimpressive. It turns out, of course, that The Grapes of Wrath is indeed a true classic. Makes you angry at how families and individuals were crushed under the wheels of capitalism's "progress" and just as relevant today as it was then. This book has ignited my interest in reading more of Steinbeck and I realise that my first two samples of his work were perhaps poor examples compared to the power of Grapes of Wrath.

This is a monumental work, testifying to and celebrating human resilience and the power of cooperation and solidarity to overcome incredible hardship and discrimination.A moving social history of the social and economic effects of the Great Depression, Steinbeck discusses many issues familiar to the contemporary reader. Environmental destruction, unemployment caused by mechanisation and the ruthless exploitation of the plentiful poor workforce as well as discrimination and police brutality are all themes which are all too relevant today.Steinbeck is also a gifted topographical writer, painting vivid images of the landscape of Oklahoma and California. His writing mourns the severing of the link between the individual and the land.He also recognises the pivotal role of women (Ma Joad) in the family and society, using metaphor to contrast the differing ability of men and women to cope with life.He also offers an interesting treatise on religion, guilt and control of the individual. The existential journey of Casey is fascinating in this respect.

I read this book 45 years ago but wanted to read it again in my ageing years. I forgot most of it so it was rather like reading it anew. For me, it remains a classic masterpiece. The author gives an account of the Joad family from 1930s Oklahoma. Ravaged by soil erosion they were forced off their farm and tried to seek a better life in California. It is a sad tale of human endurance in a world set against them at every turn. Beautifully written, the characters involved are deeply set in my imagination. At some points, the book is rather biblical and perhaps tells us that people tend to seek religion when in they are in dire straits. J. Casey’s entry into the narrative is a case in point. I cannot say I enjoyed reading it since it is such a sad story but I would recommend it to anyone wishing to see humanity at its lowest albeit survivable point. It’s thoroughly memorable. Incidentally the rather long foreword by Robert DeMott is really not worth reading.