The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)

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When The Grapes of Wrath was published in 1939, America, still recovering from the Great Depression, came face to face with itself in a startling, lyrical way. John Steinbeck gathered the country's recent shames and devastations--the Hoovervilles, the desperate, dirty children, the dissolution of kin, the oppressive labor conditions--in the Joad family. Then he set them down on a westward-running road, local dialect and all, for the world to acknowledge. For this marvel of observation and perception, he won the Pulitzer in 1940.

The prize must have come, at least in part, because alongside the poverty and dispossession, Steinbeck chronicled the Joads' refusal, even inability, to let go of their faltering but unmistakable hold on human dignity. Witnessing their degeneration from Oklahoma farmers to a diminished band of migrant workers is nothing short of crushing. The Joads lose family members to death and cowardice as they go, and are challenged by everything from weather to the authorities to the California locals themselves. As Tom Joad puts it: "They're a-workin' away at our spirits. They're a tryin' to make us cringe an' crawl like a whipped bitch. They tryin' to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on'y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin' a sock at a cop. They're workin' on our decency."

The point, though, is that decency remains intact, if somewhat battle-scarred, and this, as much as the depression and the plight of the "Okies," is a part of American history. When the California of their dreams proves to be less than edenic, Ma tells Tom: "You got to have patience. Why, Tom--us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people--we go on." It's almost as if she's talking about the very novel she inhabits, for Steinbeck's characters, more than most literary creations, do go on. They continue, now as much as ever, to illuminate and humanize an era for generations of readers who, thankfully, have no experiential point of reference for understanding the depression. The book's final, haunting image of Rose of Sharon--Rosasharn, as they call her--the eldest Joad daughter, forcing the milk intended for her stillborn baby onto a starving stranger, is a lesson on the grandest scale. "'You got to,'" she says, simply. And so do we all. --Melanie Rehak

Book Description

One of the greatest and most socially significant novels of the twentieth century, Steinbeck's controversial masterpiece indelibly captured America during the Great Depression through the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads. Intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, tragic but ultimately stirring in its insistence on human dignity, The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is not only a landmark American novel, but it is as well an extraordinary moment in the history of our national conscience.

Dorothy Allison on John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath: "

"John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath is a novel completely of it's time-but that time is as much the concrete nineties as the dust bowl thirties. With language that echoes the poetry of the gospels and characters who cling to simple human decency under the most horrific assaults, it is both a work of social criticism and a celebration of the American character. The Joad family speaks to us of all the homeless and displaced families on our streets today, and to the fears and prejudices that tempt so many of us to close our eyes or look away. In telling the story of the Joads, John Steinbeck has retold the story of this nation. We are not a small mean people, Steinbeck's work proclaims, and to prove it he showed us the courage and grace in the poorest of us."

Customer Reviews:

Powerful, memorable, beautifully written........2007-10-07

I loved this book, period. I was "forced" to read it in high school, and we all know how much teenagers appreciate great American literature. (wink wink.)
I am so glad I decided to pick it up and read it again, because it was as if I'd never laid eyes on the book before. This book is beautifully written, powerful, and heartbreaking. I did not fully realize the plight of the migrant workers in the 1920's and this book made me grow to respect and empathize with the Joad family and others like them.
This book stayed with me for a while after I read it; I kept thinking about it and analyzing it. I couldn't wait for my husband to finish reading it so we could talk about it. If anyone is intimidated by the phrase "classic novel" or has bad memories of being forced to read classics in high school, I strongly urge you to read this book--I read everything from People magazine to Patricia Cornwell to chick lit--and I LOVED this book.

Simply an Amazing Book.......2007-09-11

If you haven't read The Grapes of Wrath, do yourself a huge favor and read it!!! Since it's that good, I can't think of any more words to describe it...

The Grapes of Wrath.......2007-09-06

I read this book in high school and did not pick it up again until I was 50. What a difference a few years makes! This book is about hope while facing incredible challenges. If there is hope, there is life. When the voices of the suffering come together, they simmer, begin to boil and rise up (hence, the wrath of the migrant workers). It is about finding strength in different sources (a mother surfacing as the leader of her family). It is about families circling the wagons and holding onto to each other because often that was all they had. This story has been told many times in the course of history of laborers and is the backbone of the unions. Chapter 29 says it all. Very moving. A must read over and over again.

Politically charged and blatantly biased, but still powerful and affecting .......2007-09-01

Detractors of this novel will tell you that The Grapes of Wrath is melodramatic, contrived, and relentlessly preachy - and I can't argue with them. The Grapes of Wrath is overwrought and about as subtle as a hand grenade, but it is also a powerfully affecting novel. I challenge even the most cynical reader not to be moved (at least a little) by the tragic story of the Joad family.

The novel is often described as a `sweeping epic' (which means it is longer than the average book). It is undeniably a classic and well worth reading, but is not without its flaws. The novel is compelling and I found myself having trouble putting it down as I neared the final chapters, however it does get bogged down in spots and some of the dialogue is repetitive. Steinbeck is unquestionably one of the most important writers of the 20th century, but (and let's be honest here) his prose is largely unremarkable (certainly when compared to Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby").

And then there are the politics...

Personally, I don't have a problem with an author having a strong point of view and expressing it in a novel. Yes, Steinbeck portrays a complex issue as if it were clear-cut. He portrays the migrants as good and noble (the men-folk may behave badly at times; drinkin', brawlin', and womanizin' but they are inherently good). Meanwhile, the banks and the land owners are evil personified. There is no middle ground in The Grapes of Wrath.

Despite what some reviewers would have you believe, The Grapes of Wrath is not a communist manifesto. It does however, question how a country so plentiful can allow so many to starve and suffer and Steinbeck doesn't hesitate to point his finger at those he feels are to blame. Reality is considerably more complex. The plight of the dustbowl farmers was inevitable as the economy changed and small family farms became unsustainable.

Steinbeck's narrative alternates between the Joad family's story (the even numbered chapters), and a series of expository chapters (the odd numbered chapters) that provide a broader perspective of the migrant experience. These expository chapters are the most politically charged and blatantly biased of the novel, but they also feature some of the best writing.

My review sounds mixed because I have mixed feelings about the novel. It is bold, but contrived, compelling, yet melodramatic, powerful, but preachy. All in all though its strengths outweigh its shortcomings. The Grapes of Wrath is well worth reading, just don't set your expectations too high. This isn't one of the best novels ever written, in fact, it isn't even Steinbeck's best.

the epitome of the American novel.......2007-08-22

An incredible tale of the aftermath of the Great Depression coupled with factory farming.

Definitely in the top quarter of books I've read, my only complaint was in the ending - I'm not saying it should be different, it fits the story very well, but darn it I wanted to see a little more happiness in the end for a family that had struggled so.

One of the top American novels ever.

Average customer rating:

"I'll be there..."
The American Epic
Terrific "Fambly"
A longer, better, agrarian, no-less-agenda-driven Jungle...

The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin Classics)
John Steinbeck , and Robert DeMott
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143039431

Book Description

Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. Over the next year, his many works published as black-spine Penguin Classics for the first time and will feature eye-catching, newly commissioned art.

Of this initial group of six titles, The Grapes of Wrath is in a new edition with a completely revised introduction and, for the first time, detailed notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott.

Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of readers—and to the many who revisit them again and again.

Customer Reviews:

"I'll be there...".......2007-07-27

"Ya gotta eat..." Dad used uto say if we thanked him for taking to the local hamburger stand; he could have, just as easily, been stating the obvious theme of Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. One can easily imagine Tom Joad or, more to the point, his sister Rosasharon saying it in her "sharing" scene in the closing pages of the book. I read this book, the first time, in sophomore study hall just before lunch in small town Wisconsin; largely as a result of the wretched deprivations depicted in the book, I remember rushing home, sure I would starve to death if I didn't immediately ingest the bowl of soup and sandwich my mother had waiting for me. As the Joad family move out of Dustbowl Oklahoma toward the promised land of California, the Joads must survive on fried dough and unripe fruit (from which they are warned they may "get the skitters"); Along the way they meet tragedy and, in most cases, their dreams of a better life are smashed like last year's fallen fruit...And, yet, they still hope for the best. Maybe the next Hooverville will be different, maybe the next fruit ranch; if they could only make it there. Government offered little or no help. Long before the rest of the nation hit the skids, farmers were getting the short end of the stick; they never saw any of the prosperity of the 1920's, and the Dustbowl didn't help either. But Tom Joad sees hope in numbers, "Wherever a guy is hungry, I'll be there...", he says, urging the readers to come along, to fight injustice wherever they can: a challenge as urgent today as when Tom made it in this wonderful book.

The American Epic.......2007-05-21

"The Grapes of Wrath" is one of those intimidating "great books" that everyone knows about and no one reads. The irony is that it is a book about ordinary people, and the language and plot are hardly difficult at all. The Joads, driven off their Oklahoma farm by the encroachment of industrialization, seek a better life in California - with thousands of others in the same position. The migrants are forced to compete for survival, but only by leveraging their power as a group can they ever truly triumph. The theme of individual vs. group is further emphasized by the form of the novel. Steinbeck uses alternating chapters about the Joads and "interchapters" about the migrants as a whole. Thus the book, besides being the great American epic about the Joads, is also a social and political novel that caused an enormous uproar upon its publication. This is a book that is part of the collective American conscious and should be read by everyone who wants to feel thoroughly educated.

Terrific "Fambly".......2007-04-27

If you have not read this book, what are you waiting for? Is it because it was written before you were born? (1939) Does its name scare you, as it did me, into imagining it would be about all sorts of odd things, as I did? Well don't let your preconceived notions fool you. It's a terrific novel. It is a great piece of literature that won Mr. Steinbeck a well-deserved Pulitzer Prize, and eventually, with his other contributions to literature, earned him a Nobel Prize.

What can I say about the Joads that has not already been said in the past sixty-odd years? How could I have missed knowing them earlier? I read this story, with its "country speech" and "country ways" and wanted to take them all in. I wanted to comfort them all. I didn't know what I would find at the Joads when we first meet Tom going home. Who is this Tom Joad Jr. and why was he in jail? He must have had a HORRIBLE life to end up there, he must have. Then you meet the 'fambly.' You live with the 'fambly.' You see proud Pa try so hard to be the head of the home during the Dust Bowl migration. This family, who for generations upon generations, upon generations lived off their land. The land wasn't a piece of property, it was family. It fed them, it housed them. They raised a crop to sell, so they can pay off the loans they took when times were tough before. When the rains stopped coming, and the payments to the bank stopped being made, the 'banks' came and told all these people to leave. Imagine someone coming to tell you that the land you have lived on all your life, the land of your fathers and grandfathers belonged to the banks and you had to leave right now. Imagine the dread. All your life spent in the same place, with the same neighbors, the same strong values; "Yes Sir! Yes Ma'am!" No talking back, everyone knew their place. And then the dust came, and took away everything you knew.

The Joads sell everything they own, load up a beat-up truck with the necessities (food, water, mattresses, clothes, pots, pans) and head towards the promised land of California. Along with 500,000 other displaced people. All looking for land to work; it's all they know. You get land, you work it, it's yours. They had no idea what life outside of Oklahoma was really going to be like.

There's Ma, trying so hard to keep the family strong. She's the backbone. She eventually takes charge, which, back on their farm, was unheard of. Times were changing.

Ma & Pa, 6 kids, Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle John, the Preacher Casey, and Connie, the husband of one of Ma's daughters. Thirteen people in one truck.

I wanted to bring them home, let them eat, give them a hot bath, tell them it'll be ok. I wanted to simultaneously smack the heck out of Rose of Sharon (Rosasharn) and comfort her in the end; tell her she really did do good in God's eyes at that very last paragraph. I saw Ruthie grow in those 7 or 8 months into someone I did not like. She was mean, she was vindictive, she was 7. I saw humanity at its worse. Things like this really did happen in the early 1930's, after the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. These "Okies" were treated with contempt. They were kicked off their lands, treated like animals, paid meager wages or in some cases, they were paid with a loaf of bread for 16 hours of work, and it's disgusting. How would you fare? What would you be willing to do to feed your starving family?

It's a terrific book. I wish I knew how Noah fared. I wish I knew what happened to that spineless Connie. Is Tom ok? Did he take up the cause that Casey so tragically and instantaneously had taken from him? I imagine so. I imagine Tom forcing these cities who spurned them, who burned them out, who arrested them, to have to accept them; 500,000 strong. If not directly, then inspiring others to go on and on. The packing plants who throw away food, while these people sit outside the gates dying. The orange growers who sprayed kerosene on the overstock of oranges rather than give them away for free. The food thrown in rivers, with armed guards making sure no one took the food. Pigs slaughtered because they could not sell them, and hungry people staring, not understanding that there's a profit to be made.

"And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listening to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quicklime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage."

A longer, better, agrarian, no-less-agenda-driven Jungle..........2007-04-05

Steinbeck was a red, and this book is infused with politics; but, unlike Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, The Grapes of Wrath is a fine work of literature. Not perfect, not without flaws, not as good as Zola's similarly-themed Germinal, but still a classic achievement by a truly great American author. Everyone should read it, from socialists to Shriners, and, as with any work of fiction, take it cum grano salis.

Steinbeck didn't like capitalism, because, especially during the Depression, there were many things about it not to like. His prediction that the private ownership of the means of production was soon to be over (as of 1939) hasn't been borne out...but the guy is not remembered for being a commie pantywaist, or a spectacularly-wrong prognosticator.

He was a writer, an exceptional one, and most people claim this is his best book. (I would argue that Of Mice and Men holds that distinction, but Grapes is almost five times as long...and how can a six-hundred-page book be worse'n a novella?)

Whatever you think, about politics, economics, or literature, this book is not a waste of time.

The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath

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A selection of seven articles that Steinbeck wrote in 1936
Was It Really A Novel?
. . .a prerequisite to In Dubious Battle. . .

The Harvest Gypsies: On the Road to the Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Heyday Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1890771619

Book Description

Recently listed in the Top 100 List of the Century's Best American Journalism

Gathered in this important volume are seven newspaper articles on migrant farm workers that John Steinbeck wrote for "The San Francisco News" in 1936, three years before _The Grapes of Wrath_. With the inquisitiveness of an investigative reporter and the emotional power of a novelist in his prime, Steinbeck toured the squatters' camps and Hoovervilles of California. Here he found once strong, independent farmers—the backbone of rural America—so reduced in dignity, beaten in spirit, sick, sullen, and defeated that they had been "cast down to a kind of subhumanity." He contrasts their misery with the hope offered by government resettlement camps, where self-help committees, child nurseries, quilting and sewing projects, and decent sanitation were restoring dignity and indeed saving lives.

_The Harvest Gypsies_ gives us an eyewitness account of the horrendous Dust Bowl migration, a major event in California history, and provides the factual foundation for Steinbeck's masterpiece, _The Grapes of Wrath_. Included are twenty-two photographs by Dorothea Lange and others, many of which accompanied Steinbeck's original articles.

Customer Reviews:

A selection of seven articles that Steinbeck wrote in 1936.......2003-03-09

Readers seeking a full experience of John Steinbeck's literary style won't want to miss Harvest Gypsies, a selection of seven articles that Steinbeck wrote in 1936 about the plight of migrant farmworkers during the Dust Bowl migration. Black and white photos accompany his report on conditions and experiences, weaving a masterful selection of insights which go beyond history into personal observation.

Was It Really A Novel?.......2000-11-08

Were the "Grapes of Wrath" published today, it may like other recent books, have been classified as historical fiction as opposed to a novel. I am thinking specifically of "Artemisia" that was published as both in different countries. How the work is classified is not critical, as either way it is one of the finest pieces of literature that has been written, and for many people, Steinbeck's finest work.

"The Harvest Gypsies" is a collection of 7 articles that Mr. Steinbeck wrote as a journalist. All were concerned with the issues he dealt with in the resulting book. This small volume is greatly enhanced by the photographs of Dorothea Lange, and the introduction of Charles Wollenberg.

One of the people the book was dedicated to was "Tom", actually Tom Collins, who was a manager of a federal migrant labor camp in California. The lines of fact and fiction are eventually blurred with him, as Tom Collins was the model for the character of "Jim Rawley" manager of "The Wheatpatch Camp" in "The Grapes Of Wrath". Ms. Lange's photographs could have been illustrations for Mr. Steinbeck's book, for when viewing them you can pick out the faces that could have accounted for the members of Steinbeck's epic.

This is a very brief book, but it portrays the migratory farm workers lives, as being even worse, if that can be imagined. A novel always offers the ultimate refuge of being fiction; these 7 articles and their photographs take away that solace. The brutality, random murder, and disease that was rampant, and the State of California that allowed the behaviors, are atrocious. In the context of one of the writings, one of the large growers who sanctioned the killing and starvation that was part of the agriculture industry stated that, "without a peon population the economy of California could not function". Steinbeck takes this statement of arrogance and ignorance, that is routinely spoken by any exploiter, and logically demonstrates that were this indeed the case, the state could no longer exist. For were it to continue to exist with its fascist policies, the most basic of Democratic rights would have to be absented.

Milk, that played so prominent a role in the book is spoken of extensively in the articles. Many of the most painful parts of the book were so common in reality, that the book may seem mild at times.

No matter how many times you have read the book, once this collection of articles are read, the experience of the book will not only change, I believe it will be enhanced.

. . .a prerequisite to In Dubious Battle. . ........1999-04-15

Three of Steinbeck's social novels--In Dubious Battle, The Grapes of Wrath, and Of Mice and Men--are enhanced after reading this work. This work is the prelude to three of Steinbeck's most socially poweful novels. To fully understand what Steinbeck is striving to accomplish with Battle and Wrath, and to fully round out your history/literature lesson, it is essential to understand something about the socialist movement--birth of communisim--and the general exploitation of the fruit-pickers of California. The big businesses of that day, not much different from various big businesses of today, treated employees like machines--replacing them as needed--after being hurt on unsafe equipment, etc.--without regarding their well-being, or considering the hungry mouths of their families. The Harvest Gypsies is a crutial text in the study of California before uniouns began revolting against the machine.

The Steinbeck Centennial Collection: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row, Travels With Charley, In Search of America (Boxed Set)

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The Steinbeck Centennial Collection
well...
Awesome collection
A wonderful collection
The Pearl

The Steinbeck Centennial Collection: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row, Travels With Charley, In Search of America (Boxed Set)
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0147716756

Book Description

The Steinbeck Centennial Collection: The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden, The Pearl, Cannery Row, Travels With Charley In Search of America (Boxed Set) Description: No writer is more quintessentially American than John Steinbeck. Born in 1902 in Salinas, California, Steinbeck attended Stanford University before working at a series of mostly blue-collar jobs and embarking on his literary career. Profoundly committed to social progress, he used his writing to raise issues of labor exploitation and the plight of the common man, penning some of the greatest American novels of the twentieth century and winning such prestigious awards as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. He received the Nobel Prize in 1962, "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." Today, more than thirty years after his death, he remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures.

The boxed set, containing deluxe trade paperback editions with french flaps, is being released in honor of the Steinbeck centennial being celebrated throughout 2002. Penguin Putnam Inc, in partnership with the Steinbeck Foundation and the Great Books Foundation is sponsoring numerous events throught the year.

Customer Reviews:

The Steinbeck Centennial Collection.......2006-11-03

I purchased it to replace volumes
"borrowed" over the years and read all again, some for the first time in decades. They haven't changed and they never disappoint.
This would be a perfect gift for a young reader just beginning to build their adult collection.

well..........2006-07-04

excellent excellent EXCELLENT! what a set! my only problem is that penguin continues to ignore the fact that they should be printing on acid-free paper!! i don't get this? such a leading company, with amazing products, yet, how long will these books actually last before they start to deteriorate?

m. bailey

Awesome collection.......2005-10-25

I just moved to Salinas, CA when I ordered this set. I had never read John Steinbeck before, and thought this was a good time to start. Wow was I in for a treat! Phenomenal poetic language, incredible story lines, wonderful location descriptions. How exciting it is to read such stories taking place in the very settings I'm exploring now! I recommend this to others who haven't ever been here either, you may just find yourself with another destination on your "places to go list."

A wonderful collection.......2004-02-17

I just finished < > in my reading class,we even had discussed the similarities between Lennie and Forest Gump,and the differences between Steibeck's concise style and Hemingway's typical terseness.Afterward,I ordered < >,checked < >from my high school liabary.And now,you got a chance to read all of his masterpieces in the same time.I respectfully recommanded you to looked at Steinbeck's novels based upon Salina Valley,CA,his hometown,a heavenly countryside throughout the spiritial world of the master writter.I think Steinbeck's distinguishment is that he reflected two worlds in a character,both historically and mentally.Of course,he had written an epic with roustic American speciality.

The Pearl.......2003-01-04

There was a poor family in La Paz, in a small village. Kino and Juana had a son name Coyotito.
One day, Coyotito was pinched by a scorpion, but his parents did not have enough money to pay for the medication. They unexpectily found a big pearl from the sea, so they decided to sell it and use the money to save Coyotito. Unfortunately, no one was willing to pay a decent price for the pearl. Since the price offer in the village was not enough to pay for the medication, the couple then decide to go to the capital and hoped to find a better buyer who was willing to offer a better price. Although the parent knew better that there would be many obstacles and problem throughout the journey, their love for their son gave them bravery motivation to move on.
The story is very interesting, but the topic is not my favorite. The story is described in detail and it gives me many images as I read on. Therefore, I would give this ***.

The Grapes of Wrath (New Longman Literature: Steinbeck)

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The Grapes of Wrath (New Longman Literature: Steinbeck)
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0582461537

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The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: The Viking Press, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000BRLQ5K

Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath (Cliffs Notes)

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Nice Help, But Not Required
Help is on the way!!

Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath (Cliffs Notes)
Kelly McGrath Vlcek
Manufacturer: Cliffs Notes
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ASIN: 0764585967

Book Description

The original CliffsNotes study guides offer a look into key elements and ideas within classic works of literature. The latest generation of titles in this series also features glossaries and visual elements that complement the familiar format.

CliffsNotes on The Grapes of Wrath explores John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning --and controversial – novel, a work based on the what the author saw for himself as a reporter covering migrant worker camps.

Following the story of the Joad family as they travel from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to California in search of farming opportunities and wealth, this study guide provides summaries and critical commentaries for each part within the novel. Other features that help you figure out this important work include

Personal background on the author, including career highlights
Introduction to and synopsis of the book
In-depth character analyses
Critical essays to take you into the author’s personal philosophy
Review section that features interactive questions and suggested essay topics and practice projects
Resource Center with books, films, and Web sites that can help round out your knowledge

Classic literature or modern-day treasure — you'll understand it all with expert information and insight from CliffsNotes study guides.

Customer Reviews:

Nice Help, But Not Required.......2001-09-07

Some books are hard to follow. "The Grapes of Wrath" is long, but entrancing. Finishing it more a matter of time than struggle.

Granted, Steinbeck's description of the immense dust overtaking Oklahoma might seem overdone, but it sets the environment from which Tom Joad is leaving. It puts the grape fields in perspective.

Read "Cliff Notes" if you're in a jam, and need to get the gist of the real book in your system. However, if you have the time, read all 600+ pages of Steinbeck's magnificent story. Be engaged by Joad and his tender family as they plod across America and into dire and complex California grape fields.

I recommend Steinbeck's the Grapes of Wrath (Cliffs Notes) as an addition to the full book, not as a replacement.

Anthony Trendl

Help is on the way!!.......2001-05-30

Along with reading this very tedious but thrilling novel, Cliffs Notes help the experience greatly by offering insight and added understanding into The Grapes of Wrath. With a complete character list and Chapter reviews, the reading becomes even more exciting with Cliffs Notes at your side!! Cliffs also explains the confusing and foreshadowing intercalary chapters in full, vivid detail. Cliffs also gives the background of Steinbeck himself, so the reader knows the reasons for Steinbeck writing in the style that he does. I suggest to read the Cliffs Notes to gain FULL AND COMPLETE understanding of this famous and thrilling work of literature!

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936-1941: The Grapes of Wrath, The Harvest Gypsies, The Long Valley, The Log from the Sea of Cortez (Library of America)

Average customer rating:

it was great
Steinbeck's Art
A classic that is worth re-reading
The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936-1941: The Grapes of Wrath, The Harvest Gypsies, The Long Valley, The Log from the Sea of Cortez (Library of America)
John Steinbeck
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1883011159

Book Description

This second volume in the authoritative edition of John Steinbeck (with "Novels and Stories, 1932-1937") features the Pulitzer-Prize winning masterpiece "The Grapes of Wrath" in a newly corrected text based on the author's manuscript, typescript, and galleys. "The Harvest Gypsies is Steinbeck's investigative report on migrant farm workers which laid the groundwork for the novel. "The Long Valley" displays his brilliance with short stories, including such classics as "The Chrysanthemums," "Flight," and "The Red Pony." "The Log from the Sea of Cortez," about a marine biological expedition, combines science, philosophy, and adventure.

Customer Reviews:

it was great.......1998-07-30

grapes of wrath is a great book. it is about a family that goes through ups and downs every chapter. and a man who wats to get his family back on track, cause his father lost his farm land in Oklahoma. So they head to California to find new jobs but there new jobs arn't the same as having there own land, cause when they had there own land they had no boss but when they head to Cali. they are not happy cause they are bossed around.

Steinbeck's Art.......1998-03-22

It is surely a shame that Mr. Steinbeck forever will be confined to the archipelago of socio-economico-political literature. Too often a smug reviewer writes of Steinbeck's "moving" portrayal of the Joad family and their struggle against a growing America. "Oh, how I can 'identify' with the Preacher!" HUMBUG. Mr. Steinbeck wrote words, not ideas. His art is exquisite and melodious and stock-full of imagery. His structure, even in the volumunious Grapes, is compact and economical. His style, even in the scientific Log, is artistic and exact. And his ideas, even in the idea-ed Harvest, are irrelevant. Buy this book. But don't buy it because the blurb on the back says something about the Joads being an American archetype of the twentieth century; instead, buy it because it is literature - American literature - at its finest. Every sentence. Every word.

A classic that is worth re-reading.......1998-03-21

I, like many, first read this _The Grapes of Wrath_ in high school. Then, it piqued a great curiosity about recent (this century) American history that my teachers could never satisfy. A recent re-reading, however, has shown me the great depth that I missed the first time. Read it slowly, savor the dogged, determined hopelessness that was life for many of our immediate ancestors. From the sad beginning to the desperate ending, it will teach you, and reach you.

The Grapes of Wrath.......1998-03-20

Political statements are always dangerous: one either completely convinces a reader of one's argument or forever alienates them. And, unfortunately, the end result is rarely dependent upon the quality or force of argument made by the author, but rather entirely dependent upon the notions with which the reader entered the "discussion".

Knowing this, it seems that one has to be of a particular mindset in order to enjoy the novels collected in "The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1938-1941". The novels of this compilation attack many of the ideals upon which this country was founded -- and they do so by looking closely at those who have never really benefited from those ideals. This attack is carried out most effectively in the most prominent of the packaged novels: Steinbeck's classic "The Grapes of Wrath."

At an abstract level, this particular novel is an impassioned plea for change ... one that left many readers at the time of its publication both angry and frightened, and resulted in the book being placed on many academic "Banned" lists, and caused Steinbeck himself to be branded by some as anti-American.

That said, it is my opinion that "The Grapes of Wrath" is one of the best novels ever written, because it tells the story of those most affected by the Great Depression - those who never had much in the first place. In particular, it focuses on the Joad family as they are forced to relocate to California, to try to find enough work to put food on the table. Along with thousands of other displaced sharecroppers they are lured by colorful handbills advertising great jobs for all. California becomes Mecca to the families, many of whom have literally been forced out of their homes. Desperate, the families sell all of their belongings, buy cheap cars, and begin the arduous journey. Many do not make it, and those who do find to their dismay that all is not as promised.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and useful.......2000-06-14

I am doing researh on John Steinbeck with a special focus on the thirties novels. This book offers some interesting interpretations and criticism. Presented as a series of articles, the insights in this book are easily accesible. The book is geared toward high schoolers, but the analysis is fairly sophisticated.

Customer Reviews:

FABULOUS!!!!.......2005-08-25

The Grapes of Wrath rocks my socks!!!!!! I love this book so much, it is an easy read, but it is so insightful to the lives of the "Oakies" and their perserverence through the depression. If you don't know the worst you can't appreciate the best. This is a survival story that is a clasic and should be read by every one! It is so awesome!!!!!

Perhaps my favorite book of all time.......2005-04-28

This story is a foundation of "modern classic literature". It not only tells the story of an idividual family, but paints a picutre of an era as a whole, and more than that; speaks to the humanity in everyone.

You're in for a long read. .......2005-03-15

Since I am seriously considering becoming an English teacher, I decided that I should get a head start on things and read as many classics as I possibly could last summer. "The Grapes of Wrath" happened to be the most difficult one to get through. The story line is quite boring and seems very pointless at times. The book does, however, redeem itself slightly when it is not focusing on the main story line. John Steinbeck writes about the Great Depression from other character's points of view other than the main family the story is focused upon, and he gives some profound insights of his own on this time period every third chapter as well. I would seriously suggest skipping the chapters which contains the main story line, and read the others instead. It would be much more worth your time and sanity.

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