Books

I finished reading The Grapes of Wrath this weekend. I know that a lot of people read this one in high school but I missed it somehow. I read East of Eden back in January and really enjoyed it, so I thought I would give this one a try. I'm still trying to strike off more books from that ridiculous top 100 list someone put out.

Grapes of Wrath is the story of the Joad family. The Joad's are forced off the land they had been sharecropping when the big land owners realize they can farm the land cheaper without them. The story is set during the depression in the great dust bowl of Oklahoma. The Joads are enticed to pack up all they own and venture out to California for the promise of work. When they reach California they realize that thousands of people have come west with the same idea. There is very little work and the people are unwelcome. The Joads had always been poor but now they face possible starvation. They are hard-working people who only want a chance to earn a decent wage. They are harrassed by law-enforcers and cheated by everyone. Their story is of survival and hardship and the kindness of strangers.

The book drags a bit in the beginning but then begins to roll along. Steinbeck's writing style sometimes goes off on tangents of narratives not part of the story. The book will remind you of how tough things have gotten in the past making today's troubles seem trivial. The book does seem to end without any resolution. The reader is left wondering if the Joad's will survive. Overall, it was a very good book. I recommend it to anyone who has not yet read it.