John Steinbeck - The Grapes of Wrath: John Steinbeck Centennial Edition (1902-2002)

Pros: vivid, full of life, an emotional story that grabs you
Cons: not a tremendously enjoyable read; tends to get wordy and sentimental

Counted among the classics of great American literature, The Grapes of Wrath is the usual suspect for a snapshot of life during the Great Depression, and it is an amazingly clear and vivid one. What is perhaps unexpected is the amount of emotion...

Pros: Harrowingly beautiful and human.
Cons: None

Ask which is THE single greatest American novel, and you can count on the usual meritorious suspects:

“Moby Dick” by Herman Melville is the usual favorite. Some might go for “Tom Sawyer” or “Huckleberry Finn” by Mark...

Pros: One of the greatest novels of the 20th Century
Cons: We don't learn the Joads' ultimate fate

The Plot

The Joad family, already downtrodden sharecroppers, find themselves forced off the land their family had farmed for several generations. They begin driving west to California, lured by advertisements of good jobs and their own...

Pros: Vivid capture of a salient period in American history.
Cons: Can be difficult to follow-----but that's your fault.

I've always viewed Steinbeck as Hemingway 2.0. Where Hemingway meanders through panorama, Steinbeck sets forth, always providing direction and purpose. His prose is slightly less conducive, but still projects enough imagery to satisfy ...

Pros: Brilliant, harrowing, emotional; beautifully written!
Cons: None

The Grapes of Wrath, written in 1939 by John Steinbeck (1902-1968), is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest of all American novels. This is a book about the Great Depression, and one poor sharecropper family's struggle to survive...

Pros: A classic look at a forgotten period of American History. Very smooth writing. A classic
Cons: A few formalist complaints that most readers won't care about.

John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is a classic. It’s one of those books that everyone knows the name of, and even people how haven’t read it would recommend the life enhancing experience in reading it. It’s number ten on the...

Pros: Powerful depiction of the effect of economic forces on individuals.
Cons: Depressing; sometimes long-winded.

We are told that God helps those who help themselves. Had the Joad family not been so busy trying to stay alive, they might have taken exception.

The Joads, one of thousands of families forced off their land by the Dust Bowl, try to play by...

Pros: A masterpiece. A powerful account of an American heritage.
Cons: You tell me!

The Guardian quoted The Grapes Of Wrath as “a terrible and indignant book; yet it is not without passages of lyrical beauty…” I have to say that I totally agree with the review, however the term “indignant” ...

Pros: educational, well written
Cons: -

The Grapes of Wrath, written in 1939 by John Steinbeck (1902-1968), is considered by many literary critics to be the greatest of all American novels. This is a book about the Great Depression, and one poor sharecropper family's struggle to survive the ...

Pros: An angry and beautiful book of one family's perilous travels through hope and despair.
Cons: Its length is an encouragement to break out the Cliff Notes. Don't.

Although many of his works deserve note, including Of Mice and Men and Travels with Charley, I consider The Grapes of Wrath to be the Great American Novel. Steinbeck's tale of the Joad family's travails through the Dust Bowl not only manages to evoke the...

Pros: Good book; many metaphors
Cons: Can be hard to understand for some people

Although the subject of moving west when times were hard seems like a boring subject, Steinbeck captivates the readers by almost putting them into the novel. After every page turn, you feel that you have learned more about how times were during that...

Pros: Realistic
Cons: Sort of Long

Essentially, The Grapes of Wrath is a novel of social protest. It was designed to inform the public of the migrant's plight. It is a plea for the land owners of California and the banks in the dust bowl states to be more tolerant. It shows how the...

Pros: Vivid description, gripping plot, timeless characters and conflict
Cons: The length can be daunting for first-time readers

Few authors have done more for the American literary tradition than John Steinbeck. With an easily accessible and fluid writing style, Steinbeck was able to extend great literature to all social classes and to people from all walks of life. Whether...

Pros: thoughtful, clear
Cons: none

Though it took me along time to chug through Steinbeck's masterpiece novel, I found it to be one of the more invigorating novels I've read in a long time. It had both outstanding character and setting development, as well as a clear social message. To...

Pros: A literary 12-course meal
Cons: That such stories are still possible

I dream of writing timeless fiction such as Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath, and come up with potboilers. I find reassurance in the knowledge that Steinbeck received rejections ON THIS SAME NOVEL no less than 29 times before it was finally bought for...