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The Grapes of Wrath
Binding: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780140868449
Edition: Unabridged
Format: Unabridged
ISBN: 0140868445
Label: Penguin Audio
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Number Of Items: 12
Number Of Pages: 12
Publication Date: September 01, 1998
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Studio: Penguin Audio
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Editorial Review:
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
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Grapes of Wrath
The book came in great condition and in a timely manner. It was a pleasure doing business with this seller on Amazon.com
Rating: - A top classic of American History...but some weaknesses
I love this book for a variety of reasons, and I'll share these before offering my criticisms:
1) Wonderful tale of a painful time and place in American history
2) Great characters - and powerful bonding between them. I loved their ability to sacrifice for each other - at great costs.
3) A metaphorically redemptive message: this book shows the strength of human perseverance in the face of awful odds
4) Incredible local color - accents, speech, ... Read More
Rating:  - A master at his craft!
I just finished reading "The Grapes of Wrath." Steinbeck's simple but poetic prose shows a mastery of subtlety and expertise. The dialog was very believable and realistic. The period in which J. Steinbeck wrote as did Hemingway was the realism movement, which never really strayed too long into what the characters were thinking or feeling. The characters words on the surface is what portrayed who they were and Steinbeck expertly reveals all of them, even down to his tertiary characters, Ruthie and ... Read More
Rating: - A Powerful Story of America
Amid the desperation of the 1930s Dust Bowl, drought and changing agricultural practices force a family of Oklahoma sharecroppers to leave their home and join the great migration to California. Piling their broken-down Hudson with the few possessions they can carry, the Joad family sets off for what they believe will be a paradise of bountiful fruit and plentiful work. When they arrive, enduring one hardship after another along the way, the California they find is not at all the one they imagined. ... Read More
Rating: - An amazing realistic book
I only actually have to read this book as a Summer Reading assignment for my AP English class. I'm not a really a big fan of books that have this genre but when I reached halfway through the book, I started loving it. I find the feelings portrayed in this novel clear enough for me to understand it with the help of vague dialogue of the characters. A message is there and though you need to read more to understand what they're saying, the reality is always present.
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