Joe has been saying I should read this book since he read it not long after we arrived. It is not an easy read or a book you would want to take on holiday, however it is fantastic and very well written. The sad tale of the Joad family who have to leave Oklahoma due to the depression and tractors taking over all the work and their houses. They travel to California 'the land of plenty', where there will be food, work and nice little white houses to live in. Of course things do not turn out as wonderful as they expected. Life is very difficult, there is never enough food and accommodation is scarce and the locals are not welcoming. There are times when you think their life is getting better then the work runs out and they must move on.Steinbeck is of course a fantastic writer making it very pleasing to read. It was hard to get in to at the beginning, there are a few abstract chapters describing general life and not that of the Joad family and this is how the book starts. I found these chapters hard going, especially to begin with, they became easier to follow as the book progressed.
Although it is not a true story, it is set in a time of hardship and although the Joad family did not exist many did who went through similar experiences. A great read if you have the time to be absorbed by it and can cope with no happy endings.
1 comment:
I read this in school when I was about 15 or so and I think I wasn't mature enough for it yet. I just remember being bored by the 1st chapter when all it talked about was a turtle crossing the road. It didn't help that our teacher made us dress up like characters from the book. Maybe I should give it another go.
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