dfloyd
04-03-2010, 02:45 PM
It has been 45 years plus since I saw the movie and read the book, The Grapes of Wrath. Since I have read posts which go all the way from extolling its virtues to claimining it is the worst book ever, I decided to read it again plus watch the movie. I watched the Henry Fonda movie on dvd first. I enjoyed the movie and it reminded me of how good an actor Henry Fonda was. The role of the ex-preacher was superbly played by John Carradine. The actress who played Ma won the academy award for best supporting actress, but in today's world she might be accused of overacting or being overly sympathetic to the plight of her fictional family.
So now I was ready to listen to the 18 cds which comprise the unabridged recording of the book. Like all of Stenbeck's work, the writing was of the best, but too many years have passed. There no longer is an Oakie emigration to California. True, perhaps Mexican migrant workers are in a similar situation, but their unionization by Caesar Chavez has helped. While the book is not as bad as has been promulgated by a few, it is no longer Steinbeck's best. It is overly long, repititious, and at times I wished that something cataclysmic would happen to the Joads so their suffering would not be prolonged. I felt the same thing when rereading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. When a book's time is over, to paraphrase Thomas Wolf, you can't go home again. Conclusion: Show students the movie and don't make them read this long, repititous book. there are much better books for a high school class to read, including other books by Steinbeck.
So now I was ready to listen to the 18 cds which comprise the unabridged recording of the book. Like all of Stenbeck's work, the writing was of the best, but too many years have passed. There no longer is an Oakie emigration to California. True, perhaps Mexican migrant workers are in a similar situation, but their unionization by Caesar Chavez has helped. While the book is not as bad as has been promulgated by a few, it is no longer Steinbeck's best. It is overly long, repititious, and at times I wished that something cataclysmic would happen to the Joads so their suffering would not be prolonged. I felt the same thing when rereading Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. When a book's time is over, to paraphrase Thomas Wolf, you can't go home again. Conclusion: Show students the movie and don't make them read this long, repititous book. there are much better books for a high school class to read, including other books by Steinbeck.