Product Description

Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of dust bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel West in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision; an eloquent tribute to the endurance and dignity of the human spirit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2100 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Review
This is the sort of book that stirs one so deeply that it is almost impossible to attempt to convey the impression it leaves. It is the story of today's Exodus, of America's great trek, as the hordes of dispossessed tenant farmers from the dust bowl turn their hopes to the promised land of California's fertile valleys. The story of one family, with the "hangers-on" that the great heart of extreme poverty sometimes collects, but in that story is symbolized the saga of a movement in which society is before the bar. What an indictment of a system - what an indictment of want and poverty in the land of plenty! There is flash after flash of unforgettable pictures, sharply etched with that restraint and power of pen that singles Steinbeck out from all his contemporaries. There is anger here, but it is a deep and disciplined passion, of a man who speaks out of the mind and heart of his knowledge of a people. One feels in reading that so they must think and feel and speak and live. It is an unresolved picture, a record of history still in the making. Not a book for casual reading. Not a book for unregenerate conservative. But a book for everyone whose social conscience is astir - or who is willing to face facts about a segment of American life which is and which must be recognized. Steinbeck is coming into his own. A new and full length novel from his pen is news. Publishers backing with advertising, promotion aids, posters, etc. Sure to be one of the big books of the Spring. First edition limited to half of advance as of March 1st. One half of dealer's orders to be filled with firsts. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck is remembered as one of the greatest and best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. From September 2000, his complete works will be published by Penguin.

Customer Reviews

Unfortunately 5 is the highest
else this and Ulyses would be the only 20th century works I'd give more. Joyce for his epic poetry, Steinbeck for his enlightenment. Read him and understand where you live!

Steinbeck strikes again
I am going to go against the grain here and only give this book three stars. I am not doubting the quality of the book and as always Steinbeck has provided a vivid account of American life. My main problem with this book is that it is rather a miserable book. I know if you had been evicted from your land and forced to work for a measly sum you would also have very little to laugh about. I also had trouble with the local dialect and I almost stopped reading after the first 100 pages.

Heres the thing, after the first 100 pages the accent really grows on you and the story really takes shape. There is very little mention of the plight of the black population in this book which might have been nice of Steinbeck to mention.

The ending is weird, I wont spoil it, I think Steinbeck was going for some level of enduring human spirit, no matter how you square it, it really is just a little odd.

Where have the world's great writers gone?
There are very few books that can be classified as truly magnificent, but this is one of them. You don't have to be American, you don't have to have lived through hard times.

Just marvel at the perfection of Steinbeck's work. It was truly tragic when I finished this masterpiece, for there were very few works of brilliance left to discover.....