tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post3998111914282645246..comments2023-11-05T05:01:58.563-05:00Comments on Ward Six: The Grapes of WrathUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-40446250250302822082009-08-24T08:09:14.021-05:002009-08-24T08:09:14.021-05:00I really liked Grapes of Wrath when I read it in h...I really liked Grapes of Wrath when I read it in high school. The next Steinbeck I read was East of Eden, and only a year or two ago. Absolutely, totally *loved* it, way more than Grapes of Wrath. Completely compelling characters - especially the evil (no exaggeration there) stepmother - and story. As a native Californian long absent from her homeland, I also much appreciated Steinbeck's gorgeous descriptions of landscape and lifestyle both. Give it a look...McQnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-12105844512380827312009-08-21T11:26:59.154-05:002009-08-21T11:26:59.154-05:00i guess it was my deplorable mid-seventies educati...i guess it was my deplorable mid-seventies education, but my only high school and before Steinbeck memories are of the movie of The Grapes of Wrath, which is amazing, gorgeous; and of the Warner Bros. cartoon of Of Mice and Men, with chickens I believe playing the parts of Lenny and whoever the manchild is.jonhttp://lastbender.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-50623109469792005492009-08-21T09:44:27.644-05:002009-08-21T09:44:27.644-05:00I never made this connection before, but I had rea...I never made this connection before, but I had read something by John Steinbeck prior to The Grapes of Wrath. I liked The Red Pony a lot. I was probably about ten when I read that, and it's a rather horrifying book for a kid. Probably my introduction to themes of tragedy, failure, and the casual brutality that people inflict on animals and each other in the course of daily life. Also, the first book I remember reading where the main characters are obviously meant to be sympathetic but are not "nice" people in the way a kid would expect from reading, say, Marguerite Henry. So I wonder why The Grapes of Wrath had such a negative impact on me? Oh dear, I really will have to read it again.AChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15077988599467518893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-12695967935886187802009-08-20T12:31:54.724-05:002009-08-20T12:31:54.724-05:00Never much liked that book, nor the way it was tau...Never much liked that book, nor the way it was taught at me.<br /><br />Travels With Charley is allright.ed skooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03031257497473281838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-23156803872239413152009-08-20T10:38:42.382-05:002009-08-20T10:38:42.382-05:00I loved this book in high school. Seriously change...I loved this book in high school. Seriously changed my life. I abandoned traditional Christianity while reading it, began buying every Steinbeck book I could find (I have three copies of Grapes of Wrath) and started to picture myself as a "man of the people". <br /><br />I haven't picked it up since. I'm too worried I won't like it. But it still has a place on my mantle. And I often look at the spine of it and think about what a great book it is.jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08328146270051320935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-61647874584110644882009-08-19T19:20:54.334-05:002009-08-19T19:20:54.334-05:00That's all in there, but not in italics!That's all in there, but not in italics!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-90345128156873386022009-08-19T19:03:20.998-05:002009-08-19T19:03:20.998-05:00I got my Cornell University Edition, too, JR! Bec...I got my Cornell University Edition, too, JR! Because I volunteered to be a mentor or something. Last year was that Lincoln book I never read. This one I have read, back in junior year of high school. I liked it then, though not enough to read it again.<br /><br />I remember being impressed by the italicized sections (which were probably too sentimental and overblown), but you know what? I just flipped through this tome, and I can't find those sections at all. They were all very cinematic -- farmers burning oranges while people were starving, that type of thing. Did I just imagine all that? Lord, I really must be getting old.<br /><br />One thing I remember from my class -- Jim Casy = Jesus Christ. I remember thinking that it was just coincidence that they shared the same initials. I was stupid when I was young.AltSunghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02091271275548692502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-62412171569794382952009-08-19T18:37:50.362-05:002009-08-19T18:37:50.362-05:00Age of Innocence is a killer. What an ending.Age of Innocence is a killer. What an ending.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-59117904460923411692009-08-19T18:26:39.778-05:002009-08-19T18:26:39.778-05:00I love reading famous books that are so famous you...I love reading famous books that are so famous you assume you've read them, only to realize you haven't actually ever read them at all. It's even better when they turn out to actually be as good as they are supposed to be. I just started reading Edith Wharton last year and was like, OH!amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09039488548874385815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-18472824479290228912009-08-19T15:45:58.813-05:002009-08-19T15:45:58.813-05:00A truly great book, despite its many faults. I rem...A truly great book, despite its many faults. I remember being blown away by the ending when I read it during my train ride to work one morning, and looking around at my fellow commuters with something like sadness for them, knowing that whatever they were doing at that moment (gabbing on cellphones, napping) couldn't possibly compare with the experience I had with the book.Petehttp://www.petelit.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-21539861251840875792009-08-19T14:23:39.982-05:002009-08-19T14:23:39.982-05:00It's probably the only book that both RATM and...It's probably the only book that both RATM and Springsteen wrote songs about...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-53204870357365717802009-08-19T14:11:41.305-05:002009-08-19T14:11:41.305-05:00I hated this book so much when I read it in high s...I hated this book so much when I read it in high school. I've been reminded of it 3 times in the last week, so I guess that means I'm going to have to re-read it (even though it may be with much sighing and dragging of feet). Stupid frickin' turtle over-sexed evangelists, murdering hicks, adult breastfeeding. And, just to put the cherry on top, Rage Against the Machine wrote a song about it.AChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15077988599467518893noreply@blogger.com