The Grapes of Wrath

Title: The Grapes of Wrath

Author: John Steinbeck

Pages: 479

Genre: Fiction, Classic, Pulitzer Prize

Grade: B+

Synopsis: The title of the book is pulled form the first verse of the Battle Hymn of the Republic: "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." This classic book about the great migration to California was first published in 1939 at the tail end of the Great Depression. The book follows the Joad family as they move from their farm in the dust bowl of Oklahoma to the promised land of California.  Conditions aren't much better in California as they find out that thousands of migrants are in camps and can't find steady work.  Those who can find work are barely working for enough to live on.  If they won't work for these wages, there are always other people who will.

My Review: I loved this book, but be prepared because it can be awfully depressing. At times the descriptive language gets a little flowery, but at the same time the descriptions make it easy to visualize the story as it moves along.

Of Mice and Men

Title: Of Mice and Men

Author: John Steinbeck

Pages: 103

Genre: Classic

Grade: B+

Synopsis: George and his friend Lennie have nothing in the world besides each other. They find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley where they plan to work in order to save money to one day have a small farm of their own.  However, as always seems to happen, they get into trouble because Lennie doesn't understand his own strength and has a heart bigger than his brain.

My Review: I'm surprised that I had never read this book.  Had I realized that it was a book that would be easy to read in a day or two I probably would have read it sooner. It's a great story, and one that will leave you thinking about it long after you put the book down.

East of Eden

Title: East of Eden

Author: John Steinbeck

Pages: 21 discs

Genre: Fiction, Classic

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Adam Trask moves into the Salinas valley in California with his pregnant wife where he buys a large plot of land and is looking forward to living out his days as a family man with his wife and twin sons.  Adam and his wife Cathy come from very different backgrounds.  Adam begrudgingly served for years in the army (to appease his father), while Cathy murdered her parents and had been a prostitute (neither fact of which Adam knew).  Adam becomes close friends with Sam Hamilton and others in the Salinas valley.  After Mr. Hamilton helps to deliver the twins, Cathy runs away from home to start another life.

My Review:  It is unfortunate to narrow down a book of this scope and magnitude to a single paragraph synopsis, because there is a whole lot that goes on in the book.  Steinbeck has a particular penchant for describing the characters hearts and desires, so that you feel like you are quite familiar with each of the characters in the book. I'm not terribly familiar with Steinbeck's books (having only previously read Tortilla Flat and The Pearl), but this book went into surprising places and unexpected stories.  I found myself really enjoying it.