The Grapes of Wrath

John Steinbeck, 1939

Date read: 7/22/23

Jesus.

You'd think in nearly 100 years, things would have changed. That people, society, would grow.

We have laws now to "protect" workers. We still have houseless people. We still got people losing everything because of an accident, or because of cancer.

My family, we live so close to the poverty line we can dip our toes in.

The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl are dry when you learn about them in school. You don't see the daily misery, the pain and starvation. I remember hearing my great-grandfather supported a wife and five kids selling apples on the side of the road. Never really thought too much about that must have been like. A whole generation of malnourished, undereducated kids growing up to die for rich men's wars.

Steinbeck is an incredible writer who rips out your heart guts and stomps on them.

Length: 479 pages in Viking 75th Anniversary hard cover

Rereadable: yes, when my heart has recovered

Classic: the pinnacle thereof