The Grapes of Wrath

[jiacinto]

Did any of you read that book?

Here is my favorite statement from the book:

"For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in this universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments. This you may say of man--when theoires change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back. This you may say and know it and know it. This you may know when the bombs plummet out of the black planeso n the market place, when prisoners are stuck like pigs, when the crushed bodies drain filithily in the dust. You know it in this way. If the step were not being taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the boms would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bombers llive--for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live--for every little beaten strike is proof that the stpe is being taken. And this you can know--fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe" (205, From the Grapes of Wrath).

[Nevernose]

1. Can't Read It

Waaaayyyyyyy too depressing. As in mood-swing-crying-for-no-reason kind of depressing. I'm not in touch with my emotions; I don't cry. Therefore, I have not read this book in years.

"Of Mice and Men" gets me, too, so it's another one of Steinbeck's that I can no longer read. "Travels With Charlie" and "The Noble Knights of King Arthur" are still okay, though.

Have fun anyway!

[Swede]

2. Back in grade 11 my teacher forced us to read it

Bless her soul.

[stevedeshazer]

3. It is my favorite novel

See the movie, too. :-)

Where is Tom Joad, anyway?

It is the story of my grandparents.

[Nevernose]

4. Y'all ever seen Steinbeck's FBI file?

It's a hoot. I'll see if I can't find the link. He was being followed everywhere, by everyone -- FBI, CIA, DoD, everybody. He wouldn't shut up about the plight of the poor people, and the government apparently considered him a serious threat.

On Edit: Here's the link:
http://foia.fbi.gov/steinbeck.htm

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. you mean this?

http://foia.fbi.gov/steinbeck.htm

[Nevernose]

6. Great minds

google alike!

[newyawker99]

9. Congrats Argumentus!! 900 posts

:toast:

[Seneca]

7. a truly great work

May the Tom Joad in all of us prevail.

[newyawker99]

10. Congrats Seneca!! 400 posts

:toast:

[roguevalley]

8. I love it at the end when he tells his mother

that lovely set of words about where she can see him when she needs to. I cry every time.

Steinbeck was a treasure.