The Grapes of Wrath

I took a John Steinbeck class last semester and really grew to love this renowned American author. I will start with Grapes of Wrath because it stands out as my favorite book of his. It is also probably his most well known, and for good reason.
Grapes of Wrath details the struggles of the Joad family as they are forced off their land in Oklahoma due to problems caused by the great dust bowls of the 1930's. The story of the Joad family, although fictional, is representative of reality for hundreds of thousands of poor migrant worker families of the time. Steinbeck had done his homework on them--before writing the book, he had spent time with the displaced farmers, traveling with them down Route 66 toward California, eating what they ate and participating in group storytelling and singing.
Although critics of the book claim that Steinbeck had a communist agenda, I could not find proof of this. Granted, Steinbeck is critical of mass consumerism and the negative effects of capitalism. He also encourages a society which watches out for its fellowman; however, more than any type of communism, his argument promotes brotherly love, charity and other simple traditional Christian values that many of his critics would likely profess to believe in.
I also enjoyed Steinbeck's animosity toward authority in the book. In it, government workers like police officers are the cause, not the solution, to many of the problems.
But Grapes of Wrath is more than just a social protest novel. It deals primarily with the interworkings of the Joad family. Almost all the members of the family are strong characters that leave lasting impressions on the reader. Through the family, Steinbeck shows how normal people deal with serious problems and show strength and courage in the face of them.
The book is packed with powerful scenes and statements. My copy of it is filled with pen marks from notes and underlining.
I highly recommend this book. Not only is it a great and moving story, but one can also learn more about history and the social climate of the time from reading it. The book is also an eye-opener to the situations and conditions in which some people are forced to live and provokes empathy in the reader for other human beings.

"The great companies did not know that the line between hunger and anger is a thin line. And money that might have gone to wages went for gas, for guns, for agents and spies, for blacklists, for drilling. On the highways the people moved like ants and searched for work, for food. And the anger began to ferment."