Yeah, Grapes of Wrath is a great book. My favourite one by Steinbeck is Cannery Row though, which most people find an odd choice. I’m not saying it’s necessarily better than Grapes of Wrath, but it’s my favourite by him.
I never had required reading of literature other than in a couple of college courses I took. And by that time, I’d already read the particular books that were required and could remember what happened in them, so I didn’t have to read them then.
If anything, it’s more relevant to today’s society than to the time in which it was written.
I do not agree to that. It was as relevant then as it is now. Nothing new under the sun realy.
I would agree with LaMa. Every generation has it’s “rage against the machine” so every generation is going to feel some relevancy to it.
Yes. And when Orwell wrote “1984”, a lot was going on in this aspect. Following the war the superpowers that emerged from the war were positioning themselves, starting up the cold war. Things were happening back then: remember that only 2 years after 1984 appeared, the USA got in the tight grip of McCarthyism for example, where the mere suspicion of being “anti-American” could ruin your career, life and everything and get you imprisoned. In China, Mao was at the verge of taking control. In 1948 itself, the Berlin Blockade happened, while only 5 years later saw the start of the Korean war, two of the first big ideological clashes between the new superpowers.
Yeah, Grapes of Wrath is a great book. My favourite one by Steinbeck is Cannery Row though, which most people find an odd choice. I’m not saying it’s necessarily better than Grapes of Wrath, but it’s my favourite by him.
I love two of his least known most: “The short reign of Pipin IV” and “The Moon is Down”.
What I remember about the book 1984 is the discussion we had in my high school English class. The ending was considered freaky b/c no one could understand why this man could be brainwashed so easily. As I have grown older I have understood how someone could be brainwashed. Coverage of Anna Nicole and Paris Hilton proves what people are interested in. People are dying in war and illness and we are concerned with people with too much money and time.
I read Steinbeck on my own. In “East of Eden” what made the impact was the story of the way the German man was treated during WWI.
I had to read it in high school too, but found it boring and barely remembered any of it. Then I read it just a couple years later and loved it. So I’d have to agree with you Tah that your circumstances/political view definately affects how you feel about the book at a given time.
Kind of like how I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull when I was 11 or 12 and thought it was a nice story about birds. Then I started to re-read it years later and threw it out the window after a few pages.
I agree with you about JLS! How it became a best-seller is way beyond me, but it sure captivated a lot of people at the time.
I daresay one could not have burned the US flag (or the Union Jack) one hundred years ago and gotten away with it, or the flag of any other nation (on its own ground) at any time, anywhere, in history, until here and now.
Except in Belgium. We’ve always been more Kafkaesque than Orwellian in those things. Like running around town to get a permit to burn a flag in public, only to receive it the day after the demonstration for that day only and suddenly getting served a court order for not burning any flags at the designated day (I’ve read both ‘1884’ and ‘The Process’ )
What stuck with me most when I read 1984 was the total lack of interest of most characters, and the society in its entirety, in anything beside themselves and what The Party provides. Even what information the story provided about the world was minimal; there are three blocks in the world and nuclear bombs have been used at one point. But people are too desinterested, too indoctrinated to even be aware of anything outside their own city.
Examples: (from memory)
- The captured foreign soldier, looking like a normal human, unlike the demons the party tells the enemy are.
- The sudden switch between enemies during festivities, the orator’s unnoticeable switch of subject, and the kids climbing the poles to change the banners.
- The girl not even remembering their once enemies are now their allies, and not caring a bit.
It is not desinterest in politics that is the path sheep take when following the wolves, it is shortsightedness, the sheep only see the wool on the wolves in front and the cardboard figures of wolves behind them. They don’t see the big shiny canines and hungry looks of their guides.
And just like I would have liked to know more about the world in the book and its recent history, I wouldn’t be able to live in a country where information is kept behind and the people in charge are erasing and rewriting history, crippling culture and its expression (In reality probably aided by a firing squad, I blab too much).
But as people are more interested in an imprisoned celebrity teetering on the brink of self-destruction, it becomes very easy for the wolves to start making cardboard silhouettes for when the sheep dare a glance at the real world.
If every place on this planet were as described in 1984 and in front of me was a big red shiny button (functional) on a doomsday device (also functional), I would hesitate for 3.1415 second to punch it (probably even less).
If I have to be a sheep, rather then a Scottish Blackface sheep. At least I would have horns to defend myself.
Yeah, Grapes of Wrath is a great book. My favourite one by Steinbeck is Cannery Row though, which most people find an odd choice. I’m not saying it’s necessarily better than Grapes of Wrath, but it’s my favourite by him.
I love two of his least known most: “The short reign of Pipin IV” and “The Moon is Down”.
I hate Steinbeck. Bloody awful author in my opinion
I really love the book Animal Farm, which I first was required to read in the 6th grade.
We focused more on the style of writing instead of the message, which—at the age of 11 or 12—I would not understand.
I re-read it not so long ago… probably middle of my senior year.
There were parts that I laughed really hard at that I didn’t think were funny the first time through.
Thank God I became more cognisant as I grew older
And God bless political satire. What a beautiful thing!
So far in 1984 (I’ve now progressed to Chapter 8), I can see where a lot of people would find similarities in today’s society and the society portrayed by Orwell.
However, I don’t believe that American government has gone that nutso just yet.
There are a lot of things that I believe our government, and this current administration, could improve upon, but I doubt we’ll ever get as close to the craziness that the 1984 society has achieved.
All during my high school years we didn’t read anything like that. We had to read a lot of really really bad Australian literature though. Oh my God, A Fringe of Leaves was atrocious but because it depicted the Aboriginals engaging in cannibalism and raping white settlers, it was considered a good ‘debate’ book, Jack Davis’ play ‘No Sugar’ was just tedious, I didn’t have to read many Paul Jennings books but there was one (darned if I can remember the name of it) that wasn’t too bad but stuck with my for ages…
