Wokingham Library Book Group read The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

In sharp contrast to our Artemis Fowl discussion, this meeting was considerable more sombre, more reflective but all were agreed that this is a seminal book which definitely merits a place in the Top 100 and that we were glad to have read the book.

Whilst not a ‘hard read’ it is a challenging (“draining”) read, driven as it is by Steinbeck’s anger at the social conditions of the time; his commentary or ‘rant’ chapters were, we felt, particularly well written and forceful.

This novel is a wonderful introduction to the social, economic and environmental problems resulting from America’s Stock market crash in the twenties, through to the New Deal in the thirties and forties. It can not fail to stimulate interest in these topics and gives a dramatic and human face to the past eighty years of American history.

Our discussion also included a review of some factual material brought along by one of the group; this included maps of the US highlighting the Dust Bowl region and the route taken by so many migrants on their way to a dream of a new and better life in California.

We also talked about the political measures finally taken to combat the social and economic crisis and how many of them are still in force today; and about the waves of migration seen across the world over time and the factors that make migrants leave everything they know in pursuit of a better life. This novel has tremendous relevance today in influencing positive feelings towards immigrants and empathy with their plight. The Grapes of Wrath plays
a seminal role in teaching in the U.S.A., and is used by students in Britain
studying subjects apart from English Literature.

On the role of women, there was unquestioning acceptance on both sides that men were the head of the family, and made the decisions. Women were content with this situation, so long as the men were still angry enough to fight through the setbacks. The moment the women saw that the men were broken, they would be ready to take charge. The male characters start the story but the story is finished by the women.

The value of family and the huge generosity of people who have nothing to share gives you confidence in humanity - in the final scene the strong and dominant mother encourages her young and less resilient daughter to breastfeed the starving stranger. Steinbeck intended this to represent a positive note to end a gruelling and tragic story. It is quite literally a symbolic act to show 'the milk of human kindness'. To today's reader it is a rather strange, discordant ending, but it would be wrong to let this point dominate.

We questioned whether the lighter moments were indeed ‘light relief’ or did they just reinforce the sense of impending doom?  Most people felt that they didn’t lift the spirits as there was always the sense that worse things were ahead, but that they were necessary in what might otherwise have been unrelenting gloom. One reader said that these passages “were not light relief for me, they only made the hopelessness more poignant.”

Final comments – it made us realise how light most contemporary fiction is. A very powerful book but too uncomfortable a read to be a favourite?
Not according to most of the group, and one reader in particular who said,
“While it is true that many if not most well-loved books have a feel good factor, it is still perfectly possible for a book to be a favourite if the quality of writing is high and a pleasure to read.”