Guest Post Sunday: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

This week’s guest post is by Rosemary J. Kind.

I started The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck just before the current crisis kicked off. I’ve been meaning to read it for a long time, being a big fan of Of Mice and Men. Once again, words are not wasted in this book. Each one has a job to do and does it to perfection. It is beautifully written.

“Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, and emerges ahead of his accomplishments.”

What I didn’t expect was to find myself laughing out loud. I’m not saying this is a book to read for the laughs, but in amongst the grim reality of the Depression years in America, there is beautiful light relief. It comes in the form of such wonderful cameos of characters drawn in a way that is easy to visualise. Everything from the woman seeing off a travelling salesman wielding a chicken, to the methods of a second-hand car salesman gives the reader pleasurable interludes between the grim struggle of the Joad family.

“I seen her beat the hell out of a tin peddler with a live chicken one time ’cause he give her an argument. She had the chicken in one han’, an’ the ax in the other, about to cut its head off. She aimed to go for that peddler with the ax, but she forgot which hand was which, an’ she takes after him with the chicken.”

The Joad family are searching for a better life. They are a hard-working family who don’t have luck on their side. Yet, in them we see love, compassion and the strength of family. More than that, in their darkest days we are reminded of the sheer power of community spirit, the very thing that is carrying so many of us through the current nightmare situation.

“In the evening a strange thing happened: the twenty families became one family, the Children were the children of all. The loss of home became one loss, and the golden time in the West was one dream.”

This is not a light read, but its depth and weight are carried with the lightest of touches. If you like a book which makes you think then this is well worth choosing.

Rosemary J Kind writes because she has to. You could take almost anything away from her except her pen and paper. Failing to stop after the book that everyone has in them, she has gone on to publish books in both non-fiction and fiction, the latter including novels, humour, short stories and poetry. She also regularly produces magazine articles in a number of areas and writes regularly for the dog press.

For more details about the author please visit her website at www.rjkind.com For more details about her dog then you’re better visiting www.alfiedog.me.uk

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