Book Club Meeting Comments and Additions

4/6/2014

Click here on background for the NPR's Grapes of Wrath 75th anniversary Book Club Meeting.

Click on the link, check out the site and provide your own reactions, comments here.

32 Comments

Lisa

4/7/2014 02:44:54 pm

The fact that they don't carry on with the story really throws me through a loop occasionally it's not that I don't enjoy the background story aspect of it, cause I do find it interesting learning of the different types of struggles and hardships that were faced. I feel that that helps me as the reader understand the time period on a deeper level than I would without the exerpts, it's just that I'm not accustomed to that type of writing.

Mr. J

4/8/2014 03:42:26 am

The style has also been described as point/counterpoint or the interchapter is the claim or thesis while the narrative chapters are the evidence or support.

Brady

4/10/2014 12:25:48 am

Ư̵̵̞̖̝̻̥͔̱̹̭͓̘͉͚̤̹̰̂̑̍ͥ̎͟ͅ ̷ͬ̊̃̃ͥ̄ͤ̒ͬ͋̃͐ͥ̍̃͝҉̮̲͉̲̥̰͍̼a̡̛͔͙͎͉͈̝͎̖̗̻̩̤͈͋̎̇ͩͨ͂́̂̃̽ͮ͂̔̂͠ͅ ̴̡͋ͮ͐͂͌̽͗҉̵͍̟̮̙̭͇͖͇̘̖̭̞̰̻̞͚ď̶̴͈͈̬̦̤̘̪͚̣̬̇̿͑̒ͣ̉ͣ̓̏̚͡i̢̼͇̞̰͈ͤ̀̉ͭr̴̴̛̞͇̲̘̭̙̳̟̩̼͔̗̱͖͎̹̺͖ͣ̄ͣ̿̾͒͌̈́ͥ̈̔̏̽ͮ͒̈̃t̵̨̪̪̲̣̘̱̭̣͉͍̦̤̃̌̅̉ͯ͆ͥͯ̒̅̚͜y̵̷̴̼̣̙̱̌̾ͫͤͪ͌̽ ́̐̍̉ͩ̈́̽̔ͣͮ̚͏͍̹̥͔́bͯͤ̄͊̄͑̚҉̶̺̤̟̲͍̬̦͙͕̺̠̙̭̻̤͟o͑̉ͤͦ̊̓̄̉̚͏̛̲̲̲̳̜̞͇͉͇̤̗͇̗͘͟͡i̭̬͔̱̜̳͎͓͔͕̜͓̙̳̭̺̥͕ͤͩ̌̾́̐̕͝ ̷̦̬̱̞̳̫̳͈̝̺̗͎ͧ̓̑ͪ̀ͯ̉ͤ̀̂̋̓͊̎̃̂ͪ̆͝ͅUͧͯͤ̿͘҉̷̪͚͚̠̬͖̗͍̼̙͔ ̙̱̬̳̟͓̎͌̋̿̍̿ͥ̽͒́͆̔ͥ̀͝͠a̵̵̖̺̹̹̪̘̭͓͍̱̰̹ͧ̽ͬ̽̀͢ͅ ̴ͬ̇͂̄ͤ̊͑̉̑̂̈̑̓̚҉̴̹̳̺̣̹͈͓̖d̛͙̤̳̱͕̘̙̣̮̼̭͉͚̬̳̃̊ͫ̂̅̉͊ͥ̒̆ͤ͛̄̀͢i̢̞̳̺̼͓̼̭͈̟̬͖͎͛̔ͩ͂̈͛̌ͨ̄ͯ̃̔̌̎̾͋̄̚͘r̸̴̶̡̗̘̲̭͙̯͍̦͍̥͕̭̦̭͓͚͈ͮ̊̋͋̊͗ͥ̄̎ͥ͋͋̾̓͗̀̐͋͘t̝̤̝̞͕̣̜͚̫͑̊ͫ͐̍̈ͯ͂̾̓ͨ̓͊͌̆͑̅͢͜y͉͕̹͎̯̜̗͎̩̮͓̦̗̙̽ͯ̽̊͆ͧ͒ͥ͢͜͝ͅ ̨̮͍̤̬̼͎̭̼͎̝̞̩̦̣ͦ́̐͌ͩ͗ͧ̊͑ͦ̏͢͟͝ͅb̶̸̺̙̦̱̻̱̭̪͈̼̝̫̲̭̮̓̆ͣͬͦ̐͊̓ͣ͗̀͊͑̀̚ǫ̶̰̲̜̪̬ͪ͗ͮ̌̒̈́̓ͣͭ̏ͮͫ͌ͬ͐͌ͭ͘͢i̷̵̧̙̮͉̥͎̹̍̏̓ͮͣ̌̓̋̆̇̄ͪͦͣͮͮ͂̃͜͞ͅ ̴̵͙̫̬̗̟̟̱̞͕̤̰̻͉̾̏ͥ̎ͪ̓͘͝ͅỦ̶̳͔͙͇͕̬̭͊̑͌̐̽͌ͧ͟ͅ ̶̼͖̭̙̗͚͙͔͉̳̟̬̻̌ͤ̂͊͗̒̃ͯ̌͢ả̢̧͔̗̟̤̞̹̳̬͕͓̬͇͚̼͐͐ͩ͐̄ͤ͐͒ͯͯ̎ͧ́̕͞ ̴̵̾̅̉̃̋̽ͧ̌ͬ͗̄͌ͬ̈́̎ͫ&

Madisen Kuppich

4/8/2014 05:43:16 am

I on the other hand like the chapter descriptions (the Dust Bowl, turtle crossing the street, or the tenant farmers). They provide helpful insight and background for the upcoming chapter. I feel as though I have a better understanding for the actual story plot. If the story was written without these chapters, I would be very confused because I had little prior knowledge on the subject of tenant farming, the Oakies, or even the Dust Bowl in general. I also like how descriptive they are. I feel as if I can picture life in the Dust Bowl a lot better. So far this book is turning out to be better than I thought.

Camille

4/8/2014 05:55:35 am

Even though the chapters in between the actual story are really dry to read, I also think they provide necessary details to the following chapters. I think they're there to have something to compare the story chapters with, like the turtle's yellow nails being compared with the man's yellow shoes.

jenna

4/8/2014 06:14:17 am

I think the detail in this novel is very interesting, and really shows through the first chapter. This chapter sets you up for what is being read by explaining the environment and weather with much emotion. I don't think you would respect the novel and the people in it the same if you didn't understand the conditions they were living in. This going with what Camille said, this was a dry chapter to read, but it provided necessary details to understand the book with.

Dan

4/8/2014 09:21:53 am

I think Steinbeck's view on religion is he doesn't think too much of it. The character by the name of Casy who is an ex-preacher is a good example of this. Steinbeck writes about this preacher who use to teach sermons and praise the Holy spirit but then went and "laid" with women in the grass so he was kind of a hypocrite. This may show that Steinbeck didn't take religion highly.

Ethan

4/8/2014 09:35:03 am

I also think Steinbeck has a less traditional view on religion. The Reverend Jim Casy turns from a preacher to his own view on religion. He thinks that men and women all love each other and that's the Holy Spirit. I think this might reflect Steinbeck's view on religion.

Elise

4/9/2014 03:55:04 am

I really haven't gotten into this story yet. I understand that the inter chapters are important for enhancing the experience of the story, but I lose where the Joad family is and it seems extremely slow. I am grateful for the article, though, that kind of explained that John Steinbeck was trying to make the story really slow. I don't understand what is going on so far because I get the inter chapter people and the Joads mixed up.

Kaitlyn

4/9/2014 04:49:42 am

I feel like the filler chapters like about the turtle is trying to represent a deeper meaning. The book is a bit complex, I'm trying to figure out where it's leading to, I feel like the extra filler chapters will help explain something farther into the book, or why something happens.

Paige

4/9/2014 04:54:47 am

I like the fact that the book is really detailed because I think it shows that the author wants the book to go slow and for it to take a while to read it and get the full meaning. The one thing that really bothers me is why Joad and the man he killed were fighting. I like the book so far and I like how we are taking it at a slower pace than all the other novels we have read

Kaley

4/9/2014 05:00:21 am

I completely agree with what Elise said. I'm finding it very difficult to get into the story. The article explained that Steinbeck wanted the story to go by slow but even after reading the article I do not completely understand why he wanted it to be like that. The "filler" chapters are very detailed and slow reads. I feel like they are providing important detail but I still don't really know why he made them so slow and why he chose to write it in that way, where they are their own "filler chapters" and not more incorporated into the story.

Mya

4/9/2014 05:03:02 am

So I'm wondering if the family in chapter five is the Joad family having their home taken away even though it's written like it could apply to any family or to families in general. I realize that this is intentional but the similarities seem too prominent for the family having their home taken to just be some other randon family on the plains having their home foreclosed.

David Chong link

4/9/2014 05:04:01 am

I'm no big fan of Tom Joad so far he seems like a simpleton. I like his yellow shoes. I do however like Steinbeck's use of Joad to represent a sort of everyman character this helps the story seem more realistic and translate better to other people.

Amanda Kuhlmann

4/9/2014 05:04:16 am

I completely agree with what Elise said about how she really hasn't gotten into the story yet and how it's confusing to keep track of the inter chapters and the Joads at the same time. On the other hand, the inter chapters also helped me and furthered my knowledge on the Dust Bowl, without the information the book has provided, i would be lost and confused.

Dewalt

4/10/2014 12:18:58 am

U r just a fancy cowboy? Happy Quetzalcoatl day! Mi geno jerre jamón.

Thomas

4/9/2014 05:17:04 am

I like how Steinbeck uses Jim Casy to voice his own opinions and ideas about religion in chapter 4. It is clear that Steinbeck has a dislike of organized religion through the ramblings of Casy. Casy says there's no right or wrong action, just stuff people do.

Josephh

4/9/2014 06:53:02 am

I agree with Kaley and Elise, in the sense that the book is difficult to get into, but I'm still remaining optimistic about it. I kinda like Tom as a character, but his actions and the story itself aren't too thrilling so far

Molly

4/9/2014 11:36:25 am

I'm having trouble getting into this book. I actually really like the inter chapters, but they seem to be the hardest to get through because I think we've been trained to look for events when we're reading a book.
I like how Steinbeck describes something that we wouldn't ordinarily think of. Like chapter 3 especially, and also 5 - I liked how he focused on a single family, but it was still applicable to EVERY family. These inter chapters make me think of how every episode of the Rugrats started out really really zoomed in on something, and then it zoomed out and you figured out what the thing was and how it was important.

Marissa

4/9/2014 12:29:34 pm

I really admire Steinbeck for the way he sets up his book with all the interchapters. I haven't read a book like that ever. This just proves that Steinbeck was a writer that liked to go outside of the norm. I applaude him for that.

Laura

4/9/2014 12:41:48 pm

I really thought learning more about the layers and Steinbeck's use of information given to him by his friend has helped explain some chapters and almost categorize the information being given to you. In a way it is helping to keep all the facts, characters, and important pieces of information in better and more organized thoughts. It's kind of interesting in a way, and gives the reader a different way to read the book.

Katie

4/9/2014 02:23:45 pm

I really didn't think I would like the interchapters, but they're acutally really interesting. It's really unique, but I'm sure that was Steinbeck intentions. He understands how to keep a readers thinking, with the different parts and categories, like Laura pointed out.

Jeremy link

4/10/2014 12:07:44 am

I'm really enjoying the book, and I especially like Casey and the perspective he brings to the events of the book. He's so removed from the worries of other migrants that he acts as a kind of aloof commentator, and his opinions are always unique and interesting. His appreciation for little insignificant moments and everyday interactions with other people feels almost Whitman-esque, and stands a strong counterpoint to the Joad's realistic, practical point of view.

Gibbons

4/10/2014 12:10:35 am

Ye shut yer mouth now boyo. I've had enough of yer nasty lies. GAFFFF GAFFFF GAFFF GAFFF

Eddy link

4/10/2014 12:16:35 am

This book, honestly, has kind of dragged on for me. I do however, respect the impact it has had on our culture. Tom Joad is pretty much a household name because of Bruce Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine. I couldn't say I was excited to read this, after finding out a large portion of it is nonfiction, but it's not too bad.

Nic

4/10/2014 01:19:16 am

The interchapters are interesting, but I enjoy books that just go along. I guess I mean a book that follows the story and has absolutely no confusion.

Tias

4/10/2014 04:14:25 am

I like the interchapters because of the historical background they provide. So far Tom Joad's story is pretty narrow and he doesn't seem to truly realize what is going on in that part of the country. I think the interchapters help provide a better perspective of what is actually happening.

Emily

4/10/2014 04:15:27 am

Yes, I know I am late but I think that Steinbeck is so interested in putting us into the story that the book gets drowned in details. I like how the inter-chapters give us a different perspective on things. It can be a little confusing but I am also a big fan of learning about the history of things. This book is somewhat helping that, but I am liking the book so far.

rachel

4/10/2014 05:18:50 am

i forgot to comment earlier, but i most definitely agree with elise. I find it hard to follow the innerchapters along with the story, which makes it hard for me to really get into the book. I feel like as the story is progressing i like it better though.

Amanda W

4/10/2014 05:19:07 am

I don't like the inter chapters at all. I think that they provide good background information for us and help describe the setting a lot better, but they're so dry to read. It also makes me feel like it takes a long time to get anywhere in the book.

Emili

4/10/2014 08:20:10 am

I agree with Jeremy that Casey is a very interesting character. He seems like a very deep thinker that will make the book more interesting if he's in it very much.

Erik

4/10/2014 11:16:54 pm

I can honestly say I can't get into this book. The narrative just starts to get going, and then an inter-chapter cuts in, forcing me to restart the narrative on the next chapter.

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