THE GRAPES of WRATH (audiobook) by John Steinbeck

 

Originally Published in 1939.
Audiobook version published in 2011 by Penguin Audio.
Performed by Dylan Baker.
Duration: 21 hours, 1 minute.
Unabridged.

Winner of the National Book Award.
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
Declared to be the best-selling book of 1939 by the New York Times.

I last read The Grapes of Wrath when I was in high school, nearly 40 years ago. It was assigned reading for my English class and all I really remembered about it was a couple of scenes. I remembered the last scene, with the flood and starving man. And I remembered and early scene where the tractor operator is plowing up the farms, the farmyards and even intentionally damaging homes in Oklahoma. Besides that, I had nothing but a pervasive memory of sorrow and injustice.

I've always thought of this book and Of Mice and Men as kind of a set of books about migrant farm workers during the Great Depression. I've read Of Mice and Men 5 or 6 times, though - a fact that I can one hundred percent attribute to the fact that The Grapes of Wrath is 6 or 7 times longer. 

The Grapes of Wrath is longer and it is much more powerful. 

I am not going to go through all of the plot details for a book that has been labeled in the top 100 books by Le Monde, the BBC, Time magazine and The Daily Telegraph, but I am going to tell you the thoughts I had as I listened.

The book follows the Joad family as they lose their farm, load up all of their family and their worldly goods and head off to California in search of plentiful farm labor jobs that they have been told exist. They join tens of thousands of economic refugees and take Route 66 to California. Collectively, they were insultingly referred to as "Okies."

The problem is that while the jobs do exist, California is a magnet for economic refugees having 10 men and women show up for each job drives the wage down to starvation level. No one can get ahead and they are forced to live in shanty town camps on the edge of town. When the harvests are done, the sheriff and a bunch of local tough guys force everyone out and burn the camp to the town so they can't settle down.

As I was listening, I noted that some things haven't changed. Any time someone discusses organizing the workers or improving the working conditions someone accuses them of being a socialist. Not much has changed almost 85 years later. There are also parallels to the modern era migrant farm workers.

This book is compelling from beginning to end and is performed (not read - performed) wonderfully by Dylan Baker. He creates a series of unique voices and just hits all of the right notes throughout. 

This book deserves all of the hype.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: THE GRAPES of WRATH (audiobook) by John Steinbeck.