So this is the part where I tell you how wrong I was to think I
wouldn't like it, right? Um, no. The story had wonderfully spare and
evocative language, it raised a lot of thought-provoking questions, it
haunted me - it still haunts me...I'm still thinking of it days later - and
I detested it every bit as much as I thought I would.
Great review. I became ill the first time I read this book, but I read it again, and then again, and it’s the one book Americans should be encouraged to read. The author could be funny though, read Cannery Row. But Steinbeck was a realist, and I think the best writer of his generation besides Faulkner.
yay i’m glad i’m not the only one who hated it…
I felt that way about “The Grapes of Wrath” that I studied for English in my final year at school (in Australia). I was left with the overall feeling of “I’d give my eye teeth to write like that, but what a horrible and depressing story”. Haven’t read any Steinbeck since.
I read this my freshman year in high school and despised it ever since. I’m so glad to know I’m not the onliest one.
Now see I will always remember it this way…
Abominable Snowman: D’oh! What a cute little pink bunny rabbit.
[picks up Daffy]
Abominable Snowman: Just what I always wanted. My own little bunny rabbit! I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him.
Daffy: I’m not a bunny rabbit.
Abominable Snowman: And pat him, and pet him, and…
Daffy: You’re hurting me… put me down, please.
Abominable Snowman: And rub him, and caress him, and…
Daffy: I AIN’T NO BUNNY RABBIT!
Brilliant review, well done DebR. You are absolutely correct, Steinbeck tends not to leave one with a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end. “Grapes of Wrath” is the same way, but they both are uniquely evocative of a depressing period in US history.
If anyone is keeping a list, I would also add “A Clockwork Orange” to the pile of books I’d rather not have had to read in Lit class. That one I ended up having to read 3 times and my opinion of it never changed.
Teddypig, glad to see you are back with your wonderfully insightful comments. Hugo the Abominable Snowman and Daffy rank right up there with Elmer Fudd singing, “Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit” to Wagner. *snicker* Thanks for the laugh, as usual.
I always missed this one in school, too. I got plenty of other Steinbeck, though, and he always gave me the feeling that I’d like his stories better if somebody else wrote them. The only one I’d ever choose to read again is East of Eden. I was ambivalent on that one until the last page, when it made me burst out in tears, something nothing else has ever managed.
A website that reviews romance novels from a couple of smart bitches who will always give it to you straight. No bullshit. No gushing--unless the author really deserves it.
Grrr...WTF? That blows. When is romance going to stop being the red-headed stepchild of literature and gain the respect it deserves? So irritating.
From Half Time Penalties
Shiloh, that was AWESOME! In fact, may I say, Bitchalicious. I can’t believe you just whipped that up!
Oh, major foul.
Geez, people. Get a clue...the reason people see so many of them is because they sell! A fact I thank God for regularly.
From Half Time Penalties
[quote=katiebabs]He needs to cut off that mop in his head, seriously.
He wants to! Poor RPattz. His bosses have told him that he can’t cut his hair because it’s his “trademark”. Can’t disappoint those hordes of stalkers fangirls.…
From Creepy Stupid
HOLY CRAP. I just perused that site with all his photos. Um...ah...what a good looking guy.
analysis99: yeah, I could happily analyze 99 photos of Nathan Kamp.
From Nathan's Bukkit
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10.06.07 at 05:07 PM |