Illuminati discussion

I'm nearly half way through it. I think the style is lovely. Very pleasant to read. And, reading it, I do feel as if I am there watching this family move across the country dogged by worry but fueled by hope--and desperation.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I have some criticisms, but I'll get into them later.

I've just read (Illuminati member) Jeremy's review. As he says:

"...Steinbeck provides a wonderful description of life among the poor during the Great Depression - from the dustbowl of Oklahoma, to the journey that the Joads (the family that has most of the main characters in the novel) take along Route 66 to California... It's clear that Steinbeck did his homework, and he painted a very vivid picture."

I agree with that.

Jeremy notes though that "despite the book's merits, it still dragged with too much description and too much repetition of the same themes over and over again."

I agree with that too. This is a common criticism of the book--that Steinbeck can be tediously didactic. Sometimes the narrative, which I enjoy, stops and gives way to a political and moral harangue--like Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", the philosophical differences between them notwithstanding.