Reading the Chunksters discussion

Discuss the end of the book below!

I finished this book last night. Wow, what a sad ending. Part of me is angry at Steinbeck for what he did to his characters but mostly, as I now there is an element of truth in the story, I feel sad for the number of tragic events than occurred in the lives of Aron and Cal Trask.

I was quite shocked at Adam's dislike for Cal's gift. I like how this mirrored Cyrus caring more for Adam's gift (the puppy) than the expensive knife Charles had saved up for. I wondered whether Adam remembers what happened between him and his brother and why he didn't try and stop himself causing it again in his own children.

Overall I have really enjoyed this book, much more than I expected to. I don't know if part of this was reading with a group so thank you everyone!

I loved the ending also...and I really enjoyed this book. It was so well written and I feel like I got emotionally invested with the characters which does not always happen.

I loved the whole book. I was glad Cathy managed to outwit the guy who worked for her (sorry, can't remember his name! I started reading it with you all, but got carried away and finished the book ages ago). Up until this point I'd wanted her to be caught out but for some strange reason, perhaps a little bit of admiration for the character?, I'm glad she wasn't.

Judy wrote: "Wow, what a sad ending. Part of me is angry at Steinbeck for what he did to his characters

I had to laugh because my response was the opposite. I was relieved it ended better than I expected. Kno..."

I wasn't too sure of the exact details of the story (terrible I know) so wasn't expecting murder. I can see how you would be relieved. It was sad that Adam died but luckily the air was cleared between him and Cal.

Judy wrote: "Heather wrote: "Judy wrote: "Wow, what a sad ending. Part of me is angry at Steinbeck for what he did to his characters

I had to laugh because my response was the opposite. I was relieved it ende..."

I've read Grapes of Wrath which I would highly recommend! Also have a book of both Cannery Row and of Mice and Men so might read one of those over Christmas.

The Three Musketeers is high on my TBR list as well so maybe he'll become one of my favourites too!

Hey everyone, I have been lurking today and read all your posts. I read this book almost exactly 2 years ago so didn't do a re-read. When I began reading the week 1 comments I could not believe how much of it I had forgotten. It turns out that before the Charles/Adam/Cathy triangle and the birth of the twins I didn't commit much to memory. Once you began to post about that it all came flooding back to me. I really enjoyed this novel and it was my first Steinbeck. I too thought there would be a murder between Aron and Caleb and was glad there wasn't. I didn't find the ending too sad. I am happy others enjoyed it as much as I did. I am always relieved to read a classic and think "I understand why this is a classic."

I did love the ending and it was a bit Bible-ish too. There was another set of twins in the Bible, Jacob and Esau. Long story short, when Isaac (their father)goes blind, Jacob steals Esau's blessing from Isaac (because Esau was the oldest) by pretending to be Esau.

In the Bible Jacob is a hero, but that particular moment when he steals his brother's birthright always bothered me. I was so afraid that Cal was going to trick Adam into thinking he was Aron (because of his addled mind), and was thrilled with the ending and "Timshel" and how it really played into the ending here, almost wiping out all the sins of the past.

Hopefully this made sense, a lot of times my mind works much faster than my fingers and I miss key bridges between thoughts.

Oh, and did anyone else at first suspect that Alba's father was a client of Kate's? When Alba said that her father wasn't "sick"? I thought for sure he was afraid because of Kate's death some increminating evidence would reveal him and the judge that was trying to call him was the person the sheriff had asked to inform the other "clients" of the distruction of evidence.

Yeah, I hadn't thought about that but it could fit. Although I thought the photos had been destroyed so not sure why he would be so afraid. I just assumed it was something financial we weren't being told about

I think we were told that he embezzled money from his company, but until that point I had thought for sure it was the Kate thing.

Of course it could be both and he embezzled money to pay Kate (that is definitely NOT in the book, just my overactive imagination).

I never thought of that either, but it would have made sense!