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A snapshot of the tragic struggle for justice by the working class

Revisado: 04-01-24

Top tier performance by the reader and another well written Steinbeck story. Good characters, though female characters always lack the depth male characters get.
This is a potent snapshot of the struggle between those who possess wealth and property versus those who work to feed themselves. It’s harsh and sometimes hopeless as we see time and time again how police are always faster to protect property than people’s rights. And also how the scales are always propped in the favor the greedy against the poor.
The summary set forth by audible - that this is a story of defiance turned to “blind fanaticism” - is simply wrong. While there is some obvious darkness in the desperation of the working class to summarize what these characters fight for as blind is just crap. There is a purpose and it is a just one. And this book works to remind us all that it isn’t the strikers, the protestors, or the activists that ‘start all the trouble,’ but instead it is those that seek to profit off the exploitation of the vulnerable.

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Great reading, poor quality story

Revisado: 03-01-23

This was a very easy listen in a an audio sense thanks to John Lee, but in a literary sense it fell very flat after such high praise. I completed the book just now and feel unfulfilled. And not because I didn’t get the ending I wanted, but because the author just spoon feeds the reader the most vanilla end to an epic novel I’ve ever read.
And after trudging thru absolutely excessive and descriptive rape scenes and other horrible injustices I just can’t believe it was all for nothing.
The author has many flaws in his narrative style, and even after 40 hours this book BARELY passes the Bechdal test. The sexualization of women is constant and sexual violence seems heavily fetishized. Rape scenes can be written in books, but in my mind due diligence and respect ought to be given to the reality of the horrendous act - and I strongly feel this author has failed dramatically in this regard.
Additionally the repeated injustices of the powerful against the powerless just became tiresome. Very repetitious.
And I guess my last grievance I’ll list here is simply that any complex theme of spirituality or good vs evil never materialized. Some characters repent at the end that were mean the whole time, but even then the author’s obvious skepticism of the religion he chose to write a massive novel about just bleeds through the story. I feel as though I made the same arguments against religion when I was 15 and while I’m no catholic, it just all felt lazy. Not to mention good characters are so purely good (despite the offhand way they use ‘town people’ selfishly for their own ends) and the evil characters are so purely evil.

Tl;dr : great reader, but not an epic novel worth recommending. There are more rape scenes than complex characters…

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