The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck · first published 1939
33% recommend63% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Novel of Dust Bowl-era poverty and migration to California, praised for its prose and for showing how people are exploited and what real hardship looked like. Suits readers wanting historical grounding.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Steinbeck’s classic novel of the Great Depression is as vivid now as ever. The story focuses on a family of Oklahoma sharecroppers, farmers who work another man’s land for a share of the crops. Driven from their home by drought and poverty they take to the road in a battered old truck and make their way to California to look for work. When they arrive they find hundreds of others like them being forced to work for breadline wages. they begin working as fruit pickers, strike-breakers replacing the people who have been trying to establish a union but their consciences force them to leave.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2008–2026Cannery Row
John Steinbeck
Recommended by 20 · mentioned by 3720 recommend · 37 mention20 recommend · 3720 recommend
2008–2026East of Eden
John Steinbeck
Recommended by 60 · mentioned by 9960 recommend · 99 mention60 recommend · 9960 recommend
2007–2023Gilgamesh
Herbert Mason
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 22 recommend · 2 mention2 recommend · 22 recommend
2007–2026The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Recommended by 58 · mentioned by 23858 recommend · 238 mention58 recommend · 23858 recommend
2017–2020The Winter of Our Discontent
John Steinbeck
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 65 recommend · 6 mention5 recommend · 65 recommend
2008–2026Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck
Recommended by 12 · mentioned by 4612 recommend · 46 mention12 recommend · 4612 recommend
2010–2026Tender is the Night
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Recommended by 5 · mentioned by 125 recommend · 12 mention5 recommend · 125 recommend
2016–2026This Side of Paradise
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Recommended by 2 · mentioned by 72 recommend · 7 mention2 recommend · 72 recommend
…asking myself this question for a while, and have found the following reading to be very enlightening: - Letters from a Stoic, Seneca - On the Shortness of Life, Seneca - Walden, Henry David Thoreau - Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
on “What Is a Minimally Good Life?” ↗…week most of the year. No such thing as benefits if you fell ill, of course. Here's an article about hops pickers in England [1] and the related Wikipedia article [2]. I also recommend Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". [1] https://mashable.com/2017/06/03/hop-pickers [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopper_hut
on “Amazon Camper Force” ↗I read Atlas Shrugged and immediately followed it by (re)reading The Grapes of Wrath. Both are horribly doctrinaire (with opposing viewpoints), so it made for an interesting contrast. Steinbeck can at least put a sentence together.
on “Atlas Shrugged film to be released in 2011” ↗…capitalist solution, but they require artificially limiting supply. The most dramatic and poetic discussion of the evils of artificially limiting supply to increase profits would have to be chapter 25 of The Grapes of Wrath: http://genius.com/John-steinbeck-grapes-of-wrath-chapter-25-... Ads produce such a tiny amount of revenue that the web ad industry is in a position of just giving up altogether, or trying to milk every…
on “A note on the argument about the 'morality' of adblockers” ↗+1 for Steinbeck being a “true master”. East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath essential.
on “Ask HN: Are books worth it?” ↗Nonfiction: "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" by Eliezer Yudkowsky. It was a fantastic deep-dive into the topic, and despite being extremely long was very readable. Fiction: "Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I've read other Steinbeck before this one, but this stands out as a clear masterpiece. I especially enjoyed the way he blended the experiences of specific individuals with the experiences…
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗…the west or even coastal regions generally. 4. Much of coastal California, as well as the central valley, has and has long had its homeless or transient populations. I strongly recommend Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath as a backgrounder. The question of why homelessness suddenly emerged in the late 1970s / early 1980s is one that's interested me. I've had an occasional correspondence with Doreen since replying to…
on “Climate and Unsheltered Homeless in the Continental United States” ↗…and while its a bit hit and miss i’ve liked alot of the short stories by stephen king / richard bachman. Over the past couple of years I’ve enjoyed ‘making money’ - Pratchett, ‘The Godfather’ - Puzo, ‘grapes of wrath’ - Steinbeck, ‘vernon god little’ - Pierre & ‘shogun’ - Clavell. Whenever I travel I’ll try and read a book set in the country I’m traveling to. As a child I just couldn’t put down the Macdonald Hall…
on “Do you read?” ↗…Oleander by Janet Fitch The Color Purple by Alice Walker A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck For complete list visit http://www.famouspal.com
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗…Barely needs any introduction here, but the depth of thought is just staggering. Lights Out in Wonderland by D.B.C. Pierre. A wonderful story with a few incidental observations about modern society. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Sure, you can read about people who've made everything, but what about people who lose everything. Absolutely everything. Shattering, tragic fiction.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗…Darwin, Machiavelli, Kafka, Camus, Kant, you name it. At the time, I didn't realize why they were so highly regarded. Now that my mind matured somewhat I'm beginning to see. A good example of this is The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. I read it a good 20 years ago as part of an English literature assignment. It wasn't too hard to read, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I re-read it last year, and was blown away,…
on “Ask HN: What should I read this summer?” ↗…Later I read 'Free Will' by Sam Harris, and I think Sam explains the same idea in more detail. Citing 'The First and Last Freedom': "Thought is nothing else but reaction; thought is not creative." 'The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck 'The Little Prince' by A.S.Exupery: when I was a child it made me reflect about society.
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗need to read more steinbeck. i liked both grapes of wrath and travels with charlie, the only books of his i've read.
on “The Myth of Authenticity Is Killing Tex-Mex” ↗I don’t know man, I was poor myself at one point, and I’ve found Steinbeck’s characters to be very 3D and relatable. Grapes of Wrath is more like an impressionist painting. He doesn’t draw every detail, you’re supposed to transport yourself there and live it. If it helps, I have listened to The Grapes of Wrath as an audiobook, and…
on ““The Idiot” Savant: On Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Idiot” ↗…good starting point. If you are into post-apocalyptic fiction at all, you need to read McCarthy's "The Road" (Note, if you want Steinbeck - personally, I liked 'Of Mice and Men' a lot more than "The Grapes of Wrath" but both are good. Just saying I don't always side with the committee) I mean, we can argue all day about what the best book is, but everything on that list is going to be both very good and usually…
on “Learning to Read in Your 30s Profoundly Transforms the Brain” ↗