The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

I want to start off with a quote from Steinbeck, because I think it really describes why this book is the way it is: ‘I’ve done my damndest to rip a reader’s nerves to rags, I don’t want him satisfied’. Grapes of Wrath was written to give a voice to the millions of people who were forced to migrate West across America in the 1930s following the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl to avoid starvation. The book is about the journey of one family in search of a new home, and it is a soul-crushing read.

This book was not written to make you feel comfortable. I remember thinking at first that it was a bit slow and boring, and I found it hard to understand the dialect. But after a while, I realised I was starting to be really moved by the book. The endless, relentless and hopeless journey of the family is emotional and gut-wrenching.

How dyslexic friendly is it?

It is long, the dialect is quite hard to understand, and Steinbeck writes very poetically and I found this really challenging to keep up with what was going on. He uses a lot of metaphors and similes to describe concepts, and a lot of it feels kind of Biblical in style. I had to read so many sections again to properly understand it, and I would definitely not have persevered with this book if I hadn’t been studying it for English Literature.

Having said this, I really admire Steinbeck for writing this book, I think he did exactly as he aimed to do, in a very beautiful and wise, philosophical way. I like that he gave a voice to people who did not have one at the time.