Tuesday, October 2, 2012

READALONG TIME, Guys and Dolls.


Hells to the yeah. Laura at Devouring Texts is hosting an October Readalong of The Grapes of Wrath, which I never got around to re-reading this summer because of, you know, things. You still have time to join! The next posting is October 9th, which will be about chapters one through eleven. Here is the complete schedule.

I have already read The Grapes of Wrath, but not since high school where my very high school brain grasped the mental image of the last paragraph and sort of never let go. So that's all I really remember. I'll admit, it's sort of prevented me from reading it in the following years because it felt super melodramatic, but I was 16 and in my cynical blase everything was melodramatic (except, ironically, Dashboard Confessional. Uh-huh.)

But Steinbeck! I still love him so. THERE IS NO MORE HEARTBREAKING THING IN THE WORLD THAN THE RED PONY.

Except this.

And while I had some quibbles with East of Eden when I read it, the farther I get from it the more I think it was maybe one of the best novels ever written. Maybe the best one, after Anna Karenina.

 Also it bears noting that I found a LOVELY Everyman's Library cloth-bound hardcover copy of The Grapes of Wrath at a thrift store for $1 last week. Obviously, Jesus wants me to read it right now. I OBEY. But I would join even if this purty edition had not just entered my life.


Go forth and readalong, my pretties.

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15 comments:

  2. That last pic is the best. Also EAST OF EDEN GREATEST NOVEL YES I AGREE THAT STATEMENT RIGHT THERE.

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    1. Agreed, that last pic is amazing

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  4. Yay for old pretty editions. I just got mine from the library... I don't know how I feel about Steinbeck yet, need to make sure this doesn't bore me to death before I commit to a purchase.

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  5. The last scene is TOTALLY seared onto my brain except that I have feelings about it other than kind of icky feelings that I'm allll about sharing. Although, interestingly, I think I blocked it every time except for the last time I read it. So I don't know what that's about!

    NICE work finding a pretty edition. I need one cause I kind of hate my copy, which I bought when I NEEDED to read it but had no money. Must upgrade soon. And hey, thanks for readalonging!

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  6. OBviously you were meant to join this readalong, what with the pretty book showing up in your life suddenly.

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  7. I love when books come into my life at the perfect time. If things are fated, I want my fate to be serendipitous bookstore finds.

    And HAA to that last picture.

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  8. Ooo, a lovely edition is an excellent readalong omen. This will go well.

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  9. LOVE that last picture! And that the perfect edition of this book coincided with the readalong. It's more than coincidence. It's meant to be.

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  10. Oh for the LOVE...the juxtaposition of The Red Pony and Rose Tyler has done me in. Dead from the sads. Can't possibly go on. *crawls away*

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  11. East of Eden is a pretty splendid book! So is The Grapes of Wrath! And book omens obviously exist. I can find no other reasonable explanation for why else I read War and Peace at age fourteen (a lovely 1930s Everyman's hardcover - great inside too, it turned out), or how I could find one of my all-time favorite books (Germinal) in a beautiful 1940s illustrated edition, or newly released books in perfect quality for a fraction of the cover price through which I discovered the awesomeness...

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  12. Steinbeck is my favorite! I've been leaving comments all over the place about this book, as I am excited about this read-along (even though I'm not participating, because I just re-read the book a couple of weeks ago).

    That last paragraph of The Grapes of Wrath is just so, wow. Finally, FINALLY she gets it. And there's hope. Ma Joad is vindicated!

    And this is so true: THERE IS NO MORE HEARTBREAKING THING IN THE WORLD THAN THE RED PONY. (But I love it!)

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  13. Oh, and East of Eden IS one of the greatest novels ever written. It is.

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  14. East of Eden is perfect! It just is. I wish I had time to join this readalong, but I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and I'm not very good at juggling books. Hope you enjoy it!

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