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The prize must have come, at least in part, because alongside the poverty and dispossession, Steinbeck chronicled the Joads' refusal, even inability, to let go of their faltering but unmistakable hold on human dignity. Witnessing their degeneration from Oklahoma farmers to a diminished band of migrant workers is nothing short of crushing. The Joads lose family members to death and cowardice as they go, and are challenged by everything from weather to the authorities to the California locals themselves. As Tom Joad puts it: "They're a-workin' away at our spirits. They're a tryin' to make us cringe an' crawl like a whipped bitch. They tryin' to break us. Why, Jesus Christ, Ma, they comes a time when the on'y way a fella can keep his decency is by takin' a sock at a cop. They're workin' on our decency."
The point, though, is that decency remains intact, if somewhat battle-scarred, and this, as much as the depression and the plight of the "Okies," is a part of American history. When the California of their dreams proves to be less than edenic, Ma tells Tom: "You got to have patience. Why, Tom--us people will go on livin' when all them people is gone. Why, Tom, we're the people that live. They ain't gonna wipe us out. Why, we're the people--we go on." It's almost as if she's talking about the very novel she inhabits, for Steinbeck's characters, more than most literary creations, do go on. They continue, now as much as ever, to illuminate and humanize an era for generations of readers who, thankfully, have no experiential point of reference for understanding the depression. The book's final, haunting image of Rose of Sharon--Rosasharn, as they call her--the eldest Joad daughter, forcing the milk intended for her stillborn baby onto a starving stranger, is a lesson on the grandest scale. "'You got to,'" she says, simply. And so do we all. --Melanie Rehak
A L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring:
Shirley Knight as Ma Joad
Jeffrey Donovan as Tom Joad
Emily Bergl as Rose of Sharon
Michael Buie as Connie and others
Daniel Chacon as Al Joad
Maurice Chasse as Deputy Sheriff and others
Shannon Cochran as Mrs. Wainwright and Elizabeth Sandry
Trista Delamere as 2nd Narrator and Al's Girl
Francis Guinan as Jim Casy
Charlie Matthes as Willy and others
Gas Station Attendant and Hooper Ranch Guard
Rod McLachlan as Uncle John
Robert Pescovitz as Pa Joad
Joel Rafael as Car Salesman and Man with Guitar
Stephen Ramsey as 1st Narrator and others
Nick Sadler as Agricultural Officer and others
Andy Taylor as Gas Station Owner and others
Floyd Knowles and Weedpatch Camp Director
Todd Waring as Hooper Ranch Bookkeeper and others
Fredd Wayne as Grampa, Mayor of Hooverville and Camp Guard
Michael Weston as Noah Joad and others
Kate Williamson as Gramma and others
Live music performed by the Joel Rafael Band. Adapted by Frank Galati. Directed by Richard Masur. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.
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Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. Annotated. The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanized-and sometimes outraged-millions of readers. Nominated as one of Americas best-loved novels by PBSs The Great American ReadA Penguin ClassicFirst published in 1939, Steinbecks Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads-driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one mans fierce reaction to injustice, and of one womans stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbecks powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics.This Penguin Classics edition contains an introduction and notes by Steinbeck scholar Robert Demott.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Seller Inventory # DADAX0143039431
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression, a book that galvanizedand sometimes outragedmillions of readers. Nominated as one of Americas best-loved novels by PBSs The Great American ReadA Penguin Classic First published in 1939, Steinbecks Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joadsdriven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California. Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity. A portrait of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless, of one mans fierce reaction to injustice, and of one womans stoical strength, the novel captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. At once a naturalistic epic, captivity narrative, road novel, and transcendental gospel, Steinbecks powerful landmark novel is perhaps the most American of American Classics. This Penguin Classics edition contains an introduction and notes by Steinbeck scholar Robert Demott.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators. Now available in a Penguin Classics edition, Steinbeck's classic comes with a completely revised Introduction and, for the first time, detailed notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780143039433