The Grapes of Wrath is one of the best books I have read to date. It’s a sublime masterpiece, built from beginning to end with an arresting vision of hopelessness and the sadness of the world we live in, all written in rage and distraught. Like all good leftist literature, it talks about failure, but also hope. Disappointment defines the ending of each story arch, and yet, the spirits of the characters seem to endure all adversities. This results in one of the best portraits of resilience I've seen in storytelling, specially through the character of the Mother (my favorite by far).

If you see yourself capable of making it through its hundreds of pages of descriptions of social tragedy, you may be rewarded with one of the best readings you will ever have. I sure as hell felt happy I stuck to it when it wasn't working for me in the first couple of chapters. Don't give up on it until you've made it into the second half!