Even Today, Its Emotional Veracity Is Still Palpable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               I have to say up front, darlings, that, thus far, this has been a dismal year for Fiction.  That may change, when the Fall arrives, and the publishing houses choose to bring out their prime offerings, hoping for book awards and top places on lists.  But, so far, it has been lacking.  Nothing since "Pachinko," by Min Jin Lee, has really grabbed me, so I felt the time was ripe for me to reread something.  But what?

                               I came across a Penguin copy I forgot I owned, of John Steinbeck's "East Of Eden."  It has been six years since I last read it, and I just LOVE it, so I thought this would be a treat.  Then, I thought, why not make it worth my while to reread his earlier masterwork, "The Grapes Of Wrath," which I haven't read in decades?????????????????

                                 So I embarked on this book. And was amazed.

                                 The only way to discuss "The Grapes Of Wrath" is to start at the end, because that is what the entire novel builds toward.  Rose Of Sharon has recently lost her baby, that she spends a good deal of the novel carrying.  She has also lost her husband, Connie, who has abandoned she and the family to pursue his own foolishness.  Shortly after losing the baby, an itinerant drifter, near Death's door, shows up on the Joads territory. It is clear he will die if he does not get some nourishment.  Steinbeck describes the knowing look Ma Joad and daughter Rose Of Sharon give each other.  The girl utters a hushed, "Yes."  Without explaining anything else, the girl goes over to the man, undoes her blouse, whereupon he suckles nourishment from Rose Of Sharon's breast.

                                   This iconic image always moves me to tears, especially having read what the Joads have endured, leading up to this.  "The Grapes Of Wrath" is relevant today, as it  reminds me of the unfortunate immigration situation, with its family separation and detention camps!!!!!!!!!  Le plus ca change, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    But reading this calls to mind that novels of this period were written in an entirely different way---leisurely, poetic and lyrical, much as Dickens did in his day, when people of all intellectual levels took reading seriously.  As opposed to today's work, though there are some exceptions, many of which are written with brevity to appease those with short attention spans.

                                      I could not tear myself from "The Grapes Of Wrath."  I literally devoured it, and its story, Biblical musings, characters, and Tom's famous speech, near the end, which I could hear Henry Fonda's voice in my head, as I read it, are emblematic of a lost literary era that can still reach out to the less intellectual standards of today's world.

                                        This is an unforgettable blend of storytelling and truth.

                                          The good stuff holds up, every time, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!