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A review by jdintr
On Reading the Grapes of Wrath by Susan Shillinglaw
4.0
I have long loved The Grapes of Wrath, and I've read it four times.
Reading Dr. Shillinglaw's reflections and background was a fond way to visit an old favorite.
Shillinglaw's research shines through these short reflections on different aspects of the book. She has studied the life of Steinbeck's close friend, Ed Ricketts, very carefully, and she couples his biological insights with Steinbeck's humanitarian ones, adding several layers of depth to the book as I had read it before.
The key to her insights lie in Ricketts's five layers of ecological awareness, which took the study of living things to a wider setting, examining the communities in which they interacted, and other systemic pressures--much as Steinbeck is describing the gestalt of Dust Bowl America.
Even for serious Steinbeck fans, there is much new to find in Shillinglaw's book. It doesn't go into the depth that a more scholarly book might, but it certainly is accessible to everyone from high school age on up.
Reading Dr. Shillinglaw's reflections and background was a fond way to visit an old favorite.
Shillinglaw's research shines through these short reflections on different aspects of the book. She has studied the life of Steinbeck's close friend, Ed Ricketts, very carefully, and she couples his biological insights with Steinbeck's humanitarian ones, adding several layers of depth to the book as I had read it before.
The key to her insights lie in Ricketts's five layers of ecological awareness, which took the study of living things to a wider setting, examining the communities in which they interacted, and other systemic pressures--much as Steinbeck is describing the gestalt of Dust Bowl America.
Even for serious Steinbeck fans, there is much new to find in Shillinglaw's book. It doesn't go into the depth that a more scholarly book might, but it certainly is accessible to everyone from high school age on up.