Book #1 - done!

It's been a hard slog, but I've finished the Grapes of Wrath. Given that the blurb on the back describes it as "A terrible and indignant book", I perhaps should have guessed that it wasn't going to be a joyous and uplifting read! I can certainly appreciate the quality of the writing - Steinbeck's descriptions of scenery, people and travel are immensely evocative. I have a tendency to skim over descriptions in general, looking for the action, but his descriptions did make me pause and visualise. Having said that, I struggled to motivate myself to progress through the book, I think because there is a sense, from the very beginning, that the Joad family's quest for a new life in California is futile & doomed - even though they express hope, there is very little optimism or hope within the novel. I know that this is the fundamental point of the work, and it is a pretty accurate depiction of the period, but it makes for quite heavy reading. I can sort of appreciate the sense of purpose that is restored to Rose of Sharon in the (slightly disturbing) end scene, but it is one of those novels that leaves so many loose ends...it feels a bit like Steinbeck created as many scenes of dashed hopes as his imagination/patience could handle, got a few characters out of the picture and swiftly concluded the story. But then (I've used the word "but" far too many times for elegance here, which does make me question who I am to critique a Pulitzer Prize winner!) the loose ends, the disappearances and the lack of a happy ending are all fairly true to life for the time - the displaced families in America in that period would have become separated in their quest to scrape a living and there wasn't a happy resolution where they got their little white house, steady work and settlement!
Which leads me to thinking - is it shallow of me to only really enjoy a book if it has a degree of optimism, and a genuine resolution at the end? A happy ending isn't essential (although I have to say I quite like them), but at least a sense that the central tension of the novel has been resolved and brought to a close!

So, that was the Grapes of Wrath. I suspect it won't be on my list of all time favourites but I'm glad I finished it. Onwards and upwards...maybe something more cheerful next!