A gripping tale of an entire valley that covers the lives and thoughts of 3 generations. In under 700 pages, Steinbeck has managed to capture the imagination with characters so real and flushed out that you see a part of yourself in everyone. He has masterfully woven a story that sucks you in from the very beginning, where the characters seem real to the point where you get emotionally invested in them. For me, this was a masterclass in the study on human character, particularly how we deal with feelings of virtue and guilt.
I felt there were a lot of references to the Bible which I personally missed out on, with Samuel, Adam and Caleb and their symbolic gestures that seemed to hold a deeper meaning. But even for a surface pecker like me, there was plenty of wisdom peppered on these pages to keep me thinking for a long while.
If you’re looking for a character driven plot, with a very cunning antagonist and a healthy serving of human psychology, then this book is for you.