I love that this book deals with free will, moral choice, love, jealousy and forgiveness. But it does so through the characters rather than doing it with lectures. Some characters are kind, some deeply broken, but all of them feel incredibly real. This is genius author in terms of showing why people make bad choices, how pain gets passed down through families,
And how one single decision can shape our lives. One of my favorite parts of reading this piece so far, is that the story starts very quickly and the pacing is so easy to follow. It doesn’t — like traditional classics — take 900 pages to get into. Steinbeck makes you think, he makes you agree and disagree. You may not like some of his characters, but rest assured you will remember them.
The language is so thoughtful without being complicated. One of the book’s most famous ideas is that people are not trapped by their nature or their past. That message hits especially hard if you’re young and figuring out who you want to be.
