# The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

15 Hacker News commenters recommended The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a powerful, heart-wrenching American novel about hardship on the land that still feels relevant today.

## Why people recommend it

- Great American literature (5 comments): "it's one of the few great books I've read and felt was genuinely great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47939819)) "I think his novels capture the uniqueness American spirit" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978840)) "holy cow, this is an impressive piece of literature" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46392784))
- Emotionally powerful, heart-wrenching story (2 comments): "This passage had a profound impact on me when I first read it in high school." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48779383)) "It's definitely the most heart-wrenching book I've ever read." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46391857))
- Still relevant to current issues (2 comments): "The Grapes of Wrath is frighteningly relevant now even almost 100 years later" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48974391)) "which is a great book on the effects of automatization in an industry" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47401788))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crime-and-punishment.md): 39 recommend
- [The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brothers-karamazov.md): 28 recommend
- [Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/infinite-jest.md): 26 recommend
- [The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://hackerapproved.com/p/great-gatsby.md): 24 recommend
- [Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand](https://hackerapproved.com/p/atlas-shrugged.md): 23 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1408273470?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781408273470) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck", https://hackerapproved.com/p/grapes-of-wrath/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).