This afternoon, I just finished watching the 1940 film “The Grapes of Wrath” for the first time. I have never read the book either. What an amazing movie . [no need for a spoiler alert here]. No special effects; merely excellent writing that provokes genuine emotion and urge for social justice. Seems like a good film for right wing Republicans, who will see that, not long ago, it was poor Caucasian people getting shoved around for doing nothing wrong by police officers who reliably did the bidding of people of wealth.
Grapes was required reading in school. I remember liking it, rooting for them, but it was painful in the end. Definitely read the book. I feel like I have a version of the movie in my head, though I haven’t seen it. Interesting differences between reading first vs. seeing movie first.
Apparently they were not exaggerating about the drought
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/us-dust-bowl-unrivalled-in-past-1-000-years/