Much, much better than the movie. My worn school copy had had an entire bottle of that cheapo Charli perfume dumped into it, and to this day I cannot smell that stuff anywhere without thinking instantly of Tom, Rosasharn, JC and all the Joads.

The deepest, darkest, dampest parts of the south, and lots of rather boring folks who think a lot but don't seem to say too much.

Sure, a classic indictment of American racism in the 20th century, but not very exciting or engaging reading for a 10th grader. Most of my fellow students had no idea whatsoever what the book was about.

A slow guy and a smart guy, in the classic relationship, and the predictable sacrifice of the good.

I willingly, proudly took an F on the test for this reading assignment, refusing to read the book because it was so gawdawfully turgid and slow and just flat-out boring. This book taught me that it's okay to absolutely despise some classics, as long as you give them a chance.

A support book for numerous assignments in AP history, I still remember the lessons out of this thing.

Good stuff, especially for high schoolers, but only as long as your teacher isn't cramming this down your throat in Olde English.

The single greatest thing ever written in English? Yeah, I guess.

My introduction to Hemingway, and a very powerful insight into modern warfare (but it didn't affect me nearly as strongly as seeing "Apocalypse Now" did in the summer of '79).

Kill the pig! Spill its blood!

The guy who brought you a kid named "Happy" in a horribly depressing play now takes on the Salem witch trials. More intensity that this 11th grader couldn't possibly understand.

Supposedy interesting and subversive; I found it dull.

Burning books is bad, Nazis are bad, closed-mindedness is bad, information and freedom are good, etc.