Frank Norris
Paperback | Pages: 688 pages Rating: 3.81 | 1569 Users | 145 Reviews
Define About Books The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1)
| Title | : | The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1) |
| Author | : | Frank Norris |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Special Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 688 pages |
| Published | : | August 1st 1994 by Penguin Classics (first published January 1st 1901) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Historical. Historical Fiction. Novels |
Narration To Books The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1)
Like the tentacles of an octopus, the tracks of the railroad reached out across California, as if to grasp everything of value in the state Based on an actual, bloody dispute between wheat farmers and the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1880, The Octopus is a stunning novel of the waning days of the frontier West. To the tough-minded and self-reliant farmers, the monopolistic, land-grabbing railroad represented everything they despised: consolidation, organization, conformity. But Norris idealizes no one in this epic depiction of the volatile situation, for the farmers themselves ruthlessly exploited the land, and in their hunger for larger holdings they resorted to the same tactics used by the railroad: subversion, coercion and outright violence. In his introduction, Kevin Starr discusses Norris's debt to Zola for the novel's extraordinary sweep, scale and abundance of characters and details.Describe Books In Pursuance Of The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1)
| Original Title: | The Octopus: A Story of California |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Epic of the Wheat #1 |
Rating About Books The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1)
Ratings: 3.81 From 1569 Users | 145 ReviewsRate About Books The Octopus: A Story of California (The Epic of the Wheat #1)
Based on a true story of a violent conflict between the railroad and California wheat ranchers in the San Joaquin valley, The Octopus is a big, baggy amalgam of naturalism, regionalism, sentimental novel, political novel and historical dramatization. Just because you may have heard of it being associated with "naturalism," don't be fooled. This turn-of-the-20th-century book has more in common with Dickens or Stowe than, for instance, Richard Wright or even Stephen Crane. It's really striking howThis book merits three stars based on historical interest alone. It's not Norris's best writing by a long shot, that honor belonging to "McTeague" (in this writer's never-humble opinion), and it's further evidence if any was needed that the loss to American letters that Norris's death at 32 was immense.The imagination that Norris evidenced in his six-book career is sharp. He saw clearly the world around him, and wasn't about to let the Great Unwashed fail to see it with his clarity. His
"How long must it go on? How long must we suffer? Where is the end: what is the end? How long must the ironhearted monster feed on our life's blood? How long must this terror of steam and steel ride upon our necks? Will you never be satisfied, will you never relent, you, our masters, you, our kings, you, our taskmasters, you, our Pharaohs? Will you never listen to that commandment Let my people go?"This book is an epic of Wheat in California. And I mean it - an EPIC of WHEAT. I enjoyed it more
Ranches v railroad, republican values v monopoly capitalism, romance v realism.
While Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" is placed as the great novel of California I would contend that "The Octopus" deserves the slot instead.
The Octopus: A Story of California is a 1901 novel by Frank Norris. I loved this book. It was the first part of an uncompleted trilogy, titled, The Epic of the Wheat. The Epic of the Wheat sounds so boring, but I didn't find it boring at all, at least not the first book, by the time the wheat is made into bread and biscuits and all that kind of thing, who knows, perhaps I'll be bored.Frank Norris was an American author born in Chicago. It doesn't seem like he stayed there long though. He also
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