Susanne

I painfully made it through the 60 hours of this book because I always finish what I start. Some books you hope never end. I could not wait until this book was over. I just cannot believe that this book is considered a classic in American Literature. I am an avid reader and book listener, and rarely do I find a book that I feel is a waste of my time. This book was a total waste of 60 hours. The long winded, repeating themes, were tedious. The characters were unrealistic. I could not relate to any of the characters in the book because they were not like any real person that I ever met. It is ironic that the same debates that are going on at present were being discussed in the 50s as well. I do not think there is a simple solution as this book infers. Moderation of capitalism and socialism have proven to be the most prosperous for our country. Extremes on either end, do not take our country forward. People must be able to think, and prosper and get paid for their efforts, but there are certain social programs that can only be managed by government. A moderate amount of regulations are required, or we have capitalism gone wild as we just experienced. I totally do not agree with the philosophy that was presented in this book and therefore had difficulty relating to the content. I believe that to see the world as black or white is one of the main problems facing this country today. Grey is the color that all of us should be looking at because major issues require true understanding and thinking which means evaluating both sides of the story. This book is totally one sided.