I'm going to read it again. I think I was just too immature to really appreciate the story. I accept my part of that. Steinbeck is an excellent writer, and the writing was fantastic. Not one complaint there at all. it was just the story.
But, in a way, the apathy I felt for these people was exactly what Steinbeck was writing about. What the Joad's faced on a daily basis. The lack of compassion and the prejudice and bigotry -- a loathing.
I am a better person now than when I first read it, so I think now I would feel different.
Someday, I will read it again.