Thanks for the correction and the info again.

But I think you mean (the correct verb is breast feed, not bread feast as you wrote) as it's clearly shown in the sentences to follow.

I just wondered about Noah… Connie’s behavior is clearly selfish, but he wasn’t from this family originally, he joined Joads recently. But Noah was born in this family and brought up by Ma, so how could he leave his family? Maybe his brain was really injured in birth, or that’s the consequence of being the firstborn (sometimes an eldest child thinks that he isn’t as beloved as juniors), or was it the fault of upbringing? I doubt Steinbeck thought of this character without any purpose (see, even a turtle crossing the road means something ). I thought maybe I didn’t read this novel carefully enough to find it out.

Phuongninhbao, I wish I could talk about ‘The Thorn Birds’, but unfortunately I haven’t read it, so I’m sorry for being unable to comment it. Your story about breastfeeding is very interesting; I’ve never heard of something like that in our traditions. I agree with you that any BABY FORMULA, even the most expensive one, cannot replace natural mother’s milk; and therefore a mother ought to breast feed a baby as long as she CAN, not as long as she WANTS TO. Breastfeeding also helps a mother bond with her baby.

My baby was fed with ‘baby formula’ for a while, and I regret it very much. I had to go to hospital for a fortnight (my baby was only 1 month then), so I had to stop breastfeed him. My parents spoon-fed him with baby formula (I forbade the bottle-feeding, to prevent baby’s rejection the breast). And after checking out from the hospital I realized that there wasn’t enough milk produced to resume a full-scale breastfeeding. It took us almost 2 months (and much patience) to restore lactation completely; I’ve read a pile of books and magazines and a lot of information in the Internet to find out how to do it. But now I’m glad to have no problems with it.

I have a question for all, but it is off-topic, too: Is the breastfeeding by nurse (instead of mother) widespread in your countries or is the bottle feeding is more common today? (If you don’t mind me asking.) In my country bottle feeding is very common, and nurse feeding is very rare.

Hi again

I share your point Irene about the character of Noah. As I've written before, I considered Noah as a flat character yet his presence serves something in the plot. Honestly reading the novel on the purpose of analyzing and criticizing is something I am not very good at. But generally speaking I enjoy reading the novels. It is something running in blood since a very early age.  

I don't know much about breast feeding except those articles stating its great benefit to babies. One of my aunts kept breast feeding one of his children till the age of 5 !!! It's just when we made a joke of him, he stopped doing that. But now he is in shape and healthy teen. Any way about the popularity of breast feeding in my country, hmmm it's something honorable particularly by women of relatively old ages, but these women of my generation, they usually refer to bottle feeding.

To  Roybato: I laugh after reading your post. Still I am not sure from where you got the idea that we are discussing something we find stupid. But if you have good things, we wait for your recommendations 

Life is too short.

I'm English and teach students. Being English, not American, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to literature.

'The Grapes of Wrath' is an important book within American literature. It is well written and is set during an important time in American history, the Great Depression of the 1920s. However, I would never ecommend this book to anyone studying English language (whether Standard or American English). It is really only advanced students of American literature or history who would gain from reading the book. There is a good film version starring Henry Fonda. (I wouldn't normally recommend watching a film of a book, I'd usually recommend reading the book, but this is one of a small number of exceptions.)

If you wish to read something by John Steinbeck, then I would recommend 'The Pearl'.

Also, avoid 'War and Peace' by Count Leo Tolstoy.

No, Americans do not speak the same nowadays as they did in the 1920s. The slang and colloquial words have changed a lot, especially since the 1950s. If you like the language used, you might enjoy F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', which is a superbly written love story set in 1920s America.

Depending on how confident you are about your English abilities, I can offer you some other titles that you might enjoy. To me as a teacher of English, I am a strong believer in promoting enjoyment of the language. When someone enjoys something, learning comes more easily to them. There are many great, enjoyable and beautiful books written in English, by authors from around the world.

If you would let me know your approximate age and what your interests are, I would be glad to recommend some novels that would be more enjoyable, understandable and ueful than Mr Steinbecks epic.