East of Eden | John Steinbeck

East of Eden | John Steinbeck | An Amazing Novel

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East of Eden

	East of Eden John Steinbeck Penguin Books, 2002 - 602 pages average customer review:based on 218 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Good Read

This is among Steinbeck's best novels, and it is usually ranked among his top three or four, but not quite as good as "Grapes of Wrath." I have read most of his works including the present, which is a must read for Steinbeck fans. It has excellent prose and good drama but the story becomes a bit predictable for the last 100 pages of the 600 pages. That is the primary difference in terms of literary merit or being a good read. It is a pre-World war I novel set in northern California, and it is set partly in a small town and partly in a rural settings. The story is about family interactions, especially parent child relations, and uses three generations of characters from two families. There is less politics than in some of his other novels.

John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968) was among the best known American writers of the 20th century. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature. His 1939 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "Grapes of Wrath" has over ten million copies in print.

Steinbeck was born in rural California, went to Stanford, and spent most of his life in California. He has been associated with the plight of farm workers and others. His books have been very popular and many were made into movies and stage productions. He won an Academy Award nomination for best story in 1944.

I have read a number of his novels and am still surprised with the quality of his work - especially his short stories and short novels. The present work is a longer novel, 600 pages, which covers three generations of two families split between Connecticut and the Salinas area of northern California. It is a long and descriptive story but not as descriptive or as intricate as "The Grapes of Wrath." That Pulitzer novel tends to spiral down emotionally. Here in "East of Eden" we have a few peaks and valleys and a number of emotional hooks. Steinbeck manages to work in some clever literary ideas and names by using references to biblical passages. The characters are interesting. However, because of the similarity in the families, generation to generation, the story becomes a bit predictable towards the end, more predictable than his other works, and many readers will be able to guess the end by page 500 or 530.

This is a good book and it has good characters including the mother Cathy, and it has a number of interesting secondary characters. Also, the subplots, the overall structure, and the prose are good.

It is not a heavy read and takes a few evenings to read. The middle part of the book is very compelling, almost a page turner. I liked the book and recommend it.

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An Amazing Novel

Steinbeck's novel is truly a masterpiece as he weaves the stories of two unique American families and exposes the character's deepest, darkest thoughts, particularly those of Cathy and Cal. Each character is carefully constructed and the personalities are told in great detail. The story begins when Steinbeck describes the serene land in the Salinas Valley. I felt mesmerized by the beauty of his language, for he describes things extensively- from appearance to scent. I could imagine the wild flowers in spring and the tiny Victorian houses right before me. From the complexity of the characters to the meticulousness of the setting, this novel is simply beautiful.
Even the structure is unique and it is evident that Steinbeck took a lot of time to perfect the order in which his story would be told. In Part 1 of the novel, Steinbeck alternates between the Trask family and the Hamilton family each chapter. The families are on different parts of the country and have no relationship whatsoever. It is not until part 2, where the two families merge in Salinas, California. I found this method very clever because I was able to differentiate the families in their respective environments. It was interesting to read the characters' pasts because it would certainly affect their futures. For example, the fact that Adam Trask's father lied to him as a child accounts for Adam's determination to be a good father for his own children; Cathy's poor childhood and the lack of parental love account for her horrible actions towards her children. As the story progresses, I learned that Adam's tough character is a result of serving in the army. Away from his family, Adam had to be independent and strong- both physically and emotionally.
In an attempt to start a new life, Adam bought a piece of farmland from Samuel Hamilton. However, the story immediately turns dark and somber as Cathy, Adam's new wife, abandons her twin boys. Cathy is a dark character and she is the epitome of evil. She is a selfish woman who blames her wrongdoings on other people. Every word Cathy said made me despise her, for this woman neglected her children to run a brothel. Cathy's dialogue in conversations with other characters made me develop only disgust for her. Steinbeck was careful in his writing because after depicting the evil Cathy, he would switch to men of wisdom: Lee and Samuel Hamilton. These characters offered relief from the tense drama occurring by offering peace. Lee and Samuel, firm believers in God, spoke straight from the Bible to convey a sense of goodness. Unlike Cathy, these characters care for the twin boys and are proof that there is still good in the world. Cathy's ruthless nature is passed on to her son Cal, as he struggles to form his own identity. Cal feels trapped between good and evil, until the wise character Lee offers him profound advice. He learns that he is his own person and is not doomed to be evil like his mother. Cal is a human being (whereas his mother is a "monster") and thus is subject to make mistakes. I developed so many emotions from reading this, such as joy, relief, sadness, pity, and utter disgust. Even though I found some parts to be predictable, I felt that the entire novel was filled with suspense. There was not a single moment that I wanted to stop reading. This novel is so intriguing because it explores the dark side of the human mind, including such concepts such as revenge, sin, and evil.

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It moved me in my spirit.

I am reading this masterpiece for the 2nd time; and the messages in the readings, are really remarkable; because even though the characters live in a simple time; it's that purity and simpleness in the wording, that helped me grasp a spectrum of human thoughts and ideals. I find myself just stopping to think and digest sentences and paragraphs, because I felt really moved in my spirit; and delighted by unexpected epiphanies revealed throughout.

It is timeless, it could be a 1100 years from now, and still one could relate. I feel the time period, although long past into history, is still fresh and alive because of the timeless concepts that make humans, humans.

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Steinbeck at his Best

This is by far my favorite Steinbeck novel. This is, in my opinion, one of the finest pieces of American literature. I enjoyed every word. I read it over and over again to enjoy Steinbeck's world.

reviews: 1, 2, page 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

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