It was a little slow at first; however, after you pass the first chapter the reality and spiritual blend grabs you and make it impossible to put it down. ( )

Probably one of the top 5 best books I have ever read. Totally engrossing. ( )

A terrific read, much more expansive than the movie, detailing both the rise and fall of a family and the history of the Imperial Valley in California ( )

Wow and double wow. Steinbeck is truly one of my favorite authors. Everything he writes comes out amazing and east of eden is no exception. This book took me quite a while to finish because I wanted to savor every sentence, I just couldn't rush through this one. I love all his illusions and metaphors and the story itself is just incredible. This is one I'll have to read over and over again. All I can say is Timshel..like Samuel Hamilton, it too makes me feel free! ( )

A huge, sprawling monster of a novel full of pathos, fire, darkness and light. ( )

Added per Sarah's review of an altogether different book:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

This book completely took me by surprise. I had to read it over the summer for my English, and I put it off. This procrastination was due to the fact that I absolutely detested Grapes of Wrath and was not looking to a novel that looked even longer and boring. I finally was pressed to read it due to an impending test, and I was disappointed in myself that I had judged it before reading. This novel was amazing. I never got bored, it was engrossing and the characters were fantastically drawn and the writing was compelling. I read it in a single weekend, and my discussions about it later in class only enhanced my enjoyment of this book. I absolutely recommend this true classic. ( )

This novel is really four stories in one: 1) the story of Cain and Abel, of good versus evil; 2) the true story of the Hamilton family, Steinbeck's grandparents and aunts and uncles, written as a family legacy and love story to Steinbeck's sons; 3) the fictitious story of the Trask family, the normal neighborly family; and 4) the story of the growth of a new America in the decades surrounding the turn of the century in 1900.

This novel takes on some of the quintessential challenges of human existence, and maps them out through the lives of very real and almost tangible characters. Themes of good vs. evil and truth vs. lies come up again and again as the story unfolds, and the characters themselves guide the readers, without teaching or preaching, to learn to identify the good and truth in others, while accepting and accommodating the evil and lies.

Of all the delightfully compelling characters, my favorites are Sam Hamilton and Lee. Samuel Hamilton is, as Steinbeck tells us, "one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception [and] see what is, where most people see what they expect" (p. 163). Sam Hamilton represents cognition, patience, and careful decision-making. Though he's not the most educated, he's often one of the wisest. Lee represents the religious didactic: he is the character most like a rabbi, and in some ways antithetical to Christians even as he teaches about the Bible (New Testament and Old). He is also most like a mother to Adam's sons, even though he had no mother of his own.

Any review or discussion I try to write seems to do poor justice to this hugely successful novel, so I will simply add that it was my very good pleasure to read this book, and I hope to turn to it again and again as I grow older. There is something in it for everyone, at every age.

Not a typical Steinbeck but captivating. Steinbeck takes you on a journey of a set of twins as different as Cain and Abel. You ponder what makes one good and one evil as you become drawn into two families. ( )

Some have a good story and know how to tell it. Some have a good story and turn it into a bad one because the don't know how to tell a story. Some are so good at telling stories that they can turn a bad story into a good one. Some don't know what a good story is, so they tell a bad story thinking it's a good one. Some have a good story and know it's a good story and know how to tell a good story and still blow the project because they identify too closely with one or more characters (incidents) and wind up emphasizing the wrong incident (character).

One hesitates to say that Steinbeck should never have written about women. 'Of Mice and Men' (and a couple of his short stories) stand in the way of that particular assertion. But I will say without hesitation that Steinbeck should not have written about Kate. I don't know who she really was, because I am not a Steinbeck scholar and I'm too curious about other things to bother myself with him. But -- reading 'East of Eden' -- it's obvious that 'Kate' beat him like a gong while he knew her and he never fully recovered from the beating. He was scarred for life before they got through with each other.

The telling of this story was altogether too much for him. He was too close to it. He tried to make it into more than it was. He lost control in the middle of the telling, lapsed into some outrageous (even ridiculous) tirades about her multitudinous sins and depraved character and made an utter ass of himself in the process. It's no wonder she was able to beat him so. ( )

I'm a big Steinbeck fan because of the pictures he paints of America in the earlier parts of the 20th century. East of Eden was a little harder to follow because of his way of "jumping" between characters, but when I got the rhythm of it I enjoyed the story a lot. ( )

Fantastic!: On first picking up East of Eden, I wondered if I would or could like such a book. After having read Steinbeck's other work, The Pearl, I thought that East of Eden might end up being a long, overly drawn-out description of some vines running along a white wall. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this masterpiece, a great retelling of two classic biblical tales. The characters, if anything else, make this a fantastic read.

Like a good 90% or more of Steinbeck works, East of Eden takes place primarily in the Salinas Valley of northern California. It details the lives of the Trask and Hamilton families, particularly of Adam and Charles Trask--the first generation, and Aron and Cal Trask--the second. Between each set of brothers stands the unequal love of a father, a darkness within a man's heart, and the recurring scar which comes to mark those who are "darker." From Adam and Charles to Aron and Cal, both sets of brothers face trials in their relationships, between the dichotomy of love and hate. This varying dynamic, polar in its nature, is touching in its realism. The depth of the characters, from their good sides to their bad, their joys and sorrows and triumphs and jealousies, make each pitiable and sympathetic in their own way. Cal, who is somewhat of a protagonist in the second half, strives to find a balance between the good he wants to see in himself and the bad he knows is there. This battle, in his soul, is easily relatable to--a young boy who wants to be loved, doesn't know who he is, and wants to be more.

Aside from the male figures, one of the other main characters, Cathy Ames, is considered the Eve of the story. While conventionally seen as a figure of pure evil, the bringer of sin into the world and upon men, I find her the most intriguing--and the most inspiring, of all. While she is depicted to commit evil after evil, senselessly drawing men into their dooms, feeling no remorse whatsoever, there lies the greatest hope in Cathy, who like Cal, seems aligned to the dark side in her nature. But for all of her evil, for every terrible act she makes, the hope of something good within her stirred more hope than any other element of the story. Cal, while inspiring in his struggles, is different from the tragically alone Cathy, whose seeming fall into the darkness draws me in more than anyone else. For her, I truly hoped some light would shed.

All in all, I am delighted to have been able to read this novel. Though it was a rather long read, and for academic purposes, it was so enthralling that it drew me in from the get-go. A good two days into it and I was possessed, unable to put it down until I had finished. I would truly have to recommend this novel to anyone who has the time to sit down and plow through 600 pages--it's well worth it.

I’ve heard a lot about this book, and even the movie, for the past few years so it was my first choice when it came to picking a Steinbeck I had never read. After I started reading, many people commented on their like of the story.

I will admit that in the beginning it took me some time to get used to the Steinbeck style of writing and the story because it jumped around quite a lot before settling into the main focus.

East of Eden tells the story of the Trask family beginning with Adam and Charles Trask, two brothers who couldn’t be more opposite, their relationship, and their father and mother. The story continues through their lives until they are grown men.

It was very interesting as the story developed and not realizing until near they how how history repeats itself and how her parents create who we are. The development of Adam’s sons was most intriguing because Steinbeck never came out and said Cal is like this and Aron is like that. He showed the reader until all of a sudden a lightbulb clicked and you realized you were almost watching Adam and Charles relationship.

But it’s not just about this one family, it’s also about a familiar relationship with neighbors (the Hamiltons), the scenery (Salinas Valley), and working craft (farming).

What started off as a struggle to fully grip onto the story, turned into quick page turning and giving up all other novels to read only this. I highly recommend it.

One of my favorite books. Have read it several times! ( )

Reams have been written on this epic, powerful novel, so I will not attempt a pithy little summary or analysis here. But what a revelation—that a classic work of literature can be read and enjoyed entirely outside of an academic setting, and that the reader can spend hours of pleasant reflection on the book’s meaning and themes without having to produce a paper on them. Perhaps it is time to rediscover literature outside of the glass jar lowered over it by academia. ( )

Well, I definately didn't like this as much as 'Grapes of Wrath' or even 'Of Mice and Men.' That is not to say I didn't enjoy it but for me it was not nearly as focused or powerful as his other works. A long rambling story of two families - The Trasks and the Hamiltons - who settle in the Salinas Valley in California around the turn of the century.

Parts of the novel were quite good - I especially enjoyed Sam Hamilton and the early years of his family; as well as Adam Trask's early life. However, I struggled more with warming up to the story of the Trask boys - they didn't seem like real people to me. And I got tired of reading about evil Cathy Trask. I just felt the pacing was all over the place - there was no sense of climax or really begining, middle, end.

Overall, it was a memorable and worthy read. Steinbeck is a fine, intelligent writer - worthy of his Nobel prize. I just think I expected to like it a bit more than I did - so in that sense a bit of a disappoinment. I guess I like his migrant farm worker schtick better. ( )

Relative to what Steinbeck was capable of I have to say that East of Eden is somewhat flat. The characterisation is, contra what many of Opera's Book Club have to say, uninspired, lifeless and over-simplistic. The Biblical allusions are tiresome, repetative and dull. The main protagonists are utterly one-dimensional. Catherine, the evil witch around which the central thrust of the novel turns, is utterly flimsy. Samuel Hamilton, the unnaturally morally good neighbouring farmer, and his small shrewish Presbyterian wife are highly irksome. Lee, the also hopelessly morally perfect Chinese servant is another totally pointless character.

The so-called 'insights into human nature' are at times nothing more than sententious trite compared to other canonical writers. The guilt complex is far better dealt with in other modern classics such as Crime and Punishment and The Scarlet Letter.

I really think this was a bridge too far for Steinbeck - a lamentable case of over-ambition. And it is lamentable. The most frustrating thing about East of Eden is that I finished the book thinking that this could have been utterly magnificent, but it's not. ( )

I brought this book on a skiing trip to Utah- the problems with the airlines gave me a lot of downtime to read, and I finished it in a week. The prose is easy to read and the plot absorbing to follow. Steinbeck's shorter novels get more press, but this is my personal favorite

This is 601 pages of great reading, an all-out exploration of the human condition, its triumphs and failures, and everything in between. This is definitely on my re-read list. ( )

Fabulous mixture of autobiography and historical fiction. John Steinbeck has long been one of my favorite authors, and I savored each and every page of this wonderful book. I found that I even enjoyed the interclary chapters, although felt a bit anxious for the story to resume. ( )

The people in this novel are brilliant; I love the depth of character in Cal, Samuel, and the Chinese especially. And the twist that Steinbeck gave to the Cain & Abel story--making Cal's personality more complex and therefore more likeable than his brother Aron's--is it's highest point of recommendation. But overall I have to say I didn't like this book. It was sad, and I don't like sad. ( )

This is the very first book I read the entire way through....and enjoyed it. I was 33 years old, medicated for my anxiety that never allowed me to focus. Beyond the sentimentality I have for this book, it is quite simply an epic novel. It's a monster in size, but don't let that scare you. Every single page was necessary to tell this story. ( )

very slow start but totally worth the wait!!! ( )

I was hesitant to read this book at first, but a good friend raved about it, so I decided to pick it up. All I can say is: wow. What an incredible book. There were times when I really couldn't bear to put it down. There were quite a few characters, and they (well, some of them) were very easy to get attached to, and some were easy to hate. Some were just confusing, or pitiable. But Steinbeck managed to weave together all of their stories in a way that makes the book a cohesive, incredibly entertaining whole. ( )

Classic Steinbeck. I loved it for much the same reasons as I did 'Of Mice and Men'. The setting described is beautiful; its the image of California to me. His portrayal of the human condition is so sincere, with all of its vices and virtues. Timshel! ( )