East of Eden (1952)

The most positive thing I can say about this book is that it is very well-written. It may truly be John Steinbeck's "one book" in terms of technical virtuosity. It's an atmospheric, memorable book with fully-realized settings and characters. The themes of good and evil, of free will and destiny, of nihilism and faith in the 20th century are moving and profound.
But, by god, this book could make watching paint dry seem exciting by comparison.
This is not a book that can be read for entertainment easily- it's dry, ponderous and Steinbeck® bleak, and requires at least cursory knowledge of Biblical lore to understand thematically. (As someone who was raised non-religious/non-practicing, I'd recommend having the Book of Genesis or the wikipedia article on it with you while you read.) But if you are the sort of person that reads a book for its historical or cultural value, then slogging through this 600-page exercise in tedium might be worth it to you. East of Eden was the book that Steinbeck considered his magnum opus, and he put a lot of himself in the book. He struggles to address the great issues of morality and the modern century using his own experiences growing up in the Salinas valley and his own relatives (fun fact: Sam Hamilton was his grandfather) and he succeeds, to some degree. Although [b:East of Eden|4406|East of Eden|John Steinbeck|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1441547516s/4406.jpg|2574991] falls short of being the be-all, end-all of great literature Steinbeck wanted it to be, we can still read it and derive understanding of the man he was, and why he is such a notable author.

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I wrote a college paper on this novel, wherein I said that Steinbeck was "heavy-handed" in naming all of his Cain characters with names starting in C and all of the Abel characters with A. Kinda cheeky. ( )

This ranks right up here with one of the best books I have ever read. Completely brilliant novel. ( )

I just LOVED this book. I read it in 2 or 3 days. For a book this length I usually take a week or so. I just could NOT put it down. So intriguing. Wonderful storytelling. Fabulous saga. Such a valuable lesson to be learned. When I was reading I could see how the characters were repeating the actions of their forebears. They couldn't see it themselves though. I wanted to yell at them. I love Steinbeck. This is one of his masterpieces. Do I dare watch the movie now?

For parents, talk to teens when/if they read it. It's a great book but there are some areas that would be best with a discussion. I see why it was put on censored lists in the past. Don't let that stop you from reading it though. ( )

Fictional tale of early California ( )