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East of Eden
In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.
First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.
First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.
601 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
About the author
John Steinbeck
905 books23.8k followersJohn Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.
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July 27, 2016
“All great and precious things are lonely.”
Such an amazing book. An instant all time favourite.
I'm sure you've heard of this book. Often touted as one of the "greatest novels of all time" or "books you must read before you die". For some reason, I've been putting it off. Maybe because I was made to study Of Mice and Men to death in school, or maybe because I thought The Grapes of Wrath was a little overrated. But I've been missing out.
A closer look should have told me that. Because I love family sagas. Epic, multi-generational tales filled with rich characterization and plenty of drama. The House of the Spirits is a great example. These books really pull me into the characters' lives. I get a sense that I've grown up with them, gone through each hardship with them, and come out the other side. They always leave me feeling emotional.
East of Eden is a great book from every angle.
The characters come bounding off the pages, offering a sort of Cain and Abel retelling set before, during, and after the great westward migration of early modern America (it's no coincidence that the Trask brothers are called Charles and Adam).
Steinbeck could not have more vividly painted the Salinas Valley in our minds if he had literally dragged us there in person. It's a beautiful, dusty, challenging place to be and into it comes the story of the Trasks and the Hamiltons. I cannot stress enough how well-drawn these characters are as we move with them through poverty, war, wealth, murder, love and lies.
“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”
It's rare that a book is both a thoughtful historical tale with strong themes, and a fast-paced, highly-readable romp through the lives of people who are smart, naive, calculating, lovable, mean, selfish and confused. It's surprising how often the terms "easily readable" and "masterpiece" are mutually exclusive - but that is not the case here. I couldn't put it down.
I just... don't even know how to fully summarize my thoughts and feelings. East of Eden is clever, it's "deep", but it's also so damn enjoyable. I loved all the relationships and conflicts between the characters. And I especially loved Cathy - the kind of twisted female character I'd expect Gillian Flynn to create.
If you're looking for an intelligent classic - read it. If you're looking for an exciting pageturner - read it.
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March 23, 2016
This book is mind blowing. It is John Steinbeck at his sharpest. He said that every author really only has one "book," and that all of his books leading up to East of Eden were just practice--Eden would be his book.
I could write a summary of the book, but it would be more trouble than it's worth. You will often hear it referred to as a "modern retelling of the Genesis story of Cain and Abel" but that is too simplistic. Steinbeck takes the story of Cain and Abel and makes Cain (in the form of Cal Trask) the sympathetic character. Cal Trask does not act destructively for the sake of destruction, but he is desperately clawing for approval and love from his father, Adam, who prefers Cal's twin brother, Aron. The story isn't that pat, though--Cal and Aron really don't make their entrances as major characters until the last quarter of the 600 page novel. So, to say that this book is simply the retelling of Cain and Abel is to oversimplify the book. The main theme of the book is the desire within everyone for love, and how this desire can make people turn to destructive behavior.
This book has been criticized for being too verbose, meandering, inconsistently paced, and heavy handed in its parallel with the story of Cain and Abel. Yes, it is verbose and meandering, but that's Steinbeck. It gives a full picture of the Salinas valley. It gives you insights and perspectives you might not otherwise have. If anything, Steinbeck's constant forays into unrelated sidebars give the reader a break in pace, a rest that makes the more important parts of the books feel as though they flow more smoothly. As for the parallel with Cain and Abel, it is heavy-handed. That being said, the heavy-handedness didn't bother me. Going in to the novel with the expectation of it being a retelling of Cain and Abel (at least for some of the narrative) is enough to make the obvious references to Cain and Abel seem natural. If Steinbeck had given the impression that he was trying to hide the parallel, it would have been insulting. But Steinbeck isn't trying to hide it--he makes it clear that the story of Cain and Abel are an integral part of his story.
East of Eden is an amazing novel. Its strong points more than compensate for the very few shortcomings. Steinbeck is such a tremendous writer that his shortcomings become strengths. I highly recommend it.
I could write a summary of the book, but it would be more trouble than it's worth. You will often hear it referred to as a "modern retelling of the Genesis story of Cain and Abel" but that is too simplistic. Steinbeck takes the story of Cain and Abel and makes Cain (in the form of Cal Trask) the sympathetic character. Cal Trask does not act destructively for the sake of destruction, but he is desperately clawing for approval and love from his father, Adam, who prefers Cal's twin brother, Aron. The story isn't that pat, though--Cal and Aron really don't make their entrances as major characters until the last quarter of the 600 page novel. So, to say that this book is simply the retelling of Cain and Abel is to oversimplify the book. The main theme of the book is the desire within everyone for love, and how this desire can make people turn to destructive behavior.
This book has been criticized for being too verbose, meandering, inconsistently paced, and heavy handed in its parallel with the story of Cain and Abel. Yes, it is verbose and meandering, but that's Steinbeck. It gives a full picture of the Salinas valley. It gives you insights and perspectives you might not otherwise have. If anything, Steinbeck's constant forays into unrelated sidebars give the reader a break in pace, a rest that makes the more important parts of the books feel as though they flow more smoothly. As for the parallel with Cain and Abel, it is heavy-handed. That being said, the heavy-handedness didn't bother me. Going in to the novel with the expectation of it being a retelling of Cain and Abel (at least for some of the narrative) is enough to make the obvious references to Cain and Abel seem natural. If Steinbeck had given the impression that he was trying to hide the parallel, it would have been insulting. But Steinbeck isn't trying to hide it--he makes it clear that the story of Cain and Abel are an integral part of his story.
East of Eden is an amazing novel. Its strong points more than compensate for the very few shortcomings. Steinbeck is such a tremendous writer that his shortcomings become strengths. I highly recommend it.
December 19, 2022
This was... something.
*It made it to my best books of 2022: https://youtu.be/WmTndjsYFIc
*It made it to my best books of 2022: https://youtu.be/WmTndjsYFIc
July 11, 2021
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
I bet this book will change how you see humanity and how you think about good and evil. If you are a father, or a son, or especially a father of sons, then I imagine this story will be so full of truth it will shake you to your core and leave you lying nervously in bed at night, praying for your children. Praying perhaps for yourself.
Timshel.
I bet this book will change how you see humanity and how you think about good and evil. If you are a father, or a son, or especially a father of sons, then I imagine this story will be so full of truth it will shake you to your core and leave you lying nervously in bed at night, praying for your children. Praying perhaps for yourself.
And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.
Timshel.
December 22, 2022
welcome to...(MAY)ST OF EDEN!!
this might sound like my month/title puns are getting worse and worse, but wait until we get to the reveal on this one.
by being excited i have definitely cursed myself into forgetting to do it.
every month, elle and i read an intimidating classic in a couple chapters a day all month long. MIDDLEMARCH MARCH was a raging success, but TENANT OF WILDAPRIL HALL sucked hard.
to heal ourselves, we're revisiting a book we know we love. we're also doing it with our book club!
constantly living the dream.
follow along on instagram or discord!!
timshel, b*tch.
DAY 1: CHAPTERS 1 & 2
hope someday to love anything as much as john steinbeck loved the land of california. anyone who gets a bit snoozy over in-depth nature descriptions, today's exposition central might be a little tough to get through, but this gets to be sooo worthwhile and scandalous!!
DAY 2: CHAPTERS 3 & 4
"She smiled at Adam, and he closed his eyes."
there is truly more characterization and relationship development in that single sentence than there is in some entire books i've read this year.
in love with the exploration of adam's absence of a mother and charles' absence of a father and who it makes each of them. steinbeck is unbelievable when it comes to characterization and to relationship dynamics, and it's never clearer than in this, his family saga masterpiece. some really compelling chats going on in the east of eden channel - i'm having so much fun with this book and you guys already!
DAY 3: CHAPTERS 5 & 6
in this year of reading i've noticed myself really enjoying unlikable characters - which is good because they are so absurdly trendy right now. loving reading this book because it's slightly different - even with characters who Should be unlikable, like charles, i care about him a lot.
i think steinbeck's writing is just that good - he can indicate powerful emotions in just a few words or one action (i'm thinking in particular of charles and the clean versus unclean house). heart destroying!
DAY 4: CHAPTERS 7 & 8
cathy...in many ways the original girlboss. steinbeck's ability to explore the full spectrum of good and evil while managing to create not only Believable and Convincing characters but also characters you care about is truly one of a kind. many classic authors are unable to write a real-seeming depiction of a person with bad intentions (think about the brontës, for example), and johnny boy is managing not only to do this but to get me invested in what happens to each and every one of them. a master.
i apologize if this is less analytical than other entries (and elle's lovely one for today). i had to read this drunk because i couldn't watch my precious basketball team lose sober.
it's what steinbeck would have wanted.
DAY 5: CHAPTERS 9 & 10
my sister and i have a saying: "men are so tender with each other." it started when one day in a bagel shop a guy behind us in line looked at another guy who came in and went, "bro, i was JUST thinking about you!" and now we notice sweet stuff like that all the time. say what you will, but men love each other a lot.
relatedly, i loved this chapter about charles and adam and their complicated love for each other. and i loved more of cathy's villain origin story, and the line "No one who is young is ever going to be old."
i hope this month of reading never ends!
DAY 6: CHAPTERS 11 & 12
strawberries really DON'T taste as good as they used to.
(best way to describe how the passing of time feels that i've read.)
DAY 7: CHAPTERS 13 & 14
it is day 10.
i am in a life slump i recently misdiagnosed as a reading slump, but now i am attempting to get myself back on this glorious biblical retelling bandwagon come, well, hell or high water.
i don't know how many ways there are to say that this is one of the great character books of all time, but i hope chapter 14 and its loving and wonderful depiction of olive is taught in creative writing classes. in the general east of eden channel we're having a fun talk about steinbeck's female characters - i find them compelling beyond reasonable expectation for a dude from old times!!
DAY 8: CHAPTERS 15 & 16
i know steinbeck isn't perfect, but i do find his attempts at subverting traditional bigoted stereotypes very compelling - blaming adam for his inability to see through cathy; creating full and complex female characters; and in these chapters, the character of lee.
these are flawed depictions, even still, and maybe i'm giving too much credit, but i appreciate the effort!!
DAY 9: CHAPTERS 17 & 18
so much to find interesting about cathy as a character, including how her role facilitates reflection on who is responsible for evil. not only is cathy not the only person expected to take accountability for her amorality - she almost isn't!
for whatever reason, we can blame adam for his blind devotion, liza for her lack of superstition, sam and lee for their self-doubt, the sheriff and deputy sheriff for their inability to recognize what's before them, all more easily than we can blame cathy for her own nature.
DAY 10: CHAPTERS 19 & 20
it's hard trying to do actual analysis for this book every day.
skipping that today because i have the kind of sinus headache that makes you empathize with the cartoon character-shaped balloons at grocery store checkout lines. just going to say cathy is crazy i could read about this wild gal forever.
DAY 11: CHAPTERS 21 & 22
it's day 15. this may seem like a disaster, but really i'm just so enjoying savoring this book!!! i can't make myself binge it.
the other book we're reading for our book club this month is conversations with friends, and while the two have almost nothing in common beyond the fact that they are part of the rare and mighty few i've five starred, there is something similar to me...perhaps just in the fact that both are as if the smartest and most interesting people you know sat and talked about the most important and fascinating topics in the world, and the best writer you could think of summarized it all.
not a bad setup. both i feel endlessly grateful for. both i could read forever.
DAY 12: CHAPTERS 23 & 24
there's something almost insulting about the death of a character. my favorite characters are like family members i can return to every time i open their book - a story that kills them ruins the perfection of that illusion. if the hamiltons of reality can't live forever, the hamiltons of fiction at least should.
anyway, here finally we have the pun reveal: TIMSHEL, BABY! thou mayest. in other words - MAYST OF EDEN.
tearing up and it's not even at my own joke.
DAY 13: CHAPTERS 25 & 26
don't mind me, just in a state of mourning.
fortunately i have approximately 89 other excellent characters to get me through.
DAY 14: CHAPTERS 27 & 28
doubling up today because of my most insane hobby: putting 6 or 7 books on my currently reading and reading them chapter by chapter, one at a time.
it is bliss for the focus-challenged nerd in your life.
it's odd - as i read this book i have this sense of foreboding, not only for having read it before, and not only because of that déjà vu knowledge that a retelling provides, but because there's this shakiness to everything in this story. fundamentally east of eden is about the tenacity of people and the precariousness of life.
anyway. even as i know what's to come, on so many levels and for so many reasons, i'm illogically crossing my fingers for the best for all of them.
DAY 15: CHAPTERS 29 & 30
the most wonderful part of this book (if you'll forgive that i've probably called a hundred parts the most wonderful) is the complexity and realism of the characters. none truly good, none truly evil.
sometimes you want to shake cal, and a lesser writer would let you hate him, but goddamn instead in chapter 30 he breaks your f*ckin' heart.
DAY 16: CHAPTERS 31 & 32
i love dessie and tom so much it hurts my heart.
what mental illness is it when you would literally trade your own happiness if made up fictional characters from 70 years ago could have a happy life?
DAY 17: CHAPTERS 33 & 34
possibly the only character i dislike in this entire book, which includes one of the most enduring depictions of pure evil in fiction, is will.
i can't bear a capitalist, and i adore tom. f*ck you, will. let the man have his acorns.
anyway, i'm crying again.
DAY 18: CHAPTERS 35 & 36
i think it'd be tempting to say that steinbeck is depicting a person of color who craves servitude, and there is evidence of that. but more so i don't think steinbeck sees lee as a servant, and in turn, adam and cal and aron don't either. they're a family. lee doesn't return saying starting a bookstore was too hard - he comes back because he was lonely.
obviously there's nuance to this and its own kind of problematic-ness, but it's nice to see the nice things.
DAY 19: CHAPTERS 37 & 38
i don't find adam to be a very compelling character, so it's odd to read two greats (cal and lee) discussing how he's the best man they know.
i'm like, out of this all star lineup?!
DAY 20: CHAPTERS 39 & 40
oh, i love sweet cal. to have a sibling you love can be such a complicated thing.
DAY 21: CHAPTERS 41 & 42
god damn it. steinbeck won't let me dislike even one character. coming out swinging making me like will goddamn hamilton too.
there are dozens of characters in this book, and every single one of them is a person. i mean, every single one has a history that made them who they are, has weaknesses that came from somewhere and dreams and disappointments. how do you even do that?
this book is miraculous.
DAY 22: CHAPTERS 43 & 44
i haven't met a man in my entire dating life (and i'll be honest with you, it's extensive), with a full awareness of the way in which men can create their idea of a woman and then cast it on to a real human, and call that falling in love.
but i just read john steinbeck do it.
DAY 23: CHAPTERS 45 & 46
i can suspend my disbelief as well as the next fiction reader, but kate getting taken down by some random dumb petty criminal man is not something i can get behind in terms of realism.
DAY 24: CHAPTERS 47 & 48
these short chapters are killing me. i'm used to 35 pages of this a day and now i'm having to catch up in order to get there. dire straits.
this also made me look up the etymology of the word "cupcake" - dates back to 1828! who knew. i just thought it was goofy to picture steinbeck at a pastel micro-bakery.
DAY 25: CHAPTERS 49 & 50
poor aron. poor cal. poor lee.
at least kate's still got it. in her way.
things'll get worse before they get better! (and by get better i mean they won't, really, and the book will end, and i miss the hamiltons.)
DAY 26: CHAPTERS 51 & 52
i do love dear abra. it's nice to know steinbeck was so capable of writing full female characters - he sure didn't in of mice and men. but then he hardly had the time, really.
DAY 27: CHAPTERS 53 & 54
the penultimate day. i'm going to miss this book so much it's embarrassing.
another theme i love in this book is an extension of the broader topic of good and evil - the idea of personal responsibility, and whether it's your right as a human being to be a truly good or truly evil person. adam and aron, who are sinless to the point of self-motivation, are marked by the sins of adam's father and of cathy. cal, despite his best efforts to be bad, is continually drawn toward good.
and then there's the cal and aron of it all.
what was really so bad about cal's and charles' gifts to their fathers? and was what cal did to aron really worse than his response to it? did cal kill aron, or did aron kill himself? or was it less personal than even that?
a real thinker. i'm not reading the last chapter today. i can't do it.
DAY 28: CHAPTER 55
all i can do to finish this, tear up a bit, reread the timshel passages, and stare at the wall for a while.
OVERALL
this is one of the greatest:
- retellings
- family dramas
- generational novels
- testaments to the power of the character
- books to build your life around
of all time.
i loved revisiting it very much.
rating: 5
this might sound like my month/title puns are getting worse and worse, but wait until we get to the reveal on this one.
by being excited i have definitely cursed myself into forgetting to do it.
every month, elle and i read an intimidating classic in a couple chapters a day all month long. MIDDLEMARCH MARCH was a raging success, but TENANT OF WILDAPRIL HALL sucked hard.
to heal ourselves, we're revisiting a book we know we love. we're also doing it with our book club!
constantly living the dream.
follow along on instagram or discord!!
timshel, b*tch.
DAY 1: CHAPTERS 1 & 2
hope someday to love anything as much as john steinbeck loved the land of california. anyone who gets a bit snoozy over in-depth nature descriptions, today's exposition central might be a little tough to get through, but this gets to be sooo worthwhile and scandalous!!
DAY 2: CHAPTERS 3 & 4
"She smiled at Adam, and he closed his eyes."
there is truly more characterization and relationship development in that single sentence than there is in some entire books i've read this year.
in love with the exploration of adam's absence of a mother and charles' absence of a father and who it makes each of them. steinbeck is unbelievable when it comes to characterization and to relationship dynamics, and it's never clearer than in this, his family saga masterpiece. some really compelling chats going on in the east of eden channel - i'm having so much fun with this book and you guys already!
DAY 3: CHAPTERS 5 & 6
in this year of reading i've noticed myself really enjoying unlikable characters - which is good because they are so absurdly trendy right now. loving reading this book because it's slightly different - even with characters who Should be unlikable, like charles, i care about him a lot.
i think steinbeck's writing is just that good - he can indicate powerful emotions in just a few words or one action (i'm thinking in particular of charles and the clean versus unclean house). heart destroying!
DAY 4: CHAPTERS 7 & 8
cathy...in many ways the original girlboss. steinbeck's ability to explore the full spectrum of good and evil while managing to create not only Believable and Convincing characters but also characters you care about is truly one of a kind. many classic authors are unable to write a real-seeming depiction of a person with bad intentions (think about the brontës, for example), and johnny boy is managing not only to do this but to get me invested in what happens to each and every one of them. a master.
i apologize if this is less analytical than other entries (and elle's lovely one for today). i had to read this drunk because i couldn't watch my precious basketball team lose sober.
it's what steinbeck would have wanted.
DAY 5: CHAPTERS 9 & 10
my sister and i have a saying: "men are so tender with each other." it started when one day in a bagel shop a guy behind us in line looked at another guy who came in and went, "bro, i was JUST thinking about you!" and now we notice sweet stuff like that all the time. say what you will, but men love each other a lot.
relatedly, i loved this chapter about charles and adam and their complicated love for each other. and i loved more of cathy's villain origin story, and the line "No one who is young is ever going to be old."
i hope this month of reading never ends!
DAY 6: CHAPTERS 11 & 12
strawberries really DON'T taste as good as they used to.
(best way to describe how the passing of time feels that i've read.)
DAY 7: CHAPTERS 13 & 14
it is day 10.
i am in a life slump i recently misdiagnosed as a reading slump, but now i am attempting to get myself back on this glorious biblical retelling bandwagon come, well, hell or high water.
i don't know how many ways there are to say that this is one of the great character books of all time, but i hope chapter 14 and its loving and wonderful depiction of olive is taught in creative writing classes. in the general east of eden channel we're having a fun talk about steinbeck's female characters - i find them compelling beyond reasonable expectation for a dude from old times!!
DAY 8: CHAPTERS 15 & 16
i know steinbeck isn't perfect, but i do find his attempts at subverting traditional bigoted stereotypes very compelling - blaming adam for his inability to see through cathy; creating full and complex female characters; and in these chapters, the character of lee.
these are flawed depictions, even still, and maybe i'm giving too much credit, but i appreciate the effort!!
DAY 9: CHAPTERS 17 & 18
so much to find interesting about cathy as a character, including how her role facilitates reflection on who is responsible for evil. not only is cathy not the only person expected to take accountability for her amorality - she almost isn't!
for whatever reason, we can blame adam for his blind devotion, liza for her lack of superstition, sam and lee for their self-doubt, the sheriff and deputy sheriff for their inability to recognize what's before them, all more easily than we can blame cathy for her own nature.
DAY 10: CHAPTERS 19 & 20
it's hard trying to do actual analysis for this book every day.
skipping that today because i have the kind of sinus headache that makes you empathize with the cartoon character-shaped balloons at grocery store checkout lines. just going to say cathy is crazy i could read about this wild gal forever.
DAY 11: CHAPTERS 21 & 22
it's day 15. this may seem like a disaster, but really i'm just so enjoying savoring this book!!! i can't make myself binge it.
the other book we're reading for our book club this month is conversations with friends, and while the two have almost nothing in common beyond the fact that they are part of the rare and mighty few i've five starred, there is something similar to me...perhaps just in the fact that both are as if the smartest and most interesting people you know sat and talked about the most important and fascinating topics in the world, and the best writer you could think of summarized it all.
not a bad setup. both i feel endlessly grateful for. both i could read forever.
DAY 12: CHAPTERS 23 & 24
there's something almost insulting about the death of a character. my favorite characters are like family members i can return to every time i open their book - a story that kills them ruins the perfection of that illusion. if the hamiltons of reality can't live forever, the hamiltons of fiction at least should.
anyway, here finally we have the pun reveal: TIMSHEL, BABY! thou mayest. in other words - MAYST OF EDEN.
tearing up and it's not even at my own joke.
DAY 13: CHAPTERS 25 & 26
don't mind me, just in a state of mourning.
fortunately i have approximately 89 other excellent characters to get me through.
DAY 14: CHAPTERS 27 & 28
doubling up today because of my most insane hobby: putting 6 or 7 books on my currently reading and reading them chapter by chapter, one at a time.
it is bliss for the focus-challenged nerd in your life.
it's odd - as i read this book i have this sense of foreboding, not only for having read it before, and not only because of that déjà vu knowledge that a retelling provides, but because there's this shakiness to everything in this story. fundamentally east of eden is about the tenacity of people and the precariousness of life.
anyway. even as i know what's to come, on so many levels and for so many reasons, i'm illogically crossing my fingers for the best for all of them.
DAY 15: CHAPTERS 29 & 30
the most wonderful part of this book (if you'll forgive that i've probably called a hundred parts the most wonderful) is the complexity and realism of the characters. none truly good, none truly evil.
sometimes you want to shake cal, and a lesser writer would let you hate him, but goddamn instead in chapter 30 he breaks your f*ckin' heart.
DAY 16: CHAPTERS 31 & 32
i love dessie and tom so much it hurts my heart.
what mental illness is it when you would literally trade your own happiness if made up fictional characters from 70 years ago could have a happy life?
DAY 17: CHAPTERS 33 & 34
possibly the only character i dislike in this entire book, which includes one of the most enduring depictions of pure evil in fiction, is will.
i can't bear a capitalist, and i adore tom. f*ck you, will. let the man have his acorns.
anyway, i'm crying again.
DAY 18: CHAPTERS 35 & 36
i think it'd be tempting to say that steinbeck is depicting a person of color who craves servitude, and there is evidence of that. but more so i don't think steinbeck sees lee as a servant, and in turn, adam and cal and aron don't either. they're a family. lee doesn't return saying starting a bookstore was too hard - he comes back because he was lonely.
obviously there's nuance to this and its own kind of problematic-ness, but it's nice to see the nice things.
DAY 19: CHAPTERS 37 & 38
i don't find adam to be a very compelling character, so it's odd to read two greats (cal and lee) discussing how he's the best man they know.
i'm like, out of this all star lineup?!
DAY 20: CHAPTERS 39 & 40
oh, i love sweet cal. to have a sibling you love can be such a complicated thing.
DAY 21: CHAPTERS 41 & 42
god damn it. steinbeck won't let me dislike even one character. coming out swinging making me like will goddamn hamilton too.
there are dozens of characters in this book, and every single one of them is a person. i mean, every single one has a history that made them who they are, has weaknesses that came from somewhere and dreams and disappointments. how do you even do that?
this book is miraculous.
DAY 22: CHAPTERS 43 & 44
i haven't met a man in my entire dating life (and i'll be honest with you, it's extensive), with a full awareness of the way in which men can create their idea of a woman and then cast it on to a real human, and call that falling in love.
but i just read john steinbeck do it.
DAY 23: CHAPTERS 45 & 46
i can suspend my disbelief as well as the next fiction reader, but kate getting taken down by some random dumb petty criminal man is not something i can get behind in terms of realism.
DAY 24: CHAPTERS 47 & 48
these short chapters are killing me. i'm used to 35 pages of this a day and now i'm having to catch up in order to get there. dire straits.
this also made me look up the etymology of the word "cupcake" - dates back to 1828! who knew. i just thought it was goofy to picture steinbeck at a pastel micro-bakery.
DAY 25: CHAPTERS 49 & 50
poor aron. poor cal. poor lee.
at least kate's still got it. in her way.
things'll get worse before they get better! (and by get better i mean they won't, really, and the book will end, and i miss the hamiltons.)
DAY 26: CHAPTERS 51 & 52
i do love dear abra. it's nice to know steinbeck was so capable of writing full female characters - he sure didn't in of mice and men. but then he hardly had the time, really.
DAY 27: CHAPTERS 53 & 54
the penultimate day. i'm going to miss this book so much it's embarrassing.
another theme i love in this book is an extension of the broader topic of good and evil - the idea of personal responsibility, and whether it's your right as a human being to be a truly good or truly evil person. adam and aron, who are sinless to the point of self-motivation, are marked by the sins of adam's father and of cathy. cal, despite his best efforts to be bad, is continually drawn toward good.
and then there's the cal and aron of it all.
what was really so bad about cal's and charles' gifts to their fathers? and was what cal did to aron really worse than his response to it? did cal kill aron, or did aron kill himself? or was it less personal than even that?
a real thinker. i'm not reading the last chapter today. i can't do it.
DAY 28: CHAPTER 55
all i can do to finish this, tear up a bit, reread the timshel passages, and stare at the wall for a while.
OVERALL
this is one of the greatest:
- retellings
- family dramas
- generational novels
- testaments to the power of the character
- books to build your life around
of all time.
i loved revisiting it very much.
rating: 5
September 13, 2010
I hate this book. Hate. Ponderous, pretentious, melodramatic, self-satisfied, patronizing to its readers, with ultimately nothing to say. Can be summarized thus: a bunch of people with no formal education whatsoever sit around discussing the time they read the Old Testament in Hebrew. They then tell us all how to live. Uh...right. I knew we were in trouble with the unbelievably lame introduction -- some forced, self-congratulatory metaphor about a box, if memory serves -- but it's hard to believe it actually got worse from there. In any event, with its smug aura of "Here you will find WISDOM," it's certainly no wonder that it's right up Oprah's alley.
The fact that people worship this misbegotten mess of a book as they might worship pieces of the True Cross is just plain depressing. Apparently the way to literary immortality is to give 'em a decent narrative, throw in some breathless nonsense about free will and the Bible, and don't forget to puff out your chest and tell everyone that you've written a masterpiece. Gack. For this they gave him the Nobel Prize?
********
After deleting I don't know how many comments calling me names and getting several pieces of hate email, I'm adding this addendum, because it will save both me and a bunch of other people from wasting time: I'll delete any comments that I consider abusive or that I think constitute ad hominem arguments, so do keep that in mind if you're considering posting a long screed.
The fact that people worship this misbegotten mess of a book as they might worship pieces of the True Cross is just plain depressing. Apparently the way to literary immortality is to give 'em a decent narrative, throw in some breathless nonsense about free will and the Bible, and don't forget to puff out your chest and tell everyone that you've written a masterpiece. Gack. For this they gave him the Nobel Prize?
********
After deleting I don't know how many comments calling me names and getting several pieces of hate email, I'm adding this addendum, because it will save both me and a bunch of other people from wasting time: I'll delete any comments that I consider abusive or that I think constitute ad hominem arguments, so do keep that in mind if you're considering posting a long screed.
July 26, 2016
Very easy for me to rate this book 5 stars. It is amazing. There is so much in it and it is not hard to read. It just tells it like it is and does it so well.
It is like a high priced, high quality buffet with lots of different stations. At each of those stations is a main table with an awesome featured food (thick cut prime rib, chocolate fondue fountain, Mongolian BBQ bowl, etc.). In layman's terms, there is SO MUCH awesome story here with a HUGE payoff every 50 pages or so. I am very satisfied with the story I got - full of literature!
Oh, and this book has one of the most heartless and despicable villains ever put on paper.
I recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a decent story told very well. This has solidified with me that Steinbeck is a literary genius - cannot be denied!
It is like a high priced, high quality buffet with lots of different stations. At each of those stations is a main table with an awesome featured food (thick cut prime rib, chocolate fondue fountain, Mongolian BBQ bowl, etc.). In layman's terms, there is SO MUCH awesome story here with a HUGE payoff every 50 pages or so. I am very satisfied with the story I got - full of literature!
Oh, and this book has one of the most heartless and despicable villains ever put on paper.
I recommend this book to anyone that wants to read a decent story told very well. This has solidified with me that Steinbeck is a literary genius - cannot be denied!
April 9, 2024
“There's more beauty in truth, even if it is dreadful beauty.”
January 15, 2021
One of the most appropriate epithets that apply to this novel is ‘monumental’. Indeed East of Eden stands as a monument to the entire epoch and those people that lived in those troubled days. This is a chronicle of generations – of parents and children.
And like all colossal books East of Eden is a book of good and evil, a tale of God and man.
And by the power of his words John Steinbeck forces us not to read the story but to live among those he wrote about.
When a child first catches adults out – when it first walks into his grave little head that adults do not have divine intelligence, that their judgments are not always wise, their thinking true, their sentences just – his world falls into panic desolation. The gods are fallen and all safety gone.
And like all colossal books East of Eden is a book of good and evil, a tale of God and man.
Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong. But this culture is fenced, and the swimming brood climbs up only to fall back. Might it not be that in the dark pools of some men the evil grows strong enough to wriggle over the fence and swim free?
And by the power of his words John Steinbeck forces us not to read the story but to live among those he wrote about.
August 6, 2022
steinbeck said that everything he wrote prior to this book was just practice.
which means everything i have read prior to this book was also practice, familiarising myself with stories about humanity, until i could fully appreciate just how perfectly this encapsulates human nature and everything that comes with it.
the good. the evil. the freedom of choice. the resulting consequences. the loneliness. the beauty.
there are so many inspired nuggets of wisdom nestled into this deeply intimate story (just go have a look at the quotes section) that i cant help but agree with a friend when he claimed this book is “life changing.”
PS - i havent seen the film, but i have heard the musical score and its absolutely perfect. makes me tear up at just how much it suits the story. take a listen here.
↠ 4.5 stars
which means everything i have read prior to this book was also practice, familiarising myself with stories about humanity, until i could fully appreciate just how perfectly this encapsulates human nature and everything that comes with it.
the good. the evil. the freedom of choice. the resulting consequences. the loneliness. the beauty.
there are so many inspired nuggets of wisdom nestled into this deeply intimate story (just go have a look at the quotes section) that i cant help but agree with a friend when he claimed this book is “life changing.”
PS - i havent seen the film, but i have heard the musical score and its absolutely perfect. makes me tear up at just how much it suits the story. take a listen here.
↠ 4.5 stars
July 16, 2024
maybe timshel will be our always
February 10, 2018
I have no words to describe what this novel did to my reading self!
It was my first Steinbeck, and it made me fall in love with his writing, his ideas, his cry for individual freedom and social justice. It made me ache for goodness in a world of evil, and it made me respect the power of storytelling to explain the inexplicable difficulties of family life.
It was the first time I felt scared of a fictional character!
I don't think I have ever been so deeply shaken as by Cathy/Kate, and she remains the villain with whom I compare all other literary villains. And yet, she fascinated me, she was like a snake hypnotising a mouse, and she merged the mythical ideas of Eve and the serpent into one powerful person - destructive and beautiful, exciting and dangerous.
Yet despite the biblical references which dominate the narrative, the monumental family saga has more resemblance with a Greek tragedy than with a Christian tale: facing the shame of failure, most characters choose to exit the stage rather than gaining redemption through suffering. Their lifeline is the freedom of CHOICE, not dogmatic obedience:
"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about."
Of all the books I don't have time to reread, this is the one that is tempting me most - like a snake-Eve pointing towards a shiny apple - this is where you will find the knowledge of good and evil, and it is your choice if you read it or not!
It will make you shiver - with fear and admiration for the human imagination!
It was my first Steinbeck, and it made me fall in love with his writing, his ideas, his cry for individual freedom and social justice. It made me ache for goodness in a world of evil, and it made me respect the power of storytelling to explain the inexplicable difficulties of family life.
It was the first time I felt scared of a fictional character!
I don't think I have ever been so deeply shaken as by Cathy/Kate, and she remains the villain with whom I compare all other literary villains. And yet, she fascinated me, she was like a snake hypnotising a mouse, and she merged the mythical ideas of Eve and the serpent into one powerful person - destructive and beautiful, exciting and dangerous.
Yet despite the biblical references which dominate the narrative, the monumental family saga has more resemblance with a Greek tragedy than with a Christian tale: facing the shame of failure, most characters choose to exit the stage rather than gaining redemption through suffering. Their lifeline is the freedom of CHOICE, not dogmatic obedience:
"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about."
Of all the books I don't have time to reread, this is the one that is tempting me most - like a snake-Eve pointing towards a shiny apple - this is where you will find the knowledge of good and evil, and it is your choice if you read it or not!
It will make you shiver - with fear and admiration for the human imagination!
September 22, 2024
Adam Trask was a weak but kind boy and later man, his father treated him quite badly even his jealous, sadistic half- brother younger but stronger hit him repeatedly , barely surviving one brutal vicious fight. Born in the middle of the American Civil War, in a Connecticut farm he and brother Charles are turned into good little soldiers at a very tender age. Cyrus their father lost a leg in the war, boasting of being in every major battle (which is physically impossible). In fact the private was only in a blue uniform six months, getting his appendage shot off during the first day of his first battle. But Cyrus becomes such a good liar, that people begin to actually believe him as he, does as well! Yet writing marvelous but fictional war articles, in the major American newspapers. Consequently he receives a job with the Grand Army of the Republic an influential veterans group of Union soldiers, in Washington. His first wife commits suicide, the second dies of illness let's say Cyrus was not a very lovable person. Adam is forced by his father at sixteen, to join the army to make him a man and save his hide from Charles. Running down the few scattered renegade Indians in the plain states, Adam hates his job still does it bravely and well. When the father dies both boys inherit a vast sum of money, was their father not only a liar but also a thief ? Out of the military good Adam marries a woman of ill repute Cathy, a lady so evil that Satan would be ashamed to be associated with her. Adam buys a farm in central California's rugged Salinas Valley , Cathy gives birth to twin boys non identical Caleb (Cal) and Aaron (Aron), shoots Adam and abandons the newborns. Not mother of the year material, the wife's manners could also be improved. Cathy takes up residence in a home which you can guess what kind it is, but Adam lives and goes into a deep funk ... Lee the much loved Chinese servant, takes over and raises the kids better than the moody, distant, bitter father could ever do ...Thoughts: This story is an allegory of the Bible's Adam and Eve , being thrown out of The Garden of Eden but also about wicked Cain and his good brother, Abel. Steinbeck was born in the frontier town of Salinas the Old West was still alive, the few settlers struggled to make a living in the harsh land. The world changed forever, as the book says when the year 1900 arrived,"Ladies were not ladies anymore and you couldn't trust a gentleman's word". Sam Hamilton a neighbor of Adam and soon friend, was different like a Patriarch out of the Bible with his nine children, wise and tough but not practical thus always poor ... Nevertheless these people are needed as Steinbeck believes, to give guidance to others, which is very lacking today. ..The author's most ambitious and his favorite work. Love and lots of hate, much conflict and a little peace all there. Sam Hamilton was the writer's grandfather.
August 21, 2021
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.
The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley, California, between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of World War I, though some chapters are set in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the story goes as far back as the American Civil War.
In the beginning of East of Eden, before introducing his characters, Steinbeck carefully establishes the setting with a description of the Salinas Valley in Central California.
Then he outlines the story of the warmhearted inventor and farmer Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from Ireland.
He describes how they raise their nine children on a rough, infertile piece of land. As the Hamilton children begin to grow up and leave the nest, a wealthy stranger, Adam Trask, purchases the best ranch in the Valley.
Adam's life is seen in a long, intricate flashback. We see his tumultuous childhood on a farm in Connecticut and the brutal treatment he endured from his younger but stronger half-brother, Charles.
Adam and Charles's father, Cyrus, was a Union Civil War veteran who was wounded in his very first battle and unable (or perhaps unwilling) to return to service; he nonetheless becomes an expert "armchair general" who uses his intellectual knowledge of military affairs and wounded-veteran status to become a military adviser in Washington, D.C.
As a young man, Adam spent his time first in the military and then wandering the country. He was caught for vagrancy, escaped from a chain gang, and burgled a store for clothing to use as a disguise. Later, he wires Charles to request $100 to pay for his travels home.
Adam later sends money to the store to pay for the clothes and damage. After Adam finally makes his way home to their farm, Charles reveals that Cyrus had died and left them an inheritance of $50,000 each. Charles is torn with fear that Cyrus did not come by the money honestly.
Characters: Mr. Edwards, Ethel, Lee, Faye, Tom Hamilton, Cyrus Trask, Mrs. Trask, Alice Trask, Adam Trask, Charles Trask, Aron Trask, Caleb Trask, Samuel Hamilton, Liza Hamilton, George Hamilton, Will Hamilton, Joe Hamilton, Lizzie Hamilton, Una Hamilton, Dessie Hamilton, Olive Hamilton, Mollie Hamilton, Cathy Ames, Abra Bacon, Joe Valery.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه آگوست سال 1984میلادی
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان ارنست اشتاین بک؛ مترجم: بهرام مقدادی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، بامداد، 1361-1362، در سه جلد، چاپ دیگر، تهران، اسطوره، 1389؛ در 992ص؛ شابک 9789648332414؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان اشتاینبک؛ ترجمه پرویز شهدی؛ تهران، گهبد، 1384؛ در 784ص؛ شابک 9648766010؛ چاپ دوم 1385؛ چاپ دیگر نگارستان کتاب، 1387، در دو جلد؛ شابک دوره 9789648155723؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، مجید، چاپ سوم 1392؛ در 784ص؛ شابک9789644531019؛ چاپ چهارم تهران، مجید به سخن، 1395؛ در 784ص؛ چاپ ششم 1400؛
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ جان اشتاینبک؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، روزگار، 1389؛ در 808ص؛ شابک 9789643741891؛
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان اشتاینبک؛ مترجم: شهناز کمیلیزاده؛ ویراستار: سپیده رضوی؛ تهران، انتشارات ناژ؛ 1397، در دو جلد؛ شابک دوره9786006110325؛
زندگی پیچیده دو خانواده «ترسک» و «همیلتون» و داستانهای در هم گره خورده ی آنها را، به تصویر میکشد؛ «اشتاینبک» این رمان را در خطاب به دو پسر کوچکش، «تام» و «جان» بنوشتند، که در آن زمان به ترتیب شش و نیم، و چهار و نیم ساله بودند؛ ایشان میخواستند جزئیات دره «سالیناس» را برای آنها توصیف کنند
شرق بهشت داستان دو نسل در دو بازه ی زمانی گوناگون را بازگو میکند؛ خانواده «سایروس تراسک»، و خانواده ی دوم «همیلتون»ها هستند؛ در هر دو خانواده ی داستان، پدران به یکی از فرزندان خود، بیشتر توجه دارند؛ در خانواده «تراسک»، «سایروس»، «آدام» را به «چارلز» ارج مینهد، و «آدام» هم، زمانیکه که پدر میشود، بهمانند پدرش «سایروس»، به یکی از فرزندان خود، به نام «آرون»، نسبت به آن دیگری توجه بیشتری دارد؛ در همین جای داستان، زمینه های ناتوریستی کتاب، شتخص میشود، و کتاب تبعیض بین فرزندان را؛ وراثتی نشان میدهد
اگر «جان اشتاین بک» در سراسر عمر ادبی خویش، جز همین «شرق بهشت»، کتاب دیگر ننوشته بودند، باز هم شایسته و سزاوار همه ی شهرت و افتخاری بودند، که نصیبشان شده است؛ حماسه ی فلسفی و انسانی بزرگواری که داستان بشریت را، از آغاز آفرینش تا به امروز در خود گنجانیده است؛ ماجراهایی که پس از خوردن میوه ی درخت خرد، بر سر فرزندان آدم آمده بود، و تا ابدیت نیز ادامه خواهد یافت؛ «شرق بهشت» به رغم گذشت سالها از نگارش و نخستین انتشار آن، هنوز هم، جزو «پرخوانشگرترین ده کتاب» در «ایالات متحده آمریکا» است
نقل از برگردان جناب «کیومرث پارسای»: (دره دراز و باریک سالیناس در شمال کالیفرنیا واقع شده و در میان دو رشته کوه قرار گرفته است؛ رودخانه سالیناس در مرکز آن جریان دارد که به خلیج مانتری منتهی میشود؛
نامهایی را که در دوران کودکی برای گیاهان و گلهای پر رمز و راز انتخاب میکردم، هنوز به خاطر دارم؛ یادم میآید که قورباغهها در کجا زندگی میکردند و پرندگان چه وقت در بهار بیدار میشدند و نیز به خاطر میآورم که از درختان در فصول گوناگون چه رایحه ای به مشام میرسید، مردم چه قیافه هایی داشتند و چگونه راه میرفتند و حتی چه رایحه ای از آنها برمیخاست؛ خاطراتم همه سرشار از چنین رایحههای دلپذیری است
کوههای «گاییلان» را در بخش شرقی دره به یادم میآورم که سبکبار و پر از نور خورشید و شادی بودند، انگار انسان را با آغوش باز پذیرا میشدند تا جاییکه هر کس آرزو میکرد به دامنه گرم آنها پناه ببرد و احساسی همچون استراحت در دامن دایه ای مهربان داشته باشد؛ گیاهان قهوه ای رنگ همین ها به انسان خوش آمد میگفتند؛ کوههای «سانتالوسیاس» در بخش غربی، سر به فلک میساییدند، و دره و دریا را از هم جدا میکردند، دامنه های این کوهها تیره و متفکر، ناآشنا و خطرناک، به نظر میرسیدند
همواره نسبت به غرب، احساس وحشت و نسبت به شرق، احساس عشق و علاقه داشتم؛ نمیدانم چنین احساساتی از کجا به ذهن من رسیده بود، ولی شاید دلیل آن تنها طلوع خورشید از قله های سرفراز «گاییلان» و غروب آرام آن در خط راس کوهستان «سانتالوسیاس» بوده باشد)؛ پایان
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 05/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 29/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
East of Eden is a novel by Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck, published in September 1952.
The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley, California, between the beginning of the twentieth century and the end of World War I, though some chapters are set in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the story goes as far back as the American Civil War.
In the beginning of East of Eden, before introducing his characters, Steinbeck carefully establishes the setting with a description of the Salinas Valley in Central California.
Then he outlines the story of the warmhearted inventor and farmer Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from Ireland.
He describes how they raise their nine children on a rough, infertile piece of land. As the Hamilton children begin to grow up and leave the nest, a wealthy stranger, Adam Trask, purchases the best ranch in the Valley.
Adam's life is seen in a long, intricate flashback. We see his tumultuous childhood on a farm in Connecticut and the brutal treatment he endured from his younger but stronger half-brother, Charles.
Adam and Charles's father, Cyrus, was a Union Civil War veteran who was wounded in his very first battle and unable (or perhaps unwilling) to return to service; he nonetheless becomes an expert "armchair general" who uses his intellectual knowledge of military affairs and wounded-veteran status to become a military adviser in Washington, D.C.
As a young man, Adam spent his time first in the military and then wandering the country. He was caught for vagrancy, escaped from a chain gang, and burgled a store for clothing to use as a disguise. Later, he wires Charles to request $100 to pay for his travels home.
Adam later sends money to the store to pay for the clothes and damage. After Adam finally makes his way home to their farm, Charles reveals that Cyrus had died and left them an inheritance of $50,000 each. Charles is torn with fear that Cyrus did not come by the money honestly.
Characters: Mr. Edwards, Ethel, Lee, Faye, Tom Hamilton, Cyrus Trask, Mrs. Trask, Alice Trask, Adam Trask, Charles Trask, Aron Trask, Caleb Trask, Samuel Hamilton, Liza Hamilton, George Hamilton, Will Hamilton, Joe Hamilton, Lizzie Hamilton, Una Hamilton, Dessie Hamilton, Olive Hamilton, Mollie Hamilton, Cathy Ames, Abra Bacon, Joe Valery.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه آگوست سال 1984میلادی
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان ارنست اشتاین بک؛ مترجم: بهرام مقدادی؛ مشخصات نشر تهران، بامداد، 1361-1362، در سه جلد، چاپ دیگر، تهران، اسطوره، 1389؛ در 992ص؛ شابک 9789648332414؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 20م
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان اشتاینبک؛ ترجمه پرویز شهدی؛ تهران، گهبد، 1384؛ در 784ص؛ شابک 9648766010؛ چاپ دوم 1385؛ چاپ دیگر نگارستان کتاب، 1387، در دو جلد؛ شابک دوره 9789648155723؛ چاپ دیگر تهران، مجید، چاپ سوم 1392؛ در 784ص؛ شابک9789644531019؛ چاپ چهارم تهران، مجید به سخن، 1395؛ در 784ص؛ چاپ ششم 1400؛
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ جان اشتاینبک؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ تهران، روزگار، 1389؛ در 808ص؛ شابک 9789643741891؛
عنوان: شرق بهشت؛ نویسنده: جان اشتاینبک؛ مترجم: شهناز کمیلیزاده؛ ویراستار: سپیده رضوی؛ تهران، انتشارات ناژ؛ 1397، در دو جلد؛ شابک دوره9786006110325؛
زندگی پیچیده دو خانواده «ترسک» و «همیلتون» و داستانهای در هم گره خورده ی آنها را، به تصویر میکشد؛ «اشتاینبک» این رمان را در خطاب به دو پسر کوچکش، «تام» و «جان» بنوشتند، که در آن زمان به ترتیب شش و نیم، و چهار و نیم ساله بودند؛ ایشان میخواستند جزئیات دره «سالیناس» را برای آنها توصیف کنند
شرق بهشت داستان دو نسل در دو بازه ی زمانی گوناگون را بازگو میکند؛ خانواده «سایروس تراسک»، و خانواده ی دوم «همیلتون»ها هستند؛ در هر دو خانواده ی داستان، پدران به یکی از فرزندان خود، بیشتر توجه دارند؛ در خانواده «تراسک»، «سایروس»، «آدام» را به «چارلز» ارج مینهد، و «آدام» هم، زمانیکه که پدر میشود، بهمانند پدرش «سایروس»، به یکی از فرزندان خود، به نام «آرون»، نسبت به آن دیگری توجه بیشتری دارد؛ در همین جای داستان، زمینه های ناتوریستی کتاب، شتخص میشود، و کتاب تبعیض بین فرزندان را؛ وراثتی نشان میدهد
اگر «جان اشتاین بک» در سراسر عمر ادبی خویش، جز همین «شرق بهشت»، کتاب دیگر ننوشته بودند، باز هم شایسته و سزاوار همه ی شهرت و افتخاری بودند، که نصیبشان شده است؛ حماسه ی فلسفی و انسانی بزرگواری که داستان بشریت را، از آغاز آفرینش تا به امروز در خود گنجانیده است؛ ماجراهایی که پس از خوردن میوه ی درخت خرد، بر سر فرزندان آدم آمده بود، و تا ابدیت نیز ادامه خواهد یافت؛ «شرق بهشت» به رغم گذشت سالها از نگارش و نخستین انتشار آن، هنوز هم، جزو «پرخوانشگرترین ده کتاب» در «ایالات متحده آمریکا» است
نقل از برگردان جناب «کیومرث پارسای»: (دره دراز و باریک سالیناس در شمال کالیفرنیا واقع شده و در میان دو رشته کوه قرار گرفته است؛ رودخانه سالیناس در مرکز آن جریان دارد که به خلیج مانتری منتهی میشود؛
نامهایی را که در دوران کودکی برای گیاهان و گلهای پر رمز و راز انتخاب میکردم، هنوز به خاطر دارم؛ یادم میآید که قورباغهها در کجا زندگی میکردند و پرندگان چه وقت در بهار بیدار میشدند و نیز به خاطر میآورم که از درختان در فصول گوناگون چه رایحه ای به مشام میرسید، مردم چه قیافه هایی داشتند و چگونه راه میرفتند و حتی چه رایحه ای از آنها برمیخاست؛ خاطراتم همه سرشار از چنین رایحههای دلپذیری است
کوههای «گاییلان» را در بخش شرقی دره به یادم میآورم که سبکبار و پر از نور خورشید و شادی بودند، انگار انسان را با آغوش باز پذیرا میشدند تا جاییکه هر کس آرزو میکرد به دامنه گرم آنها پناه ببرد و احساسی همچون استراحت در دامن دایه ای مهربان داشته باشد؛ گیاهان قهوه ای رنگ همین ها به انسان خوش آمد میگفتند؛ کوههای «سانتالوسیاس» در بخش غربی، سر به فلک میساییدند، و دره و دریا را از هم جدا میکردند، دامنه های این کوهها تیره و متفکر، ناآشنا و خطرناک، به نظر میرسیدند
همواره نسبت به غرب، احساس وحشت و نسبت به شرق، احساس عشق و علاقه داشتم؛ نمیدانم چنین احساساتی از کجا به ذهن من رسیده بود، ولی شاید دلیل آن تنها طلوع خورشید از قله های سرفراز «گاییلان» و غروب آرام آن در خط راس کوهستان «سانتالوسیاس» بوده باشد)؛ پایان
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 05/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 29/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
September 30, 2024
Read this book if you want to exist to your full potential
October 11, 2019
Steinbeck's classic East of Eden is a masterpiece and one of his finest books. It tells the history of Steinbeck's own family, the Hamiltons, and that of the Trask family. The epic is set in Steinbeck's native Salinas Valley in California and the beauty of the region is described in endless, passionate detail.
The characters are all beautifully drawn and the story is captivating.
I'll add some quotes here before returning the book to the library, but it was extremely pleasurable to read cover to cover.
For example, concerning faith: "The proofs that God does not exist are vert strong, but in lots of people they are not as strong as the feeling that He does." (P.69)
Concerning monsters: "I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents...To a criminal, honesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous." (P.71)
On progress: "in our time,, mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea of God. This in my time is the danger." (P.131)
On racism and dumbing down, Lee: "If I should go up to a lady or gentleman, for instance, and speak as I am doing now, I wouldn't be understood...Pidgen they expect, pidgin they'll listen to. But English from me they don't listen to, and so they don't understand it." (P.161)
Time flies: "The clock struck nine deliberate strokes and they were swallowed up." (P.449)
Frustration with time scheduling: "One thing late or early cab disturb everything around us, and the disturbance runs outward in bands like waves from a dropped stone in a quiet pool." (P.530)
East of Eden uses a plethora of Biblical analogies starting with that in the title referring to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden - here Adam is expulsed from his home (though it was hardly a paradise) and thrust into the hell of a senseless war. Like veterans of other senseless wars, he comes back to a civilization that does not appreciate or understand what he lived through and he lives maladjusted for most of the rest of his life. His conflict with his brother Charles (Note: most of the major conflicts involve character names starting with an "A" (Adam, Aron, Abra) with character names starting with a "C" (Charles, Cal, Catherine)) is epic and sets many of the books major themes into play: rivalry over sex and power, jealousy, favoritism. There are many parallels throughout the book to Biblical stories and repetitive behaviors. This begs the question on whether anything is learned? I would say that despite the tragedy at the end, Lee does give us a sense of progress by taking the long view. It is significant that the last word in the book spoken by Adam is that which Lee and his Chinese scholars worked on together from Hebrew: Timshel "thou mayest".
Steinbeck was a masterful writer who beautifully evoked the Salinas Valley of his youth populating it with endearing and occasionally frightful characters that bring history alive. I would have to reread Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, but East of Eden is certainly one of Steinbeck's best if not the very best.
The characters are all beautifully drawn and the story is captivating.
I'll add some quotes here before returning the book to the library, but it was extremely pleasurable to read cover to cover.
For example, concerning faith: "The proofs that God does not exist are vert strong, but in lots of people they are not as strong as the feeling that He does." (P.69)
Concerning monsters: "I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents...To a criminal, honesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous." (P.71)
On progress: "in our time,, mass or collective production has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea of God. This in my time is the danger." (P.131)
On racism and dumbing down, Lee: "If I should go up to a lady or gentleman, for instance, and speak as I am doing now, I wouldn't be understood...Pidgen they expect, pidgin they'll listen to. But English from me they don't listen to, and so they don't understand it." (P.161)
Time flies: "The clock struck nine deliberate strokes and they were swallowed up." (P.449)
Frustration with time scheduling: "One thing late or early cab disturb everything around us, and the disturbance runs outward in bands like waves from a dropped stone in a quiet pool." (P.530)
East of Eden uses a plethora of Biblical analogies starting with that in the title referring to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden - here Adam is expulsed from his home (though it was hardly a paradise) and thrust into the hell of a senseless war. Like veterans of other senseless wars, he comes back to a civilization that does not appreciate or understand what he lived through and he lives maladjusted for most of the rest of his life. His conflict with his brother Charles (Note: most of the major conflicts involve character names starting with an "A" (Adam, Aron, Abra) with character names starting with a "C" (Charles, Cal, Catherine)) is epic and sets many of the books major themes into play: rivalry over sex and power, jealousy, favoritism. There are many parallels throughout the book to Biblical stories and repetitive behaviors. This begs the question on whether anything is learned? I would say that despite the tragedy at the end, Lee does give us a sense of progress by taking the long view. It is significant that the last word in the book spoken by Adam is that which Lee and his Chinese scholars worked on together from Hebrew: Timshel "thou mayest".
Steinbeck was a masterful writer who beautifully evoked the Salinas Valley of his youth populating it with endearing and occasionally frightful characters that bring history alive. I would have to reread Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, but East of Eden is certainly one of Steinbeck's best if not the very best.
June 16, 2024
English (East of Eden) / Italiano
«The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay»
"East of Eden" is a powerful novel, thick with biblical reference, in which the characters seem real and not fictional, protagonists of a generational saga about good and evil. About pure hatrded and unconditional love. You will love all the characters of the novel, every last one of them. You will love the storytelling power of John Steinbeck. You will love his way of representing hope, falsehood, sadness. And you will hate, as if you were under the effect of a sick addiction, the moment you finish the book.
In my humble opinion this is the best Steinbeck. And also according to the author opinion, since he said that everything he did before was in preparation to this novel. "East of Eden" is the Great American Novel.
Vote: 10
«La Valle del Salinas, nella California settentrionale, è una lunga gola stretta tra due catene montuose: il fiume si snoda e serpeggia nel centro, finchè non si getta nella baia di Monterey»
“La Valle dell'Eden” è un libro potente, denso di riferimenti biblici, nel quale muovono i passi personaggi che sembrano reali e non di finzione, protagonisti di una epopea generazionale sul bene e sul male. Sull’odio puro e sull’amore incondizionato. Amerete tutti i personaggi di questo romanzo, dal primo all’ultimo. Amerete la capacità narrativa di John Steinbeck. Amerete il suo modo di rappresentare la speranza, la falsità, la tristezza. E odierete, come foste sotto l’effetto di una morbosa dipendenza, il momento in cui avrete finito di leggere.
A mio modesto parere il miglior Steinbeck. E anche a detta dello stesso autore, visto che affermò che tutto quanto fatto prima era solo in preparazione a questo romanzo. E' la "Valle dell'Eden" il Grande Romanzo Americano.
Voto: 10
October 22, 2017
East of Eden is a uniquely fragmented hotchpotch. A fantastical fable, a retelling of the biblical tale of the original sin, a documented testimony of early settlers in the Salinas Valley through the perspective of three generations, a fictionalized biography of Steinbeck’s own grandfather, a subversive political text, an essay that blends modern philosophy with ancient wisdom.
It’s probable that Steinbeck’s ambitious scope and his need to reach universal meaning might encumber the narration with some faults.
The pace, the tone and the structure are uneven.
The book starts off in the first-person narrative, ostensibly Steinbeck himself, only to suddenly disappear and give way to an anonymous omniscient narrator.
Women appear opaque recipients of inherited constraint and duty. Gender is a question to be typified.
American history is treated as a casual backdrop without cohesive continuity. Racism is approached superficially and drawn to easy stereotyping.
Characters are not constricted by their roles. Some of them remain indecipherable. The causes that lead them to act a certain way are not fully acknowledged. It’s the moral dilemma and the consequences that matter, but it’s precisely the freedom Steinbeck grants to his characters that enables the allegorical quality of this tale to take its direct flight to the reader’s heart.
Truth is I couldn’t have cared less about the formal delivery of this book. My heart surrendered willingly and was bleeding from the first page.
Because it is Steinbeck’s aim that is faultless.
Because his ideals, which refuse to be pigeonholed by religion, double morale or self-complacency, and sincere passion shine through the naked, earnest prose that makes the stories of the Trasks and the Hamiltons a powerful parable that pulsates with unwavering faith in humanity.
Steinbeck reconstructs the architecture of the human spirit with all its weaknesses and cruelties, defies dogmatic predeterminism and elevates his characters’ struggles beyond any restrictive literary scheme. In placing the responsibility of the actions on human beings instead of an almighty presence, he is challenging the reader to call into question his own beliefs on fate, free will and guilt.
Hatred, envy, revenge, self-doubts and misguided fears haunt the heroes of this story, and they fight the dehumanizing effects of such visceral feelings with the only weapon Steinbeck approves of: love. Love in the widest sense of the word. Fraternal, filial, platonic, romantic. Much can be achieved if one is courageous enough to love even when rejection shatters wistful expectations. A childless man can have a daughter, genetic predisposition can be overpowered, instinctive meanness controlled, the gravest crime can be forgiven.
So many questions and no certain answers.
In all his wisdom, Steinbeck exposes his high principles and allows the reader to decide for himself. The possibility to choose, to pick this path or the other when we are at a crossroads is the most precious gift we are given along with life. We cannot choose to be made part of this world, of this bewildering place we seldom understand, but we can exert our goodwill and trust that others will do the same.
Love might cripple us, might make us fragile and defenseless, but it is the only way to reach the end of the journey without regret or remorse. Exile can’t befall on us if we dare to love. Paradise might not exist, but Steinbeck proves that loving others selflessly is the safe path to save us from ourselves.
It’s probable that Steinbeck’s ambitious scope and his need to reach universal meaning might encumber the narration with some faults.
The pace, the tone and the structure are uneven.
The book starts off in the first-person narrative, ostensibly Steinbeck himself, only to suddenly disappear and give way to an anonymous omniscient narrator.
Women appear opaque recipients of inherited constraint and duty. Gender is a question to be typified.
American history is treated as a casual backdrop without cohesive continuity. Racism is approached superficially and drawn to easy stereotyping.
Characters are not constricted by their roles. Some of them remain indecipherable. The causes that lead them to act a certain way are not fully acknowledged. It’s the moral dilemma and the consequences that matter, but it’s precisely the freedom Steinbeck grants to his characters that enables the allegorical quality of this tale to take its direct flight to the reader’s heart.
Truth is I couldn’t have cared less about the formal delivery of this book. My heart surrendered willingly and was bleeding from the first page.
Because it is Steinbeck’s aim that is faultless.
Because his ideals, which refuse to be pigeonholed by religion, double morale or self-complacency, and sincere passion shine through the naked, earnest prose that makes the stories of the Trasks and the Hamiltons a powerful parable that pulsates with unwavering faith in humanity.
Steinbeck reconstructs the architecture of the human spirit with all its weaknesses and cruelties, defies dogmatic predeterminism and elevates his characters’ struggles beyond any restrictive literary scheme. In placing the responsibility of the actions on human beings instead of an almighty presence, he is challenging the reader to call into question his own beliefs on fate, free will and guilt.
Hatred, envy, revenge, self-doubts and misguided fears haunt the heroes of this story, and they fight the dehumanizing effects of such visceral feelings with the only weapon Steinbeck approves of: love. Love in the widest sense of the word. Fraternal, filial, platonic, romantic. Much can be achieved if one is courageous enough to love even when rejection shatters wistful expectations. A childless man can have a daughter, genetic predisposition can be overpowered, instinctive meanness controlled, the gravest crime can be forgiven.
So many questions and no certain answers.
In all his wisdom, Steinbeck exposes his high principles and allows the reader to decide for himself. The possibility to choose, to pick this path or the other when we are at a crossroads is the most precious gift we are given along with life. We cannot choose to be made part of this world, of this bewildering place we seldom understand, but we can exert our goodwill and trust that others will do the same.
Love might cripple us, might make us fragile and defenseless, but it is the only way to reach the end of the journey without regret or remorse. Exile can’t befall on us if we dare to love. Paradise might not exist, but Steinbeck proves that loving others selflessly is the safe path to save us from ourselves.
October 10, 2021
Niezaprzeczalnie pięciogwiazdkowa powieść.
February 22, 2022
روح الإنسان
الشيء الجميل الفريد في هذا العالم
دائما ما تهاجم ولا تهزم أبدا
لي تاريخ قديم مع شتاينبك
وهو من أوائل من قرأتُ لهم بالإنجليزية
وقد أدمنته على الفور
تستطيع أن تقول أنه فهمني جيدا ففهمته جيدا
وأحببت حقا ما فهمت
هذه هي الرواية الأهم والأشهر
وإن لم تكن الأقرب لقلبي كما هي رواياته العظيمة الأخرى
اللؤلؤة،عناقيد الغضب،ورجال وفئران
;;;;;;;;;;;
جنة عدن
هي المكان الذي تبدأ منه كل الحكايات
كل ما هو قادم وكل ما هو كان
الخطوة الأولى في تاريخ الإنسانية
الخطيئة الأولى
الصراع الأول
"دم أخي لطخ يدي"
شرقي عدن -المكان الذي ذهب قايين إليه
بعد قتله أخاه
ومحادثته مع الرب
المكان الذي يبدو أننا جميعا نذهب إليه
إن عاجلا أو أجلا
;;;;;;;;;;;
هناك أشباح في الخلفية تطوف
تصنع من اللاواقعي الأشد واقعية
تجبرك على الإنصات لهمساتها الحكيمة
يختلطا الجد والهزل
تندمج زوجة لي المتخيلة
مع دخان ورقات النقود التي يحرقها كال
بينما الغرفة الرمادية في الخلفية
تكاد ستائرها تصيح صيحات الفزع
الذي يغزو كايت ببطء حتى يبتلعها
;;;;;;;;;;;
هي رواية كلاسيكية مخلدة
تعطي من العظمة أكثر مما تعطي من الإبهار
يتشابك قدري عائلتين يسكنان وادي بسيط
تتناظر جبال الوادي مع حضن الأم
هذا الحضن الذي لا ينفك يحرم منه الأبطال بطريقة أو بأخرى
يعلمك شتاينبيك كيف تكون أكثر انسانية بخطاياك
لا دونها..
;;;;;;;;;;;
الشخصيات المعقدة في الرواية رسمت حقا ببراعة
أحببت تشارلز بشدة بكل شره وجنونه وعقليته الفاسدة
و برغم كل ما فعلَته ،فإنني قد أحببت كاثي
قطعة الثلج التي ما إن تلمسها حتى تتجمد بلا أمل في الخلاص
إنها قطعة من روح الشر
بل خلاصته إن أردتُ أن أكون دقيقة
وقد رسمها شتاينبك كما لم يرسم شخصية من قبل
صنع كائنا جديدا ربما لم تصادفه في رواية قبلا
معالجته لها تستحق التأمل حقا
أما هذه الثنائية التي صنعها قرب نهايتها
بينها وبين أليس بلاد العجائب فهي صدقا من أجمل ما قرأت
;;;;;;;;;;;
شخصيتي المفضلة هي لي
الطباخ الصيني الساحر بكل تأكيد
لقد أمتعني بحكمته
بنقاشاته
بحواراته الداخلية
بطريقته في التصرف
بعمقه وعاطفته وأصوله الغامضة
الممسوسة بشياطين لا مرئية
كان كل ما لي يفعله يبدو
وكأن هناك قداسة من نوع ما تسبغ عليه
;;;;;;;;;;;
هي ملحمة حب وحرب
تجمع رائع من الشخصيات الإنسانية
والتي تحارب قدرها ويحاربها
وينتصر دوما الأدب الجميل
November 30, 2019
An amazing book! East of Eden, a 1952 novel by John Steinbeck, is a long, sprawling, sometimes slow but often very intense read. Steinbeck considered it his magnum opus. It begins at the turn of the century in Connecticut, telling about the difficult childhood of Adam Trask and the pains and troubles caused him by his half-brother Charles. Adam meets and marries Cathy Ames, whom he blindly loves, but who is a truly evil, completely self-centered woman at heart.
They move out to the Salinas Valley in California, where they have twin sons, Aron and Cal ... and the Cain and Abel motif repeats itself in a second generation. Cathy abandons her young family and heads off to (secretly) be a prostitute in a nearby town, adopting the name of Kate. Aron and Cal grow to be young men: Cal is wild and reckless, Aron dependable and good-hearted, always believing the best of others.
To make things even more complicated Steinbeck weaves in a storyline about the Samuel Hamilton family, Irish immigrants ... and Steinbeck's actual ancestors.
So often, Steinbeck's insightful comments on a person or a situation struck me deeply; he has a marvelous way with words. He also has a gift for writing complex and conflicted characters, though it's not always exercised fully, especially with some of his female characters. However, Abra, Aron's girlfriend, is a wonderful character, especially in her resistance to Aron's false idealization of her and her parents' focus on social position and wealth.
The Cain and Abel theme, reflected in the reoccurring C & A pairs, which shows up with Adam and Charles and resurfaces in the second generation with Aron and Cal, was fascinating: not just the good and evil dichotomy (though the evil is mixed with some good, and is often more just human weakness), but also other echoes of the original Biblical story. For example, the Cain characters work with farming and the land, like the original Cain; Abel was a shepherd and Aron wants to be a priest (a spiritual shepherd), and so on. I loved how Steinbeck humanizes the Cain characters and emphasizes how we all have a choice in how we act and react to events in our lives.
Samuel Hamilton, the prophetic Irishman and Steinbeck's grandfather
Olive Hamilton Steinbeck (Steinbeck's mother) and her famous -- and crazy! -- airplane ride
My favorite character was Lee, the Chinese servant of the Trask family. He grows from hiding behind his queue and pidgin English (he actually can speak excellent English) to full acceptance of himself. He gives sound advice to the various Trask family members, and loves them with all their faults. He is the best, and I really wish he were a real person as well. (Cathy/Kate, on the other hand: though she was an intriguing character, I'm glad to leave her and her psychopathic ways in the pages of this novel!)
This novel is not without its flaws. It tries to do so much that it's a bit fragmented, and it sometimes veers toward heavy-handedness and melodrama. But overall it's such an amazing and profoundly moving work. No question: it gets all the stars!
Timshel.
They move out to the Salinas Valley in California, where they have twin sons, Aron and Cal ... and the Cain and Abel motif repeats itself in a second generation. Cathy abandons her young family and heads off to (secretly) be a prostitute in a nearby town, adopting the name of Kate. Aron and Cal grow to be young men: Cal is wild and reckless, Aron dependable and good-hearted, always believing the best of others.
To make things even more complicated Steinbeck weaves in a storyline about the Samuel Hamilton family, Irish immigrants ... and Steinbeck's actual ancestors.
So often, Steinbeck's insightful comments on a person or a situation struck me deeply; he has a marvelous way with words. He also has a gift for writing complex and conflicted characters, though it's not always exercised fully, especially with some of his female characters. However, Abra, Aron's girlfriend, is a wonderful character, especially in her resistance to Aron's false idealization of her and her parents' focus on social position and wealth.
The Cain and Abel theme, reflected in the reoccurring C & A pairs, which shows up with Adam and Charles and resurfaces in the second generation with Aron and Cal, was fascinating: not just the good and evil dichotomy (though the evil is mixed with some good, and is often more just human weakness), but also other echoes of the original Biblical story. For example, the Cain characters work with farming and the land, like the original Cain; Abel was a shepherd and Aron wants to be a priest (a spiritual shepherd), and so on. I loved how Steinbeck humanizes the Cain characters and emphasizes how we all have a choice in how we act and react to events in our lives.
"The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel--'Thou mayest'--that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if 'Thou mayest'--it is also true that 'Thou mayest not.' "I really enjoyed how Steinbeck wove his own family history into the pages of this book:
Samuel Hamilton, the prophetic Irishman and Steinbeck's grandfather
Olive Hamilton Steinbeck (Steinbeck's mother) and her famous -- and crazy! -- airplane ride
My favorite character was Lee, the Chinese servant of the Trask family. He grows from hiding behind his queue and pidgin English (he actually can speak excellent English) to full acceptance of himself. He gives sound advice to the various Trask family members, and loves them with all their faults. He is the best, and I really wish he were a real person as well. (Cathy/Kate, on the other hand: though she was an intriguing character, I'm glad to leave her and her psychopathic ways in the pages of this novel!)
This novel is not without its flaws. It tries to do so much that it's a bit fragmented, and it sometimes veers toward heavy-handedness and melodrama. But overall it's such an amazing and profoundly moving work. No question: it gets all the stars!
Timshel.
September 7, 2022
“The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost.”
Like the Book of Genesis, where it pulls its inspiration from, “East of Eden” is the story of us. The good and the bad, and our struggle to be ruled by one or the other, acknowledging that both are inherent in our natures. It is a beautiful book filled with people I felt strongly about, and all of them so fully and wonderfully human.
Steinbeck continues to impress me with his ability to create a complete characterization in only a few sentences. Even cameo roles in this text are flesh and blood people. One of the joys of this book was that I genuinely enjoyed peeking into the lives of many of these characters. One highlight is the character of Samuel Hamilton and his wife and various offspring. I fell a little bit in love, and the parts of the book that focused on them soared in my opinion. The Trask twins are also well rendered and what Steinbeck does with the two of them (no spoilers here) is brilliant!
The people of “East of Eden” are so real, that at the death of a truly unsavory character I felt unexpected sadness. This was not a good person, a monster even, but they still had a humanity. I love when a novel forces me to remember that.
Chapter 34 of this text is everything. One of the best summations of what the human story is that I have come across in a novel. And the closing paragraph of this chapter…
“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.”
Wow!
At one point Steinbeck writes, “In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved.” There is a lot in that statement, and a hopefulness that I (and I hope all of us) refuse to yield.
When you read a novel, and you see yourself reflected in many ways, in bits of many characters, you know that you are reading a great story of the human condition.
“East of Eden” is such a book.
Like the Book of Genesis, where it pulls its inspiration from, “East of Eden” is the story of us. The good and the bad, and our struggle to be ruled by one or the other, acknowledging that both are inherent in our natures. It is a beautiful book filled with people I felt strongly about, and all of them so fully and wonderfully human.
Steinbeck continues to impress me with his ability to create a complete characterization in only a few sentences. Even cameo roles in this text are flesh and blood people. One of the joys of this book was that I genuinely enjoyed peeking into the lives of many of these characters. One highlight is the character of Samuel Hamilton and his wife and various offspring. I fell a little bit in love, and the parts of the book that focused on them soared in my opinion. The Trask twins are also well rendered and what Steinbeck does with the two of them (no spoilers here) is brilliant!
The people of “East of Eden” are so real, that at the death of a truly unsavory character I felt unexpected sadness. This was not a good person, a monster even, but they still had a humanity. I love when a novel forces me to remember that.
Chapter 34 of this text is everything. One of the best summations of what the human story is that I have come across in a novel. And the closing paragraph of this chapter…
“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.”
Wow!
At one point Steinbeck writes, “In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved.” There is a lot in that statement, and a hopefulness that I (and I hope all of us) refuse to yield.
When you read a novel, and you see yourself reflected in many ways, in bits of many characters, you know that you are reading a great story of the human condition.
“East of Eden” is such a book.
April 28, 2020
I'm ashamed that it took me four months to write up this review, but I just couldn't find the right words to describe how I feel about this phenomenal book. Because it was absolute perfection!
I did watch the movie adaption first (ages ago) and loved it, and it has a very special place in my heart because it started off my obsession with James Dean (who I now call my favorite person of all time, so yeah, it's a pretty big deal to me). I've been wanting to read the book ever since, but I was a bit hesitant, because I heard that there are many differences between the two versions. I realized very quickly that this is correct and I became worried, because Cal (who is portrayed by James Dean in the film) was my favorite character in the film and he was nowhere near in sight.
But I realized just as quickly that my concerns were pointless, because Adam was just as fascinating and interesting! His story was just super exciting, without ever being over the top or straying away from reality. I have absolutely zero interest in the country lifestyle and business that is described in the book, but damn, I was still enthralled and never bored!
It was so great to get more insight into the characters I already knew and give them more depth (which now makes me view the movie in a completely different light!), as well as get to know some new characters. All of them were interesting, three dimensional, realistic and special in their own way.The writing was wonderful as well, and (to my surprise) easy to read.
This is one of those novels that will stay with me forever, for reasons I can't explain. I know that I will cherish it and hold it close to my heart, and probably reread it several times throughout the rest of my life.
I did watch the movie adaption first (ages ago) and loved it, and it has a very special place in my heart because it started off my obsession with James Dean (who I now call my favorite person of all time, so yeah, it's a pretty big deal to me). I've been wanting to read the book ever since, but I was a bit hesitant, because I heard that there are many differences between the two versions. I realized very quickly that this is correct and I became worried, because Cal (who is portrayed by James Dean in the film) was my favorite character in the film and he was nowhere near in sight.
But I realized just as quickly that my concerns were pointless, because Adam was just as fascinating and interesting! His story was just super exciting, without ever being over the top or straying away from reality. I have absolutely zero interest in the country lifestyle and business that is described in the book, but damn, I was still enthralled and never bored!
It was so great to get more insight into the characters I already knew and give them more depth (which now makes me view the movie in a completely different light!), as well as get to know some new characters. All of them were interesting, three dimensional, realistic and special in their own way.The writing was wonderful as well, and (to my surprise) easy to read.
This is one of those novels that will stay with me forever, for reasons I can't explain. I know that I will cherish it and hold it close to my heart, and probably reread it several times throughout the rest of my life.
November 28, 2022
One word: Remarkable.
Observations (note, I am deliberately avoiding the word ‘criticism’):
At times, the biblical analogies of Cain and Abel, good vs. evil were weighty, but Steinbeck peels away the layers of society in such an engrossing way that nothing can blemish the craft of his storytelling and character development.
Highlight: Steinbeck created a chilling, complex but, to me, fascinating female character who is unrivalled. Are there hints of misogyny? Maybe. Or just another biblical pretext to show the stark contrast between good and evil?
Regret: This should have been a Goodreads buddy read!
I needed to discuss, debate, marvel, rant, curse, question, clarify, talk, talk and talk about this novel.
Action: Looking forward to checking out more reviews (including the not-so-favourable ones for balance) and will seek out the film of the same name that features James Dean.
Observations (note, I am deliberately avoiding the word ‘criticism’):
At times, the biblical analogies of Cain and Abel, good vs. evil were weighty, but Steinbeck peels away the layers of society in such an engrossing way that nothing can blemish the craft of his storytelling and character development.
Highlight: Steinbeck created a chilling, complex but, to me, fascinating female character who is unrivalled. Are there hints of misogyny? Maybe. Or just another biblical pretext to show the stark contrast between good and evil?
Regret: This should have been a Goodreads buddy read!
I needed to discuss, debate, marvel, rant, curse, question, clarify, talk, talk and talk about this novel.
Action: Looking forward to checking out more reviews (including the not-so-favourable ones for balance) and will seek out the film of the same name that features James Dean.
June 10, 2019
A magic book, an everything book, both like and unlike everything else Steinbeck wrote. I can never quite manage to stop reading it - the naming scene and the ending are about as good as writing can get.
October 31, 2015
This is a long, long sermon masquerading as a novel. Its aim seems clear- to be the great American novel. In spite of, or maybe because of this overreach, it is completely unsatisfying. The characters are mere symbols. Most of the themes pertain to the characters’ moral dilemmas, but it is difficult to be drawn into these since the characters lack any real complexity. The men are various superlatives (greatest, kindest, wisest). There are two women characters, one evil and exaggerated to the point of absurdity, and the other just a plot device. And the ‘chinaman’ has to be one of the most ridiculous characters in all of literature.
The weak characters are further undermined by the stilted and unnatural dialogue, which in no way resembles conversation as I have experienced it. The characters take turns giving soulful, melodramatic speeches on the human condition. The ‘chinaman’ is especially painful in this regard.
The weak characters are further undermined by the stilted and unnatural dialogue, which in no way resembles conversation as I have experienced it. The characters take turns giving soulful, melodramatic speeches on the human condition. The ‘chinaman’ is especially painful in this regard.
March 1, 2020
Una de las grandes de uno de los más grandes. No tengo más que decir.
May 29, 2021
Consider this not a review, but rather a love letter. A love letter to John Steinbeck, to return the love he expresses over and over again to this big, sweaty heap we call humanity.
Dear John,
Thanks for loving us, despite having the ability to turn over all of the rocks and finding our lowest common denominators there, squirming in the mud. I love you, I hate you; your writing makes me cry hot, jealous tears.
Despite your struggles to love God, I want you to know. . . he certainly loved you. No man can write this way, without the love of God.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I love you.
Dear John,
Thanks for loving us, despite having the ability to turn over all of the rocks and finding our lowest common denominators there, squirming in the mud. I love you, I hate you; your writing makes me cry hot, jealous tears.
Despite your struggles to love God, I want you to know. . . he certainly loved you. No man can write this way, without the love of God.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I love you.
April 26, 2024
“and now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.”
steinbeck’s magnum opus and the best great american novel. east of eden is a spin on the biblical tale of cain and abel that explores identity within a relationship or on its own amid a sprawling and beautiful landscape. every character in this book feels real and flawed and each has a diverse take on the human condition. his writing is beautiful, and not even one single page is a filler. one of the most perfect classics.
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reading journal
day 1 [chapters 1 & 2]
fuck me. i forgot how beautiful steinbeck's narration was. the description of nature? the love and care he pours into every character? i love how he sets the scene with descriptions of the changes of the salinas valley through time, as this is going to be a family saga that lasts decades.
a quote i loved:
"she felt that people having a good time was wide open to the devil. and this was a shame, for samuel was a laughing man, but i guess samuel was wide open to the devil. his wife protected him whenever she could."
day 2 [chapters 3 & 4]
the detail to family and characterization is beautiful. i love the first allegory of cain/abel through adam and charles. also just the impact of parents & how misery manifests itself through generations.
day 3 [chapters 5 & 6]
what i love the most about east of eden, especially these initial chapters, is steinbeck's ability to describe these two families (the hamiltons and the trasks). they seem like polar opposites of each other, especially the patriarchs—samuel is generous and considers family to be the greatest wealth, while cyrus has divided his family and runs on dishonesty. his description of the two are both so subtle, yet he manages to tease out the little details that really put them against each other as foils.
i know that charles/adam are supposed to allegorize the biblical cain/abel, but steinbeck's writing causes me to actually care about charles, which is really interesting.
day 4 [chapters 7 & 8]
doing this early because i have a stupidly busy day + it's may 4th in some areas of the world so i'm technically not cheating:
chapter 6 (from yesterday's reading) and chapter 7 cut into the flesh of the theme of loneliness. while away from each other, adam and charles have both experienced the brutality of loneliness, albeit in different ways.
"and just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? the face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul?"
cathy is also such an interesting study in 'evil', as it manifests in such a more blatant way than charles (who is also supposed to represent 'evil' i guess). while with charles, it is not difficult to get glimpses of humanness and morality, catherine seems so blatantly manipulative and seemingly has no empathy or kindness.
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pre-reread
the best thing about this book being emma and my big classics project for may 2022 is that we're rereading it and we both already know it's going to be five stars. maybe i'll force her to read anna karenina with me next month.
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previous long classics
march: middlemarch
april: the tenant of wildfell hall
September 18, 2021
Alright friends, here's the dealio.
When I read this book, lots of things in my personal life were a hectic. When I finished this book, things were still hectic. I'm writing this now, and things are still a little hectic, but slowly they are leveling out (so no worries.)
The thing is, because of all that hectic, I did not document my thoughts about this book the way I normally would do. I also made the fatal mistake of waiting far too long to sit down & write my review upon finishing.
Usually, if I wait too long the reviewer in me just quietly slips an I.O.U. note into the brain inbox & then goes back into hibernation until the next book is completed. She's a finicky sort.
My point is, this review will very likely will not do the book justice. If you're looking for a review that does do the book justice, I'd consider going to read my darling Celeste's review because she's basically the wordsmith we all aspire to be. But if you'd still like to read my late to the game drivel, you're absolutely welcome here!
So, anyway, about the book. It's super freakin' great.
I literally love generational tales. The way we get to experience & live through the evolution of the Trasks & the Hamiltons is a thing of pure beauty even when the going gets rough.
Every time I put the book down, I was excited for the next chance I'd get to pick it up. It was just that engaging.
One of the more standout elements of this novel is it's inclusion of two very unique minority characters - a Chinese man named Lee, and a woman named Cathy. These two are almost a complete antithesis to one another & they are both so incredibly central to every major plot point in the story, even as it spans across many years.
While both definitely became favorites of mine in their own respect, Cathy is an especially wonderful character & probably one of the most terrifying/intriguing I've ever come across in any novel. It was terribly fun to watch these characters swirl & rage around our main cast in their storms of light & darkness.
Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed is its observance of nature vs. nurture & how the sins of the parent can be passed down to create a stain on the soul of the child. It's simultaneously a lovely reminder that we have a choice in how we react to the brokenness we may inherit.
Finally, all the Biblical parallels here were just so much fun to point out especially since I read this book with a wonderful group. The strongest recurring theme has to be the dynamic between Adam's sons, Cain & Abel. It seems as though this novel seeks to explore the "what ifs" of every possible combination there.
As far as classics are concerned, I spent a lot of time reading them in high school & I accidentally conditioned myself into thinking that all classics are super deep & super complex & require a formal essay (12 page minimum, single spaced) upon completion.
I subsequently avoided them for a couple years because I had a hard time viewing them as approachable from a casual reader's perspective. Now that I've dipped my toes back into the genre, I'm realizing that classics can fall anywhere on the approachability spectrum.
However, for readers who may be stuck in the same mindset I'm breaking out of let me just tell you this novel is super approachable! I found the writing style easy to absorb & very sincere without losing any of its beauty.
There are a couple places where I feel certain character chapters didn't add much to the overall story, and some lengthy descriptions of the Salinas Valley could've been shortened without sacrificing much in the way of atmosphere.
This is definitely a must-read for anyone in love with reading & one I will revisit in the future!
Read this with TS, Haifa, and Celeste in our mission to conquer some classics! ☺️
When I read this book, lots of things in my personal life were a hectic. When I finished this book, things were still hectic. I'm writing this now, and things are still a little hectic, but slowly they are leveling out (so no worries.)
The thing is, because of all that hectic, I did not document my thoughts about this book the way I normally would do. I also made the fatal mistake of waiting far too long to sit down & write my review upon finishing.
Usually, if I wait too long the reviewer in me just quietly slips an I.O.U. note into the brain inbox & then goes back into hibernation until the next book is completed. She's a finicky sort.
My point is, this review will very likely will not do the book justice. If you're looking for a review that does do the book justice, I'd consider going to read my darling Celeste's review because she's basically the wordsmith we all aspire to be. But if you'd still like to read my late to the game drivel, you're absolutely welcome here!
So, anyway, about the book. It's super freakin' great.
I literally love generational tales. The way we get to experience & live through the evolution of the Trasks & the Hamiltons is a thing of pure beauty even when the going gets rough.
Every time I put the book down, I was excited for the next chance I'd get to pick it up. It was just that engaging.
One of the more standout elements of this novel is it's inclusion of two very unique minority characters - a Chinese man named Lee, and a woman named Cathy. These two are almost a complete antithesis to one another & they are both so incredibly central to every major plot point in the story, even as it spans across many years.
While both definitely became favorites of mine in their own respect, Cathy is an especially wonderful character & probably one of the most terrifying/intriguing I've ever come across in any novel. It was terribly fun to watch these characters swirl & rage around our main cast in their storms of light & darkness.
Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed is its observance of nature vs. nurture & how the sins of the parent can be passed down to create a stain on the soul of the child. It's simultaneously a lovely reminder that we have a choice in how we react to the brokenness we may inherit.
Finally, all the Biblical parallels here were just so much fun to point out especially since I read this book with a wonderful group. The strongest recurring theme has to be the dynamic between Adam's sons, Cain & Abel. It seems as though this novel seeks to explore the "what ifs" of every possible combination there.
As far as classics are concerned, I spent a lot of time reading them in high school & I accidentally conditioned myself into thinking that all classics are super deep & super complex & require a formal essay (12 page minimum, single spaced) upon completion.
I subsequently avoided them for a couple years because I had a hard time viewing them as approachable from a casual reader's perspective. Now that I've dipped my toes back into the genre, I'm realizing that classics can fall anywhere on the approachability spectrum.
However, for readers who may be stuck in the same mindset I'm breaking out of let me just tell you this novel is super approachable! I found the writing style easy to absorb & very sincere without losing any of its beauty.
There are a couple places where I feel certain character chapters didn't add much to the overall story, and some lengthy descriptions of the Salinas Valley could've been shortened without sacrificing much in the way of atmosphere.
This is definitely a must-read for anyone in love with reading & one I will revisit in the future!
Read this with TS, Haifa, and Celeste in our mission to conquer some classics! ☺️
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