East of Eden by John Steinbeck
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Book Reviews of East of Eden
Book Review: East of Eden
Summary: 5 Stars
East Of Eden is a remarkable novel surrounding family and love written by John Steinbeck. Despite its intimidating size and thickness, the book is actually quite enjoyable and entertaining. The book presents an astounding story filled with episodes of love, despair and family. Steinbeck molds the novel to resemble the different situations found in the Genesis of the Bible: the tale of Adam and Eve and the rivalry between Cain and Abel.
In this novel, Steinbeck follows the traditional story of a tragic hero alongside his sidekick battling against the evil nemesis. Adam Trask, son of the former Cyrus Trask, finds himself passively living life and attempts to find a way to grasp the days as they progress by. He searches for an essence of life and finds Cathy, whose role is the apparent antagonist of the novel. As Adam is heartlessly abandoned with his twin sons Caleb and Aron, his Chinese servant Lee helps to provide for all of them until Adam, especially, can fully recover. Lee, in my opinion, serves as the essence that Adam has been looking for, the sidekick that heroes need. While Adam drowns in desolation, it is Lee who fosters the children and tends to everybody's needs. Though he has aspirations of his own, he consistently delays them in order to take care of the Trask family.
Cathy is immediately labeled as the villain through Steinbeck's dramatic descriptions of her manipulative dark side. Yet Adam was completely oblivious to her deceit that he would have done anything to please her. She eventually abandons him, leaving him hopeless and miserable. This situation alludes to the Bible as Eve betrays Adam after she bites from the forbidden apple. Both women prove to be unfaithful and bring sorrow to their lover's lives.
The confusing yet deep rivalry between Caleb and Aron are almost identical to that of the Bible between Cain and Abel. As one is seemingly treated with more recognition and admiration, the other becomes envious and ultimately homicidal. Though in this particular book, Caleb is not at fault for Aron's death, Caleb senses guilt from it and blames himself nonetheless. While in the Bible, Cain deliberately kills Abel as revenge for his mistreatment from God. Ultimately Cain is punished but Caleb also finds peace within himself to not put himself at blame.
The immense effect as this captivating novel ties together is just incredible. Each story, each family, each relationship depicts those of real life, which also appeals to the readers. Steinbeck concludes the entire story with the term "Timshel" as a blessing from Adam to his son. Ending on such a melancholy yet perfected note simply enhances the overall effect the reader gets as the book is closed.
Book Review: Classic Tale About Turn-of-the-Century Life in Central California
Summary: 5 Stars
The characters, the scenes, the descriptions- - all so natural- - are brilliantly brought to life in this American literature classic that seems to recreate a true-life documentary about Central California at the turn-of-the century.
With a straightforward story populated by a variety of characters, this book tells the saga of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. The style somewhat resembles James Michener's in terms of his talent also to quickly acquaint you with locations and characters and put you on a first-name basis with them. The saga brings you into the lives of the characters and stirs your emotions like a mixer running on high-speed. Have you uncontrollably screamed out loud when reading a book? Well, I did at this one because of Kate (Cathy), who makes your blood boil with rage.
Although Kate doesn't take honors as the main character, she does steal the show in my eyes. She is the essence of e-v-i-l, a four-letter word in her case. Kate is the most memorable character because of her cunning, lying, scheming, and wicked personality, which is not easily forgotten. Steinbeck first talks of monsters as a way of introducing Kate. Monsters, he says, can be born through no fault of their own from human parents and defined through deformities such as huge heads, tiny bodies, no arms, no legs, etc. But then he asks, "... just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born?" This didn't fully click in my mind at the time I read it because I hadn't witnessed Kate in action. It's after she starts her series of sinister deeds that you come to realize the significance of what Steinbeck meant by "psychic monster". You'll love to hate her.
Among the characters, the two with the best heads on their shoulders were Abra and Lee who added a touch of class by stating common-sense facts in such matter-of-fact fashion. They showed unfaltering determination to deal with life's hard knocks by taking them by the horns, seeking practical solutions in the same down-to-earth way that would grab a sack of potatoes and start peeling.
I know some people have criticized the book, saying the two brothers, Cal and Aron, parallel and trivialize the biblical Cain and Abel. They commented that the story is too trite, pat, and overly simplistic in symbolizing "good versus evil". Maybe I am at fault since I try not to construe too much symbolism into every book I read, as in this instance. I took this story at face value and for that reason the "good versus evil premise" and the "Cain and Abel Story" never crossed my mind. In the end I was rewarded with a thoroughly entertaining story that I highly recommend.
Book Review: A Good Read
Summary: 5 Stars
This is among Steinbeck's best novels, and it is usually ranked among his top three or four, but not quite as good as "Grapes of Wrath." I have read most of his works including the present, which is a must read for Steinbeck fans. It has excellent prose and good drama but the story becomes a bit predictable for the last 100 pages of the 600 pages. That is the primary difference in terms of literary merit or being a good read. It is a pre-World war I novel set in northern California, and it is set partly in a small town and partly in a rural settings. The story is about family interactions, especially parent child relations, and uses three generations of characters from two families. There is less politics than in some of his other novels.
John Steinbeck (1902 - 1968) was among the best known American writers of the 20th century. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature. His 1939 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, "Grapes of Wrath" has over ten million copies in print.
Steinbeck was born in rural California, went to Stanford, and spent most of his life in California. He has been associated with the plight of farm workers and others. His books have been very popular and many were made into movies and stage productions. He won an Academy Award nomination for best story in 1944.
I have read a number of his novels and am still surprised with the quality of his work - especially his short stories and short novels. The present work is a longer novel, 600 pages, which covers three generations of two families split between Connecticut and the Salinas area of northern California. It is a long and descriptive story but not as descriptive or as intricate as "The Grapes of Wrath." That Pulitzer novel tends to spiral down emotionally. Here in "East of Eden" we have a few peaks and valleys and a number of emotional hooks. Steinbeck manages to work in some clever literary ideas and names by using references to biblical passages. The characters are interesting. However, because of the similarity in the families, generation to generation, the story becomes a bit predictable towards the end, more predictable than his other works, and many readers will be able to guess the end by page 500 or 530.
This is a good book and it has good characters including the mother Cathy, and it has a number of interesting secondary characters. Also, the subplots, the overall structure, and the prose are good.
It is not a heavy read and takes a few evenings to read. The middle part of the book is very compelling, almost a page turner. I liked the book and recommend it.
Book Review: This is My All Time Favorite
Summary: 5 Stars
There may be no greater threat to good fiction than high-school literature reading lists, unless it is a critic who believes that having possibly read a book in high school he remembers the book, or understood it if he did read it.I have heard it said that no one should be allowed to read Twain until he has passed his fiftieth birthday. I think you will find the same is true of most good literature, in this case "East of Eden."
You have not read the book recently? You only remember the movie (based on only the last quarter of the book)? Maybe it was assigned by a teacher. At that age it was probably very easy to read the sordid parts, giggle at the whores, wonder at Cal, who probably morphs into James Dean as you think about it, put the book down and forget it. Many of us have done it, many will continue to do it.
What high school student can possibly understand Samuel's statement "You know, Lee, I think of my life as a kind of music, not always good music but still having form and melody. And my life has not been a full orchestra for a long time now. A single note only - and that note unchanging sorrow. I'm not alone in my attitude, Lee. It seems to me that too many of us conceive of a life as ending in defeat." As far as that goes, is it possible for a high school student to conceive of the end of life for either them or their friends? How many funerals do you have to go to before you understand Adam's knowledge that it would be unthinkable not to go to Samuel's funeral, but at the same time have to maintain his knowledge that Samuel was not dead? Sure it's easy to wonder why Adam can't see through Cathy, but it takes only one failed marriage to come to the beginning of an understanding. How many people do you have to know to comprehend the sorrow that drives Tom to suicide when his sister dies?
As the author says "Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts - the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation." Perhaps, just perhaps, the problem most people who attempt to review this book have is that it has been too long since they read it. This book has been around for over fifty years. Many of us read (or were supposed to have read) it in high school. Many who did think they remember it, or that they understood it.
It is an adult book. It has characters developed over a lifetime. I have read this book at least 15 times. It still surprises, depresses, enlightens, engrosses, and thrills me each time I read it.
Book Review: An unbelievable expose on the meaning of life
Summary: 5 Stars
East of Eden is truly a novel of unfound proportions. It plays on the juxtaposition of naivety and wisdom, truth and faith, struggle and redemption, and most importantly, good and evil. Within the given boundaries of 600 pages, Steinbeck explores the psychological and mental desires of everybody, while also enlightening the readers with a theory on the purpose of life and its attributes.
The main storyline follows the vicious cycle of two generations of siblings in the Trask family, while also playing on the biblical reference to the stories of Cain and Abel, and Caleb and Aron. The two set of brothers, who set the stage for the novel, are always in conflict with one another in their desire to gain the love of their fathers. In its exploration of their interaction with the people around them and with their fathers, Steinbeck uses the brothers in order to explain life as the Bible does. He directly calls upon the stories in the vastly popular book in order to expound on God's meaning of life as it pertains to society and how people should view their lives in respect to others. He creates a whole commonalty of characters that help extenuate and expose the interactions of people and their effects. Cathy, another important figure in the book, is Steinbeck's way of placing evil in a light that takes a tangible form. Cathy is one character alone that while she amazes and builds suspense for the reader, she also disgusts and shocks the reader with her cunning ability to manipulate people at the lift of a finger. Her evil genius is solely a product of her desires: to get out of work in dismissing responsibility, to subjugate blame, and gain an enormous control over people. Steinbeck also delves into the meaning of life and how it is defined completely on the ability of choice. He acquaints the readers with the word "timshel." Etymologically speaking, the Hebrew word directly translates to "thou mayest," which Steinbeck uses to express his viewpoint on choice. He tells the reader that only he has the ability to choose the path of his life, and it is he who can conquer sin and break from past trends.
Ultimately, the book brings out the true battle of good and evil as the Bible interprets it, and reveals the true definition of life. As Steinbeck explores the issues that surround life in terms of faith, trust, and love, he creates an unbelievable book, despite its licentiousness, that leaps out of the boundaries delineated by society. The characters, the themes, the story itself, all of it comes together, creating a momentous book by all standards.