East of Eden by John Steinbeck
This is one review I’ve been putting off because I can in no way do it justice. Plus I read it early in the year so a lot of the details are already gone.
What I loved most about the book was not it’s grand theme, it’s profound symbolism, it’s commentary on the nature of man and family relationships, which are all true, but the fact that even at 601 pages, it was a page turner. How did Steinbeck accomplish that? I’m in the middle of a Bellow novel right now and though I recognize it as a piece of great literature, it’s also a snoozefest. I was so riveted to Eden, that I actually stayed up all night to finish it.
The premise of the book is way too ambitious and complicated to try and describe, but it’s similar to the bible account of Adam and Eve and their sons Cain and Abel. Throughout Eden, Steinbeck writes about the nature of evil, the nature of true wealth, discrimination, brotherhood, and predestination. Each of his characters struggles under the weight of what they’ve been given through their own personalities, expectations of others, hard luck, or poor choices, and they all feel trapped by it to some degree.
Adam, father to Cal and Aron, struggles to be a good father despite the poor example his own father set for him, and these provide some of the most heartwrenching and poignant scenes in the book.
” ‘You see, I don’t know,’ said Adam. ‘I don’t know anything about you.’
‘I’d tell you if you asked,’ Cal said softly.
‘I didn’t ask. I didn’t ask! I’m as bad a father as my father was.’
Cal had never heard this tone in Adam’s voice. It was hoarse and breaking with warmth and he fumbled among his words, feeling for them in the dark.
‘My father made a mold and forced me into it,’ Adam said. ‘I was a bad casting but I couldn’t be remelted. Nobody can be remelted. And so I remained a bad casting.’ “
It’s heartbreaking to watch this huge group of characters fight who they are to be who they think they’re supposed to be, just to find out that was wrong all along. But it’s so profound. Who doesn’t do that? Who hasn’t played dumb or played smart or played wordly or innocent because they thought that was the way to be?
I tend to be too lenient on authors because I’m so in awe of the fact that they’ve actually been able to finish writing the dang thing let alone find someone to publish it. All my reviews tend to skew positive, but that’s partly because I don’t mess around with books I think will suck. This one I just can’t seem to find words to accurately describe just how good it is.
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