East of Eden

An epic multi-generational story crafted as lose biblical retelling of Adam and Eve's fall to sin, and Cain and Abel's rivalry. Mixed with deep psychological and philosophical analysis of human spirit and motivations. There are characters who are plain evil, characters who are plain good, and then there are the more interesting characters in between, who grapple with their instincts.

Lots of captivating moral dilemmas emerge from this very black+white view on good and evil. I was especially intrigued by Adam's decision to reject his son's gift and the repercussions that followed.

I was definitely wholly absorbed in the story. Possibly a 5 star absorption. And yet there's an unevenness, and i would have probably shortened the middle of the book, because I found the two brother relationships bookending the story, the most compelling. I'd even fault the book for placing Adam at its center, because I'd consider him the least interesting and likable character.

In a story mostly populated with men, Cathy was fascinating, and could have been polished by omitting those liquor-induced moments used to show her true face. And then there's Steinbeck's apparent inability to describe female characters without mentioning their breasts. So I'll round this down to 4.

10

Extremely eloquent, perfectly simple and effective prose combined with imaginative and realistic dialogue creates one of the most fulfilling reading experience ive had.

Theres no grand-purpose, huge-stakes plot here. No characters relying on archetypes and cliches and tropes so that readers can recognize the charactertype and know how to feel about them. Its just people. Normal people. Insignificant people. People who, like in real life - you dont know anything about until you talk to them. Steinbecks razor-sharp writing shows us that even the most insignicant and average people can live the most fantastical lives, and carry the the most mythical and beautiful wisdom in them. All you have to do is listen to them talk.

MUST READ!!

Some quotes i like:

“It is easy out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of a deity, saying “i couldn't help it; the way was set.” But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man.

“In human affairs of danger and delicacy, successful conclusion is sharply limited by hurry. So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this.”

“You're going to pass something down no matter what you do or if you do nothing. Even if you let yourself go fallow, the weeds will grow and the brambles. Something will grow.”

This book helped me make sense of the quote that often pops up when you open Goodreads:

“All art is autobiographical, the Pearl is the oysters art” (or something along those lines lol)

It became so clear about half way in that this book was Steinbeck pouring out everything his life had gifted him thus far; lessons, questions and offerings...really cool to have that seamlessly woven throughout and inseparable from a compelling story.

Now reading ‘Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters' to learn about his process writing the book.

Literature! Who would have thought!

Just some food for thought: I think it's possible that Cathy saw the good in Aron and believed it to be real.

In all her life Cathy thought of every human being to be just as selfish as her, she couldn't see it any other way since she was born devoid of empathy and love. Others might exhibit altruistic behaviors, but her cynical nature compelled her to dig up all the dirt in their lives, and the results confirmed that they were every bit just as rotten as her beneath the surface.

When Cathy and her son Aron eventually met each other, Aron erupted in anger and was distraught because this newfound reality shattered the idealized version of mother he had painted for himself. In other words, Aron could not conceive such evil to exist the same way his mom did not believe in love and empathy.

Perhaps Cathy recognized something in her son, and understood the good in him to be as raw and authentic as her wickedness - both of which belong to an extreme end of a spectrum.


*Before Cathy died, she remembered of her imaginary friend Alice, who was described as someone she could always lean to for comfort and support as a child. I wonder what triggered this memory to resurface, and does this imaginary friend entail that Cathy might have had the capacity for love?

Many of my favorite stories center around what it means to be a good person, redemption, and ethics. Upon finishing a quote from The Good Place (of all places) popped into my head.

“It turns out life isn't a puzzle that can be solved one time and it's done. You wake up every day, and you solve it again.”

I would die for Lee, and I would happily read an entire book of him and Sam chatting about life.

“And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good”.

A beautiful and at times heartbreaking story of good and evil and the shades in between, and how our choices ultimately make us who we are. I was getting tired of seeing posts of “Wow, I read East of Eden and was blown away!” on reddit and finally decided to take the plunge and dive headlong into the saga, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that I belong to the same category. This was a beautiful book and I don't want to read anything by Steinbeck for a long time - because I want to savor this age-old ripe wine and shine in the afterglow.

I love to fall asleep while reading a book, but this might be one of those rare books that made me apprehensive about the ordeal while at the same time getting me excited for what comes next (the other one would be “House of Leaves”). I used to dread reading it at night because I knew somewhere down the line, there would be a chapter on Cathy, and I would get nightmares of her evil doings after that. It sounds silly when I say it out loud, but in my eyes, that speaks for the brilliance of this book. The length of the book allows it to explore each and every character to its core and oftentimes lead to conversations that would make me close my kindle and just think about what I had just read. The most illuminating pick of all those interesting conversations would be the one where the father-figure-cum-servant of the house discusses “Timshel” with one of the characters.

“Thou mayest”

I think if I ever get a tattoo (which might not be too distant a future), Timshel would surely feature prominently on my skin.

Never have I read a book in which the characters feel so real. One of my favorite fiction books I've ever read (not that I've read a lot). There was lots in this book that I know went way over my head and I already want to read it again just to analyze more of the many themes and messages contained.