Week 2 of 52 Books Challenge: “East of Eden” Review

Book Description: 

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. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love; and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.

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My rating: 5/5 stars

This book really crept up on me.

For some reason, I was resistant to starting this book, even though my best friend in college adored it, then resistant to continuing it once I started (maybe because it was so darn LONG and I was already coming off of a long book)–but BOY am I glad I kept with it.

Let’s get one thing straight: the characters in this book (most of them) are deplorable. They cheat, lie, steal, and ruin lives without a second thought. Even the sympathetic ones aren’t thoroughly likable. They ignore their children, or they’re so self-righteous it makes me want to vomit.

I usually run the other way from “literary” books with deplorable characters, but something kept me hooked in.

Maybe it was the twisty plot, or the brilliant epic quotable passages:

“All great and precious things are lonely.”

Or

“There’s more beauty in truth, even if it is dreadful beauty.”

Or

“When a man says he does not want to speak of something he usually means he can think of nothing else.”

Or

“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending 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.”

Or this one, which is a good reminder as a writer:

“And, of course, people are interested only in themselves. If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen.”

(I could go on and on with those, but I’ll continue my review now.)

The book is slow to start, a multi-generational family epic following two families, mostly in the Salinas Valley in California. It tackles themes of good and evil, love and the pains of love, war, parenting, and more. There were some parallels to the biblical stories of Cain & Abel (both subtle and not so subtle). The world is vividly drawn and the characters mostly believable, except for Cathy. She is the most unapologetically evil person I’ve read in recent memory. Cal is a really interesting study in someone who thinks he is evil, but tries so hard to be good.

As I was reading, I started at a 3-star, then bumped it up to a 4, and by the end it was a full-fledged 5 (and I don’t give out many of those). The element that brought it to the next level was I kept thinking about the characters & the story after the fact. This book will stick with me for awhile.

I’ll admit, not all the characters were horrible. I really liked the Hamiltons–especially Samuel. They seemed the most “realistic” of the bunch, even with their issues. And I liked Lee, too! And Abra. I guess those three gave something to hang on to throughout the many trials in this book.

I recommend this thoroughly. Stick with it through the halfway point if you’re struggling! In my opinion, it’s worth it.

If you enjoyed this review, please check out the others on my 52 books of 2017 page. If you’d like to join in the challenge, friend me on Goodreads.