East of Eden
Penguin Books - Penguin Books
Release date: 2008-10-13
Paperback
Author: John Steinbeck
Fiction, Literature - Classics / Criticism, Classics, Fiction / Classics, Fiction / Literary, Literary, Children of prostitutes, Fathers and sons, Salinas River Valley (Calif.), Sibling rivalry
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East of Eden
Date undefinedHard to imagine a greater defining work of the 20th century ... the story is so complex and multilayered, and yet so simple and clear in its narrative. The reader finds a lot to ponder in its pages, and many times I had to put the book down for a moment and merely think about its truth. Like the following:
"And I feel that I am a man. And I feel that a man is a very important thing -- maybe more important than a star. This is not theology. I have no bent toward the gods. I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe."
The story of Adam Trask, his sons and his good friends -- Samuel Hamilton, the handy-man philosopher; and Lee, the house servant and wise man -- is a parable of how we all struggle between the forces of good and evil, placed in a rough and beautiful American milieu, the Salinas Valley, Steinbeck's Garden of Eden. Adam is caught between hope, conveyed by a strong desire to prosper and transcend, and the deep wound of a dark secret, conveyed by his failed marriage to Kathy, a serpentine soul who dwells in darkness and evil. In this crucible his sons, Caleb and Aron, act out the tragic drama of earthly competition, fratricide and redemption that is the inheritance of the children of Abel and Cain.
In this Eden we encounter ourselves in our reckless, restless existence. Over a conversation with Lee, Caleb hears about the wild adventurous nature of Americans, violent and generous, fearful and bold, who "go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening culture."
And in another, between Lee, Samuel and Adam, the reader faces the core challenge of living: While we are not commanded to be good, neither are we predestined for it. "Timshel," Lee quotes from the Fourth Chapter of Genesis, the story of Eden itself. "Thou Mayest."
Poised between right and wrong, good and evil, life and death, this masterpiece asks, which do we choose?
East of Eden
Date undefinedEast of Eden is probably Steinbeck"s best work. I read it when I was 14 or 15 yeaars old and am now reading it again at age 50. My public library had an old yellowed copy which I could not read. Great book, read or read it again. I was dissappointed with the typeface, way too small but the work holds up.
East of Eden
Date undefinedThis is one of those books you must read some time during your life-- probably twice (once in your youth, and another in old age). Read it.
