East of Eden
Ratings492
Average rating4.5
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.
I laughed. I cried. I thought I was getting a nice descriptive family history of life in the Salinas Valley. I actually got an incredible allegorical generational story, one that shows people at their best and worst. I learned about expectation, about choice, about what we are given and what we have to take. I don't know how it is that [b:East of Eden 4406 East of Eden John Steinbeck https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1441547516s/4406.jpg 2574991]'s characters can be sometimes so obviously playing out their type, their assigned role, and yet they feel directly and deeply the things that I have or hope to feel in not so many words. They're fictional, but their lives are universal.10/10 would recommend.
I was skeptical of the belief that this was a contender to Anna Karenina as the best novel ever written. Now, I'm almost convinced it's better.
It's funny that this book is a biblical allegory, because its moral philosophy is just as outdated as the Bible's. Maybe now I understand why everyone hated that they gave Steinbeck the Nobel Prize. Steinbeck thought in 1952 that the world was morally decaying, and he was right, and he was right about the role that capitalism and industrialization played in it, but he did not have to write something so condescending, simplistic, and yes, misogynistic. Humanity didn't need biblical allegories in 1952 written by CIA assets who supported the war in Vietnam, and we don't need them now. It's ridiculous to believe in generational curses and original sin, it's ridiculous to write simplistic metaphors and exaggerations of good and evil based on the Bible.
Thought provoking and original. More about the themes rather than the story telling. In Genesis 4:7 “Thou shalt rule over him” is a promise that God commands us to believe and has been dealt with once and for all by Jesus Christ.
Final Rating: 4.5
I think it's good. Great even. But I felt that I often didn't find a reason to turn to the next page and that there felt as if there was no reason to keep reading. The reason why I still think so highly of it is because when it shines, it shines! There were some chapters where I felt glued to the book and couldn't stop reading. It also poses deep questions about your identity and who you're born to be. To summerixe I think that it's a good book with it's ups and downs but I don't think it's a masterpiece as some people would claim!
4/5
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.”
Many great reflections on life, good and evil, and human nature. Also a fascinating snapshot of the turn of the century in the US. Feels like a must read for anyone
Not my favorite Steinbeck, and it felt a little long. Still, it was an enjoyable read.
I enjoyed this way more than I thought. It's probably about 200 pages longer than it needs to be but I really enjoyed reading it.
Amazing storytelling and language, not so great in the portrayal of women and people of colour.
More enjoyable than I generally find “literature.” It was long and complicated at first, but never dragged once it got started. Some pretty gross people but some good ones too. I was looking forward to Lee breaking out into the world to pursue his dream, especially because it was to own a bookstore, and was disappointed when he returned but also relieved that his character wouldn't disappear when he had been so interesting and good. Second place: Samuel Hamilton, of course.
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.
“An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie.”
Fallegasta bók sem ég hef lesið
I got this book on sale for $3 at the Library Bookstore. It was on display, and after having loved Of Mice and Men so much, I immediately bought it. It's a big book, over 600 pages long, but I already love it so much. I am at chapter 8 out of 55. I have a feeling this is going to become one of my favorite books. I read it and I already feel like I am going to re-read it.
Update: I finished East of Eden two days ago and I haven't gotten to writing a review yet. First, it is my favorite book ever. I know I didn't like as much pages 500 to 550, but it is still so good. Okay, so I am going to start listening to classical music, and see if it helps. The love and hate between siblings, the ideal of a love dressed over someone's personality, the philosophy of life, the changing landscape of California at the turn of the 20th century, the repeated trauma and patterns from generations to generations, the exploration of psychopathy, the exploration of idealists, the nature of truth and virtue and what we expect from others, and what we expect from ourselves. The trades. Can you explore and escape your name? What is the nature of choices? Can you hear someone beyond their appearances? What is richness? What is friendship, and age? Do thoughts develop with age, or are we all fully thinking from an early age? Is truth always good to tell, and how, with how much softness? How to embrace people's choices? Yes, how to...
13 Pieces for Piano Op. 76: 2. Etude - Jean Sibelius