East of Eden: A fantasia of history and myth

Review of book: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

“But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.”

A book like this requires re-reads for getting a proper review from someone as mesmerized as me! I haven’t read anything like this before, and now it’s so hard to explain how I feel.

“There is only one book to a man”, wrote Steinbeck in his journal. This creation turned out to be gold, a delicate art piece that was patiently crafted by an artist for years, and that will be kept in museums for civilization after civilization.

I would refer to this as a modern day bible. It’s a modern classic that borrows the concept from the most popular stories of the bible and does a thorough inspection of human natures that preserved their quality over time and place.

The story flows from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. From the horse wagon to Ford. From the still air of summer to the speedy fighter planes. Steinbeck, like a fairy teller, tells us about Salinus, its land, its willows heavy with history on its branches. We get a clear picture of the land by the Salinas river (I almost picture the landscape as that of the movie, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I find both the depiction slow and beautiful like crazy!) Next, Steinbeck builds the two protagonist families of the book. The Hamiltons and the Trask. We see some complex characters, probably just a unique ratio of good and bad. Conflicting, humane, ugly- however direction the story turned, I couldn’t predict a thing! It was not a bit boring like boring classics. It was not even like a classic that gets its fame for being old, the book is very new, very fresh. The telling is not even predictable. Steinbeck uses references from the timeline, from his personal account, he brings the air of the first world war- it never felt like today is not 1900’s.

Though I don't have enough words to review the book, the words and philosophy from this book will carry me forward to the next level reading.

I want to thank our friend Nafees for presenting the best wedding gift ever! We will carry this book to all the places where we make our home…