this is one of my favorite books of all time. it is without a doubt a "masterpiece." the characters are amazing. the message is timeless. the story itself is so intriguing. i could not put it down and the best part... the ending actually felt purposeful and landed on a perfect 10/10 high note.
Great review! My childhood home was out in the canyons mentioned in Pastures of Heaven, my first job was in Cannery Row. Steinbeck was my idol author and a local icon for my town. I'm so glad that he's continually enjoyed by everybody, his works are so important and they mean so much to me.
I really liked this book when I have read it some years ago so it was interesting to re-visit it in your words. I felt at the time that what he really was interested in talking about was the brotherly love that eventually turns to jealousy and murder that seems to permeate all the character's lives in this. The biblical analogy is a bit on the nose sometimes but he makes up for it with some amazing sentences really. Thanks for bringing this up again! It's been a while since I have thought about this book
Hello. I just finish the East of Eden. I'm Italian and I'm surprised about your interpretation and how you connect this novel with Manzoni's novel. You give me material to reflect about and I thank you for this! ☺️
After East of Eden I would recommend Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion. A great American novel that shifts narrators and incorporates stream of consciousness
I'm half way through and so far I'm not blown away like I was with Grapes of Wrath- the first chapter of that was so amazing I had to immediately re read it twice
I definitely hear what you're saying about the novel being a bit too ambitious for its own good, but there are just so many mindblowing passages and great characters. It isn't a perfect book because it isn't totally cohesive, but it's still pretty damn great
A wonderful, beautiful work and a masterpiece. Made a deep impact on me when I read it the first time long ago. Had a german translation first and immidiatly after reading I had to have the english original. All the characters have an immense richness and are held together by some questions, for which different answers stay possible. So mit is even more a universal book, explaining christian questions, then a christian book, explaining universal questions. Me, as an atheist, can love this book, because those questions are in the end raised by every human beeing, by every religion.
Ayyy! I am subscribing for your channel right away (I just found it!). I will be watching this video later. I finished this book 2 days ago (and loved it!), but I will be discussing it with my little friend's bookclub in a week, so don't want to be bias before it. I will save this video to watch later, after my bookclub. I'd love to know what you thought of it and what you have to say. UPD: now after i watched the review i want to add two things. About the plot not being clear and different characters in different parts - i think this is very typical for a novel where several generations of a family is described. I can think of Tolstoy or Marquez as examples. This is a clear structure to me :) another thing is about your comment that the book is only good for Steinbeck’s fans. I just read it with my bookclub and 3 other people didn’t read Steinbeck before at all, and they all loved this book!
Awesome review! I have not read East of Eden yet. I'm still working through some of his other works. Will probably save this for last. Have you seen the movie adaptation from 1955?
12:05 looove the honesty on that… the whole “it’s a retelling on the book of genesis” i’m liiiike, do i really need to read this like i thought i did? but you made me feel much better about it, so thank UUU!!
Nah, East of Eden is a perfect novel. If you were to drive through the Salinas Valley you’d feel john’s magic on the land, then you’d realize it is a perfect novel.
I love Steinbeck but I think East of Eden is flawed and not his best work. The book is at least two novels shoved together to make a single novel. The first and second parts could easily have been two separate novels, and would have been better off if that had been the case. I wish his editor had stepped in at some point and said, “what are you trying to write here, John, a novel about your background or the story of Cain and Abel?”
Both. There's something of Steinbeck's background in there too. The two parts are related, in that the Cain and Abel symbolism repeats in the second generation. Then there's the pure evil of Kathy, and she also ties the two parts together.
Thank you for this great review. I feel very interested in meeting Steinbeck. Is this novel a good starting point or you would recommend other of his works on a first approach?
I know it’s been a year but have you read it yet? East of Eden is fantastic and a great place to start with Steinbeck. Otherwise I would start with of Mice and Men (my personal favorite)
I've noticed that in several videos about "EofE." She's fascinating in that she is pure evil. And yet, when she realizes she's missing something that other people have, maybe love or empathy or compassion, she kills herself. You must see the 1981 version with Jane Seymour as Kathy. She will blow you away.
@@gy2gy246 oh, great, I’ll have to look for it. I have always seen Cathy as kind of a sympathetic character, she couldn’t help the way she was, and I think that is how Steinbeck presented her, as being born a “monster.” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, the miniseries, I’d like to see it again. Thanks.
This novel gave me probably the worst reading experience I’ve ever had. I had to DNF it after 450 pages (something I usually never do) because it filled my mind with so much rage at how bad it was. Meh prose with terrible paragraph structuring, cardboard cut-outs as “characters,” laughable biblical allegories (Aronofsky’s mother! looks like the most subtle story ever written compared to this). But worst of all, it is extremely, painfully misogynistic. “Of Mice and Men” follows the same line of thought, so I guess it must be an essential part of Steinbeck’s work/world view.
Misogynistic? If anything it was feministic, did we even read the same book? Characters like Liza, Olive and Dessie, are some examples of what the author meant when it came to 'timshel' the choice these women took over morally void people like Cathy. And Lee's mother? I mean you're just blindly hating on something you never bothered to take in completely. All these people had the choice, to either seek good or continue their evil paths.
@@TylerDurden-gl4qn What a funny argument, someone who doesn’t like a book you do must be a “hater.” Grow up. What Steinbeck finds admirable in a woman is being devoid of any feminine/sexual traits - like Liza. The necessary prerequisite is, of course, that she still performs all female duties: bearing and raising children, taking care of the household, obeying her husband. That’s a vision of Steinbeck’s perfect woman - someone who doesn’t threaten male power, but is responsible for literally everything. On the other hand, Cathy is described as devil incarnate because she’s traditionally feminine and when much older men in direct power over her start lusting after her, she sometimes weaponizes her sexuality to get what she herself wants. All these men should have nothing to do with a much younger girl (in the beginning, a minor) who relies on their favorable attitude for school grades/money/shelter/life, but Steinbeck is convinced that they are not perpetrators, but victims of Cathy’s evil witchcraft. Even the man who almost kills her after finding out she doesn’t truly love him (oh horror!) is portrayed as a confused person, driven not by his own vices but Cathy’s corrupting nature. What is it? Cathy seduces to get gifts when she’s a teenager, to save money and start a better life when she’s 18, to get medical help and stay alive when she’s lying almost dead, and sometimes to have fun because she enjoys sex. This shift in power dynamics is what ticks Steinbeck, the idea that a woman might have some power over a man and that she might be staying with him to serve her own needs. And that’s what a devil looks like to Steinbeck, a woman who has her own motives and doesn’t blindly follow a man’s orders.
@@mlle_darlling I am so sorry, your interpretation of the events is way off the moral equilibrium, if you really did think that the female characters lacked agency you must read it again, this time in whole. I am not even going to bother rationalising my argument to you as your opinions scream with insensitivity, and you should probably seek therapy/help yourself if that's your worldview. The whole book must've blown over your head. There *is* no perfect woman or perfect human being in East of Eden, or the real world for that matter. The whole point is that you don't have to be perfect but you *can* be good, as remarked by Lee to Abra reflecting upon Cal Trask. You can choose to be good like Cal despite him having both good and dark in him, as he says it to Cathy's face. All the women apart from, I think Cyrus' wife who appears meek but is her own woman when she is alone, are endowed with agency and are strong and independent. It is their actions that matters at the end of the day, and Cathy's is mostly her own needs, she lures the men, corrupt and the worst men, (Cathy uses people, not just men, as we see in the whorehouse, she uses sex to get her way) which even despite portraying her as the devil, we get a glimpse of her inner child during her end with the 'Alice in Wonderland' reference. I am not criticising you for disliking the book, your arguments are the problem, they aren't reasonable and misplaced. If you did read, you would know that there *is* no 'male power' throughout, the men provide their spouses equal footing on all accounts, sometimes letting decisions be taken by them if the woman's is more sensible. On the whole, I just feel sorry for you that you're blinded your staunch morally devoid opinions.
@@TylerDurden-gl4qn How fragile you must be that someone’s dislike of a book drives you to throw personal insults at them and stomp your foot like a toddler, insisting that only you must be right. Whatever makes you feel safe and superior, I guess *yawn*
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Timshel made a lasting impact on me. What a gorgeous book
this is one of my favorite books of all time. it is without a doubt a "masterpiece." the characters are amazing. the message is timeless. the story itself is so intriguing.
i could not put it down and the best part...
the ending actually felt purposeful and landed on a perfect 10/10 high note.
Great review! My childhood home was out in the canyons mentioned in Pastures of Heaven, my first job was in Cannery Row. Steinbeck was my idol author and a local icon for my town. I'm so glad that he's continually enjoyed by everybody, his works are so important and they mean so much to me.
I read East of Eden 18 years ago and I still remember scenes in it. It is truly a masterpiece and it is so due for a reread.
east of eden is my favorite american literature of all time! I can't even say what it means to me. I couldn't praise it enough if I tried.
I've read over 400 books so far and no other literary work has made me feel like East of Eden. My all time favourite novel.
I've read 2-3,000, and it's one of my favorites.
I loved East of Eden so much that I abandoned it somewhere in the last 100 pages because I didn't want it to end :D
I really liked this book when I have read it some years ago so it was interesting to re-visit it in your words. I felt at the time that what he really was interested in talking about was the brotherly love that eventually turns to jealousy and murder that seems to permeate all the character's lives in this. The biblical analogy is a bit on the nose sometimes but he makes up for it with some amazing sentences really. Thanks for bringing this up again! It's been a while since I have thought about this book
Hello.
I just finish the East of Eden.
I'm Italian and I'm surprised about your interpretation and how you connect this novel with Manzoni's novel.
You give me material to reflect about and I thank you for this! ☺️
I just finished East of Eden and I love it(one of my favourites of all time) , this is first novel I've read from him .
My favorite book of all time
Hadn't enjoyed a single Steinbeck book until East of Eden, and that has become one of my favorites! Thank you SOOO much for the review.
One of my favorite books. Amazing characters.
After East of Eden I would recommend Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion. A great American novel that shifts narrators and incorporates stream of consciousness
I hated that book.
Thank for this great review!!
I'm half way through and so far I'm not blown away like I was with Grapes of Wrath- the first chapter of that was so amazing I had to immediately re read it twice
I definitely hear what you're saying about the novel being a bit too ambitious for its own good, but there are just so many mindblowing passages and great characters. It isn't a perfect book because it isn't totally cohesive, but it's still pretty damn great
A wonderful, beautiful work and a masterpiece. Made a deep impact on me when I read it the first time long ago. Had a german translation first and immidiatly after reading I had to have the english original. All the characters have an immense richness and are held together by some questions, for which different answers stay possible. So mit is even more a universal book, explaining christian questions, then a christian book, explaining universal questions. Me, as an atheist, can love this book, because those questions are in the end raised by every human beeing, by every religion.
Ayyy! I am subscribing for your channel right away (I just found it!). I will be watching this video later. I finished this book 2 days ago (and loved it!), but I will be discussing it with my little friend's bookclub in a week, so don't want to be bias before it. I will save this video to watch later, after my bookclub. I'd love to know what you thought of it and what you have to say.
UPD: now after i watched the review i want to add two things. About the plot not being clear and different characters in different parts - i think this is very typical for a novel where several generations of a family is described. I can think of Tolstoy or Marquez as examples. This is a clear structure to me :) another thing is about your comment that the book is only good for Steinbeck’s fans. I just read it with my bookclub and 3 other people didn’t read Steinbeck before at all, and they all loved this book!
'East of Eden' is THE Great American Novel.
This is one of my favorite novels, if not my favorite
If I could only keep one book, of all the books I've ever read in my 43 years, it would be this one.
Awesome review! I have not read East of Eden yet. I'm still working through some of his other works. Will probably save this for last. Have you seen the movie adaptation from 1955?
Please read Stoner by John Williams
Please do more DeLillo and Vonnegut.
12:05 looove the honesty on that… the whole “it’s a retelling on the book of genesis” i’m liiiike, do i really need to read this like i thought i did?
but you made me feel much better about it, so thank UUU!!
He said in the book Journal of a Novel that he did indeed plan it as his masterpiece.
Have you read the Aesthetics of Resistance by Peter Weiss? If not, it’s a fantastic novel.
Nah, East of Eden is a perfect novel. If you were to drive through the Salinas Valley you’d feel john’s magic on the land, then you’d realize it is a perfect novel.
I love Steinbeck but I think East of Eden is flawed and not his best work. The book is at least two novels shoved together to make a single novel. The first and second parts could easily have been two separate novels, and would have been better off if that had been the case. I wish his editor had stepped in at some point and said, “what are you trying to write here, John, a novel about your background or the story of Cain and Abel?”
A fair judgment I think!
Both. There's something of Steinbeck's background in there too. The two parts are related, in that the Cain and Abel symbolism repeats in the second generation. Then there's the pure evil of Kathy, and she also ties the two parts together.
One of the best books in the history of mankind.
Thank you for this great review. I feel very interested in meeting Steinbeck. Is this novel a good starting point or you would recommend other of his works on a first approach?
Its like 2 books. I recommend THE RED PONY or THE PEARL. Grapes of Wrath my fav.
I know it’s been a year but have you read it yet? East of Eden is fantastic and a great place to start with Steinbeck. Otherwise I would start with of Mice and Men (my personal favorite)
Was Charles the real father of Aron and Caleb ?
I have creative writing paper , my proff ask me to review recently published books .....which is the best ...from your review suggest me kindly please
Hey Book Chemist, have you considered The Stand or It by Stephen King?
I love how you role your R's even though you are speaking in English.
How can anyone talk about this novel without a mention of Catherine Trask? She was the most interesting character.
I've noticed that in several videos about "EofE." She's fascinating in that she is pure evil. And yet, when she realizes she's missing something that other people have, maybe love or empathy or compassion, she kills herself. You must see the 1981 version with Jane Seymour as Kathy. She will blow you away.
@@gy2gy246 I saw it. Way back when it first aired. It was my first introduction to the story, it was why I read the novel!
@@geslinam9703 Same here. And it is available on DVD. I think I saw it on Amazon.
@@gy2gy246 oh, great, I’ll have to look for it. I have always seen Cathy as kind of a sympathetic character, she couldn’t help the way she was, and I think that is how Steinbeck presented her, as being born a “monster.” It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, the miniseries, I’d like to see it again. Thanks.
@@geslinam9703 I don't know if he meant her to be sympathetic or not. Maybe now, but we didn't understand psychopaths in 1952.
It's a great book, but stop that with your hands mate, makin me dizzy
The history of Cain and Able is not a "myth."
So you believe the world was created in 6 days and we're directly descended from dinosaurs?
This novel gave me probably the worst reading experience I’ve ever had. I had to DNF it after 450 pages (something I usually never do) because it filled my mind with so much rage at how bad it was. Meh prose with terrible paragraph structuring, cardboard cut-outs as “characters,” laughable biblical allegories (Aronofsky’s mother! looks like the most subtle story ever written compared to this). But worst of all, it is extremely, painfully misogynistic. “Of Mice and Men” follows the same line of thought, so I guess it must be an essential part of Steinbeck’s work/world view.
Misogynistic? If anything it was feministic, did we even read the same book? Characters like Liza, Olive and Dessie, are some examples of what the author meant when it came to 'timshel' the choice these women took over morally void people like Cathy. And Lee's mother? I mean you're just blindly hating on something you never bothered to take in completely. All these people had the choice, to either seek good or continue their evil paths.
@@TylerDurden-gl4qn What a funny argument, someone who doesn’t like a book you do must be a “hater.” Grow up. What Steinbeck finds admirable in a woman is being devoid of any feminine/sexual traits - like Liza. The necessary prerequisite is, of course, that she still performs all female duties: bearing and raising children, taking care of the household, obeying her husband. That’s a vision of Steinbeck’s perfect woman - someone who doesn’t threaten male power, but is responsible for literally everything. On the other hand, Cathy is described as devil incarnate because she’s traditionally feminine and when much older men in direct power over her start lusting after her, she sometimes weaponizes her sexuality to get what she herself wants. All these men should have nothing to do with a much younger girl (in the beginning, a minor) who relies on their favorable attitude for school grades/money/shelter/life, but Steinbeck is convinced that they are not perpetrators, but victims of Cathy’s evil witchcraft. Even the man who almost kills her after finding out she doesn’t truly love him (oh horror!) is portrayed as a confused person, driven not by his own vices but Cathy’s corrupting nature. What is it? Cathy seduces to get gifts when she’s a teenager, to save money and start a better life when she’s 18, to get medical help and stay alive when she’s lying almost dead, and sometimes to have fun because she enjoys sex. This shift in power dynamics is what ticks Steinbeck, the idea that a woman might have some power over a man and that she might be staying with him to serve her own needs. And that’s what a devil looks like to Steinbeck, a woman who has her own motives and doesn’t blindly follow a man’s orders.
@@mlle_darlling I am so sorry, your interpretation of the events is way off the moral equilibrium, if you really did think that the female characters lacked agency you must read it again, this time in whole. I am not even going to bother rationalising my argument to you as your opinions scream with insensitivity, and you should probably seek therapy/help yourself if that's your worldview. The whole book must've blown over your head. There *is* no perfect woman or perfect human being in East of Eden, or the real world for that matter. The whole point is that you don't have to be perfect but you *can* be good, as remarked by Lee to Abra reflecting upon Cal Trask. You can choose to be good like Cal despite him having both good and dark in him, as he says it to Cathy's face. All the women apart from, I think Cyrus' wife who appears meek but is her own woman when she is alone, are endowed with agency and are strong and independent. It is their actions that matters at the end of the day, and Cathy's is mostly her own needs, she lures the men, corrupt and the worst men, (Cathy uses people, not just men, as we see in the whorehouse, she uses sex to get her way) which even despite portraying her as the devil, we get a glimpse of her inner child during her end with the 'Alice in Wonderland' reference. I am not criticising you for disliking the book, your arguments are the problem, they aren't reasonable and misplaced. If you did read, you would know that there *is* no 'male power' throughout, the men provide their spouses equal footing on all accounts, sometimes letting decisions be taken by them if the woman's is more sensible. On the whole, I just feel sorry for you that you're blinded your staunch morally devoid opinions.
@@TylerDurden-gl4qn How fragile you must be that someone’s dislike of a book drives you to throw personal insults at them and stomp your foot like a toddler, insisting that only you must be right. Whatever makes you feel safe and superior, I guess *yawn*
@@mlle_darlling I shall refrain from feeding the troll any longer. Please seek help, thank you.