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Summary: RESPONSE TO REVIEW BY ALAN CAMBEIRA
Review: I recently re-read this book and think it's amazing. Although it can be convoluted and unfocused at times, it's central themes are amazingly relevant and important. The question of whether the sins of the father (and mother) taint us forever, or if we can be reborn, speak to what America, and more specifically California, are about - places to come and start a new life - where the future, not the past, is important. Although I'm not a big fan of the James Dean version, I would like to correct some things that Alan Cambeira says in his review. Although I agree with his dislike for the movie, some of the details in the review make me wonder if he knows what he's talking about. First, he says the movie was shot in black and white. This isn't true, it's in vivid color. Second, he says James Dean's father is played "imperially by Anthony Quinn." This is also false - it was Raymond Massay. I don't mean to nit-pick, but if you're going to criticize something, you should know what you're talking about.
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Summary: Nice to revisit Steinbeck country
Review: I'm amazed that it took, of all people, Oprah to encourage me to re-read this Steinbeck novel. But, after 35 years, I bought and read the new Oprah-recommended book, and I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it, particularly because of the vivid descriptions of early 20th Century-era Salinas, California, which is close to where I live. Steinbeck is a very talented writer. Because he was born in the early 1900s, he had a good feel for that era, and even gives an interesting insight into 19th century America with his descriptions of the childhoods Adam and Charles Trask, and their father. If you are ever in Salinas, be sure to check out the Steinbeck Museum on Main Street. Also, after reading this book, you might want to also read Steinbeck's depression-era masterpiece, "The Grapes of Wrath," and check out the 1939 John Ford movie starring Henry Fonda. Steinbeck did a lot of screenwriting in Hollywood, and had a hand in the "Grapes of Wrath" script, as well.
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Summary: One of the Greatest Novels Ever!!
Review: I first read East of Eden as a freshman in college. To be frank, ABC was premiering their miniseries, and I wanted to have some knowledge base before it started. To say that I am not a fan of Steinbeck is a severe understatement. Whenever we were required to read one of his novels in high school, I truly wanted to cry every time. I went to a very small college in Wisconsin, and the library only had one copy of the book that had not been checked out in a loooong time. I brought it back to my dorm room with the idea that if nothing else, I could use it to aid with my insomnia. By the end of the first paragraph I was hooked!! To say that it was a difficult read puts it mildly. It really does have the power to strip pieces of your heart away as you take the journey with Cal. It's also one of those books that you know that when you finish, you will not come back to it for a long time. You can't. The emotions are just that powerful. I watched the mini series afterwards, and was pleased at how true they tried to stay to the basic essence of the book. I'm glad Oprah's brought this beauty back into the light for everyone to enjoy. But, be prepared for the bruises that your emotions will take along the novels journey.
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Summary: Troubling Steinbeck Masterpiece
Review: I have no earthly notion why Oprah selected a Steinbeck work of this magnitude and scope to resurrect her book club. However, maybe without Oprah's generous promotional efforts, this particular work by John Steinbeck (1902-68) might have remained the obscure and enigmatic masterpiece that it is. Keen movie buffs will recall the attempt some thirty-odd (or more?) years ago to convert this novel into a movie [executed appropriately in funereal black and white, instead of in dazzling color ... despite the sunny brilliance of California's Salinas Valley]. The brooding actor James Dean had the role of brother Caleb, who vies for the affection and approval of his father, played imperially by Anthony Quinn. The movie version was not at all a box-office success mainly because, in my view, the story was so amazingly intricate and overwhelming with its ponderously convoluted psychological elements. The same is true about the novel: multi-layered in approach, tone, and structure, resulting in constant nervous tension and anguish. But then who would dare argue with a giant of such innovative literary artistry as Nobel Prize (1962) winning author John Steinbeck? At some point shortly after after the initial publication of this novel (1952), Steinbeck himself publically alluded to the "difficulty" (e.i.,complexity) of this powerfully dramatic work. He was totally pleased with his creation. And difficult, indeed, is this novel. I know I'm dating myself, but so what? Does anyone remember those essential Cliff Notes that regularly accompanied literary Master Works? Well, there was one for EAST OF EDEN. Believe me, this handy little yellow booklet proved indispensable to some readers 'back in the day.' A Masterful Read, so enjoy.
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Summary: It Beats the Top 10
Review: I have become dismayed at the popular books out today. The writing is predictable, shallow, and not very challenging. I've decided to go back to the classics and East of Eden was first on my list, thanks to Oprah. I found Steinbeck's writing style intriguing....specifically how he uses time/action lapses where everything isn't spelled out in black and white....you have to think, recall, use your imagination to fill in the gaps. I do have a question for someone: What was the significance of the word Timshel? I remember it mentioned in the story but haven't been able to locate it to refresh my memory. Could you help me out?
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not Great
Review: I was ready to read a classic and almost at the same time Oprah opened up with this one. (I usually read historicial/romance and needed a change) I have to say there are times when I cannot put the book down and others where the story is exceptionally slow. It is also a dark story, more evil and dissapointment and death then good, even though it gets its point across. I am enjoying it, only 3/4 the way through, but so far, it is so-so. Grapes of Wrath was much better. Hopefully there is a happy ending, but I doubt it.*************************************************************** Finished the book, glad I read it and also glad it is over. The end really picks up speed and is quite entertaining, but the ending is so-so. Maybe I am missing something, but still liked Grapes of Wrath better.
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Summary: An incredible, intelligent masterpiece
Review: It has been said that "East of Eden" is Steinbeck's best work, although it was "Grapes of Wrath" that garnered him the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. I personally prefer Steinbeck's earlier works, such as "Cannery Row," "Sweet Thursday," and "Tortilla Flat," but found that "East of Eden" was worth the time to become reacquainted with this masterful author.
But this novel is lengthy at 600 pages. It's also complicated, multi-faceted, and requires patience and understanding to get through. You can read a lot into the story as an analysis of dysfunctional family life, or enjoy it for the incredible, intelligent piece of fiction that it is. Either way, it is well worth the journey.
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Summary: FANTASTIC!!!
Review: Let me start by saying, I would NEVER have read a "classic" if Oprah did not suggest it.....but this book is WONDERFUL!! The characters are all so richly described and I read it in 1 week. It's a swift read, even though it's 600+ pages, because it's so riveting. While Samuel was my favorite character, Cathy was the girl we all love to hate. I couldn't believe her!
If you're scared of buying this book due to it's "classic" status, take it from me: IT'S FANTASTIC!!
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Summary: modern retelling of classic story
Review: What is so great and compelling about the stories of Genesis, that of Cain and Abel in particular, is that they are eternal. Steinbeck successfully conveys this in a modern retelling, where the reader can relate more successfully to all parties involved. He uses the helpful technique of telling the first story through Adam Trask's eyes, who plays the role of Abel. For the second generation, it is Aron (the Abel figure) who is now aloof and distant from us and we relate to and understand Cal (the Cain figure.) However, this is not the only story that is being told.
At the same time is being woven in stories of love, human nature (and seemingly inhuman monstrosity,) betrayal, and pity. Steinbeck helps us understand these diverse characters by immersing us in them for what seems like years. This novel really feels like an epic to read, and although it seems to be impregnable and dragging, you finish feeling enlightened and wishing you could read it for the first time again. Clearly the most important message Steinbeck wishes to convey is the element of human choice. No god or higher power of any sort compels you; your destiny is not predetermined. You have the choice to do good OR evil whatever your circumstance. We hope for Cal that he understands that he is not condemned by his mother's evil and his seemingly inherited hatred, and we also relate this precept to our own lives. For this reason, as well as its simple storytelling merits, I feel that East of Eden far outshines The Grapes of Wrath as a chronicle of the human condition.
Many don't understand Steinbeck's obsession with the Salinas Valley and if they do, they don't understand why they have to be subjected to reams of pages describing it and its inhabitants. Some reasons may include westward movement (i.e. struggling back to Eden) and also that it provides an effective parallel in many ways to a hard land that is east of Eden. This is no heavenly garden of Eden, but its inhabitants incessantly toil to overcome.
To understand about this and many other tools that Steinbeck employs, I highly recommend that with this book you read "Journal of a Novel: the Writing of East of Eden", (the name is something like that) In this journal Steinbeck would begin every day of writing with a journal entry to his dear friend and editor Pascal Covici. He makes obscure references to the book that necessitate constant referral back to the pages, but it is understandable enough. This journal is more useful in its function of helping the reader understand John Steinbeck and where he is coming from; his passion for invention, his own fears and love for his two young sons (in fact he wrote this for and about them,) and his feelings on contemporary subjects all show what a multi-talented and opinionated man he was. One of many gems in these pages is his discussion of children, and adults' attitudes toward them. He basically says that adults often discount the opinions and needs of children as fanciful and useless, because these adults have forgotten what it is like to be a child. On the contrary, Steinbeck says, adult thoughts only get more cloudy and jaded as they age, whereas the thought of children is pure, deep, and real, even if they can't always effectively communicate it.
So in addition to a helpful companion to East of Eden, Journal of a Novel is important life-reading in its own right.
Anyway, I highly recommend East of Eden and feel that any reader should lay aside a lot of time to read and re-read this complicated and moving novel. If you go too fast, you might miss something. In Journal of a Novel, Steinbeck effectively said with no reservations, "This is the one. Everything else I have written has been practice for this one." This "everything else" is a distinguished body of literature, so why don't we take Steinbeck at his word and confirm his quest for greatness, realized in this epic.
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Summary: Brilliant Steinbeck at his best
Review: I reread this book and realized that it is one of my all time favorites. His use of the language, characters and crises brings together the most powerful personalities and emotions described as only Steinbeck could do it. Treat yourself to a revisit and you will not be sorry.
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