Rating: 
Summary: A BOOK FOR REMEMBRANCE, STEINBECK DOES IT AGAIN.
Review: "When June comes the grasses headed out and turned brown and the hills turned a brown which was not quite brown but a gold and saffron and red, an indescribable colour."
With a colorful set of characters this book will be a treat for all readers who love fat books, and like reading about the human condition and mind.
In the East of Eden, John Steinbeck introduces us to the Trask family, a somewhat problematic unit of Adam and Charles Trask and their father Cyrus, who more or less set the ground for the destinies of the two boys. Find out what kind of destiny is in store for Cyrus's offspring; Cal and Aron, Adam's sons, in this well written novel based in California.
The Trask brothers will have a life like none other for they will prove different, and throughout this story we will be entertained by the people who surrounded this family; those who tried to make them appear as normal and tried too hard to accept them. We will also, meet those who knew too much about them and carried their secrets to their graves.
However at the source of this book is Cathy Ames who will be responsible for their good or bad future in an indirect way.
A page-turner that will keep you up all night. If you haven't read any other of John Steinbeck's books, please get your hands on The Grapes Of Wrath after this one. It is something to write home about.
Heather Marshall. Sugar-cane 26/12/04
Rating:
Summary: I will give it a 10/10
Review: After a long long time I got to read something so fulfilling. Something that one can identify with instantly and it does not take much effort as well. The theme of Brother Vs. Brother is universal and appealing to all. Maybe because as children of Cain, we are all the same - A blend of Good and Bad. Wow!!
East of Eden was heavy for me!!Steinbeck is so good at descriptions - love the style of writing, the dry subtle humor- the very fact that he does not justify his character's actions - the struggle of mankind, the inner conflict,is so beautifully portrayed. The Theme: Brother vs. Brother The Plot: Two Families in Salinas, California. The Trasks and the Hamiltons. Adam Trask who faces a life-long complex from his brother Charles Trask heads towards a new life - with his brand-new wife. The birth of his twins is a joyous moment only to result in a sad one - with Kathy (his wife) walking out on
him. He raises the kids with his manservant Lee - the ever symbolical of what is right - Chinese - who is a great human character in ages to come. The twins - Aron and Cal are poles apart and the rest is as they say "History". The Hamiltons are a different breed altogether. Nine children and Samuel Hamilton is a man who never feels the need to have more money. I guess the Biblical influence is immense in the book - but obvious it had to be!! Overall, a great great awesome read!!
Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: Classic characters and plot. More of how the more things change the more they stay the same.
Rating:
Summary: Review of a working mom
Review: Excellent book!! Much better than in highschool, go figure! Such talent in writing, wish I was there in the time and moment. Truly one of the great writers in literature. A MUST READ in your fourties, you will appreciate it so much more!!!
Rating:
Summary: Bring your reading to a new level
Review: Excellent book. The characters are SOOO well developed and the insight into the human mind so profound that I will have a hard time picking up a typical murder mystery again. I spent much time pondering some of the magical paragraphs and exhalting in the fantastic ending. It is great after reading the "Da Vinci Code" since it also considers the true origins of parts of the Bible. This is a great read and a great book club selection.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Evil, Inherited Depravity, Perfectionism, Free will
Review: Here is the intertwined story of two families-the Hamiltons and the Trasks-that Steinbeck masterfully explored questions of good and evil, inherited depravity, perfectionism, and free will. This book is drawn out of the well of the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel. A great read-I only regret it is finished. The almost-fatalistic approach can be depressing at times if you imagine humans as better than they really are, but there are enough glimpses of hope? and goodness to keep you with him. My favorite author is Michner-mostly because he writes of places and generations. This book is similar, but besides doing the place-generations thing, the author tosses in a paragraph or phrase (about one per ten pages, for me) that are so stunning in their crafting and depth of thought that I would sometimes would lay the book down at that point and go meditate on the porch for an hour on that single phrase. I now have a whole new group of people who are a part of the pantheon of good and evil? in my mind (some busts appear in both pantheons): Cyrus Trask(I know someone like him), his favorite son Adam (A Isaac-type guy) his unfavored brother Charles. I know even better the next generation: Adam's sons Cal(unfavored, a lot like the God-be-merciful-to-me pray-er) and good Aron. Sam Hamilton is a stand-out example of good and in a curious way his straight-laced wife which reminds me of many stern holiness folk of the past generations. The real central character of evil is certainly Cathy (later Kate). Whew-are there really women this evil? Abra Bacon remind me of a girl I knew in grade school, and perhaps Steinbeck is successful in making the central character a Hebrew word-timshel. Buy the book and love it as I did. -Keith Drury, Associate Professor of Religion, Indiana Wesleyan University.
Rating:
Summary: Reading East of Eden
Review: I hadn't read John Steinbeck since high school but returned to him about a year ago when our book group read his novel, "The Winter of our Discontent." Following that, I read several other Steinbeck novels and recently had the good luck to read "East of Eden". It is admirable that Oprah Winfrey used this large, complex novel to present to her audience.
Steinbeck wrote "East of Eden" in a burst of energy over several months in 1951. He loved this book among all his works and, literally, put himself into it. The first-person narrator of the story is, indeed, Steinbeck himself speaking in his own voice as a a grandson of Samuel Hamilton, born in Ireland and a hero of this novel.
Steinbeck said that he wrote "East of Eden" to tell "the story of my country and the story of me" to his two young sons in order to demonstrate "the greatest story of all-- the story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of love and hate, of beauty and ugliness, how these doubles are inseparable." (Quotation is from the chronology in the Library of America edition of Steinbeck's novels, 1942-1952 at 963.) For all its melodrama, length, sometimes black-and-white characterizations, and preachiness, the novel achieves its goals. I was transfixed by the book, couldn't put it down, and read it in a short time.
The story includes the "doubles" to which Steinbeck refers as well as some others. The book is the story of two families, the Hamiltons and the Trasks. It is the story of two Trask brothers, Adam and Charles, and of the two twin sons of Adam Trask and his wife Cathy -- Aron and Caleb. Both Adam and Charles and Aron and Caleb replicate in their own ways the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. Steinbeck gives this story a full, biblical style exegisis as the reader sees the story of the conflict between good and evil play out in double over the course of the book.
The Trask family and the Hamilton family are settlers in the Salinas Valley in California. "East of Eden" develops a fine sense of place and when I finished the book I felt I knew an area and its history that I have only in the most superficial manner seen myself. Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's grandfather, figures prominently in this book for his wisdom, his stoicism, his inventiveness, and his other-wordliness. His wife, Lisa, is also portrayed with a great deal of love.
Perhaps the most memorable character of the book is Cathy Trask who becomes "Kate" after she leaves Adam Trask and returns to the profession of prostitution in which she was engaged before her marriage. Steinbeck calls her a "monster" and well he might. The portrayal is striking and even nuanced at the end for all the starkness.
Lee, a Chinese servant, is also well portrayed for his subtelty, wisdoms love of learing, and ultimately, devotion to the Trasks and understanding of himself.
This is a sweeping, dramatically told story which captures the land, the good and evil of which people are capable, and the importance of what in the Cain and Abel story is described by the Hebrew word "Timshel" with which Steinbeck concludes his novel. People have the capacity for both good and evil and the power for choice -- to understand the good and reject the evil. The story is told in a humanistic rather than a theological way.
"East of Eden" is a memorable work of American literature that deserves the attention it has recently received.
Rating:
Summary: Had Me Searching the Bible
Review: I have yet to read a poor Steinbeck book and I think this was his all-time best (Grapes of Wrath is a close second). The author has an interesting take on the Cain & Abel story. Basically, depending on which bible you read it has a different translation. Depending on which you choose to accept, that is how you should lead your own life. Great characters and impossible to put down. One of the few old books where I have seen an Asian character as a very deep philosophical person.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a classic
Review: I know most people say this is an incredible awesome book, but as most classics, it has "its parts." It has some parts that will keep you sooo interested, but there are others that really feels like the author was just filling out pages. There are characters that have nothing to do with the plot, but have 30 pages about them. As most classics that I have read, the general plot is awesome, but don't expect all the book to keep you awake. There are parts where you will need real will power to keep going, so just be patient, and continue reading.
Rating:
Summary: hunter 90
Review: i love this book. it a advanturous book.one of best piece of litterature. in the begaining you might not be interested but if you go along you will love the book.
|
