Thalia @ Pictures in the Words

I had been afraid that, when I didn’t like Of Mice and Men, I was doomed to dislike Steinbeck, one of the supposedly greatest writers of the twentieth century. Then, I was pulled in the opposite direction when I fell in love with The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights. I needed something else to determine what I actually thought about his work and his writing. East of Eden was that for me.

So here we are, and I think I’ve finally figured it out—I like Steinbeck! More than like—I think he has a magnificent way with words, and I’m invested in his stories and characters. This book was a monster in terms of its size (my copy was more than seven hundred pages), but I was never once bored or uninterested in what was happening with the characters. It jumped around, but came together in such a way that brought absolutely everything together seamlessly. I only had two real complaints about this book, and one of those is that I felt the Eden/biblical metaphor could have been extended and more pronounced than it was, but overall, this book pulled me out of my awful reading slump and finally gave me something decent to enjoy.

What I Liked: Spoilers!

• Steinbeck’s writing is fabulous. It’s detailed without becoming boring; it’s immersive and descriptive in a way that feels homey and comfortable. The sentences flowed together seamlessly and instead of a tangle of words, there was a river that never seemed to stop or bump into rocks along its route. Just continued on its way, until I finally reached the end. Sure, it was long, and sometimes I doubt whether books need to be as long as they are, but East of Eden never felt long, and that’s extremely important to me. Even if I hadn’t liked the story of the characters, I loved his writing, and I found myself impressed by how much I wanted to keep going.

• The characters were a diverse and creative bunch. Normally, I would find characters like Adam’s wife, Cathy, completely unrealistic and cliché in how downright evil they are, but I never doubted Cathy’s absolute contempt for the world and all the people in it. It’s difficult to convince me that somebody has absolutely no good in them at all (I like to believe the best of everyone, and one of my favorite things is finding the good side of villains), but Steinbeck did it effortlessly as far as Cathy is concerned. And everyone else, with only one exception, took their turns being both heroic and flawed, just like regular people. Right from the beginning, with Adam’s father, I was invested in each and every person introduced. Although the stories began in somewhat haphazard and separated pieces, they came together so flawlessly that it was a perfect reflection of the way people come together in real life. Everyone that was introduced was there for a reason, and played their part in the story without wasting space—even the side characters that didn’t seem very important. I couldn’t pin down exactly one main character at any given moment, and I loved that feeling of being so immersed in the world with them that it didn’t matter who I was reading about at any given moment.

What I Didn’t Like:

• I truly wish the Eden metaphor had been extended more than it was. I had a difficult time keeping up with the similarities sometimes because none of the characters ever truly embodied the people I thought they were supposed to represent. The metaphor only became clear with Adam’s two sons, Cal and Aron, and even then, only at the end when events seemed to play out exactly as they did in the Bible (down to Cal’s “brother’s keeper”-esque comment). Adam and his own brother, Charles, seemed to embody the Cain and Abel idea more than Cal and Aron did, but Adam was actually named Adam, so I was further confused by who was supposed to be who. On top of that, Cathy, Adam’s wife, didn’t reflect anyone—certainly not Eve. I’m a sucker for retellings, so I wish this had been taken a bit farther.

• The one character who continuously bothered me was Lee, Adam’s Chinese servant. Lee is a very intelligent man, but attempts to cover it up because nobody expects the Chinese man to be wise. He drops the ruse when Adam’s sons are born, but I think I liked Lee more when he kept his thoughts to himself. (I realize that sounds like I liked him better when he pretended to be stupid, but I have legitimate reasons, I promise.) He often regards himself as somehow superior to everyone else because of his Chinese heritage, and it’s reflected in the way he advises the characters who go to him for help. Instead of actually helping, he usually verbally berates them and admonishes them for being idiots, and that somehow clears them up enough to do the right thing. However, I think such advice could have been destructive, especially when it came to Cal and his decisions. Every time he spoke, I wanted to groan, and I don’t think he ever said anything I found wise or brilliant. Instead, I wished he would go away because he never really added anything to the story for me. I don’t like people who are mean set up as though they’re good, and that’s exactly what Lee was for me.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to anyone up for a challenge. The language is easy to understand and easy to follow, don’t get me wrong, but sheer length and commitment is something to overcome here. It’s certainly worth the time, and I’m thrilled to have finally finished it. I’m looking forward to reading more of Steinbeck’s work, certainly, and this is one I can scratch of my bucket list and gratefully say, “The teachers finally got it right—this is a classic worth remembering.”

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