By John Steinbeck
Rated ★★★★
"Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families -- the Trasks and the Hamiltons -- whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel." - Blurb from library site.
I ended up feeling very ambivilent about East of Eden. There were things about it that I really liked - his ability to put me into the place and time so that I felt like I was right there - and also the fact that it was a big fat family saga because I really like big fat family sagas so that I wanted to give it a five star rating in my journal.
But then there were some things that really bothered me about it. I felt like he belabored the "Cain and Able" anology thing. Maybe it's because I am a glass half full kind of person but I thought he was pretty cynical about human nature and made everyone a little worse than they needed to be.
So if I just looked at that part of the book I could only give it a three. I think I am going to compromise and give it a four.
1 comment:
Hi Jeanette - I read this book when I was in high school (a looong time ago!!) and like it a lot at that time. I had just seen a movie based on the book (with Jane Seymour) and so that might have had something to do with it.
I should re-read it now that I'm older and see what I think of it.
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