East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

Hardcover, 601 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2002 by Penguin Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-14-200065-6
OCLC Number:: 48177186

(6 reviews)

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. 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.

Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in …

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.

--jacket flap

45 editions

crabbygirl reviewed East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Review of 'East of Eden' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

my first steinbeck; he's quite readable. i wonder if he's the origin of the sweeping, epic novel that spans generations?

using the cain and abel story, and applying it to 2 different sets of brothers, steinbeck seems to reach a different conclusion each time. in between the 2 sets of conflicts, the characters actually talk about the significance of the cain and abel story and decide the story is not about cain's evil past and subsequent 'mark', but that cain may actually be favoured through his ability to choose his recourse - and this is how the cain (caleb) of the second set of brothers acts: starting as mean, he recognizes his own weakness where his brother and father are concerned and tries to become a better man. yes, he stumbles and ultimately causes his brother's death, but his intentions are mostly for the good and he feels genuine remorse for his actions.

i think the author means to tell us we are all decended from cain's blood but that we each can make a choice in life, and not be victim of whatever bloodline we have.

although this novel has many christian allegories in it, i think steinbeck is more of a secular humanist. especially with his character of lee: intelligent, well-read, non christian, foreign and posibly gay.