2016: This is my new favorite book ever - number one. Steinbeck's modest writing style is deceptively simple, but in its succinctness he captures people and life with an acute poignancy. I'm amazed at the people he managed to create within these pages, all with their flaws and graces, all believable and sympathetic. I will enjoy reading this again and again and know I will one day have to replace my copy after it falls apart from lovely overuse!

2017: First reread and this felt like visiting an old friend. A little bit of the magic wasn't there in the reread because I knew how the characters were going to develop. But I had forgotten many details and picked up on details I hadn’t noticed before. I enjoyed Abra and Lee more during this read. As always Samuel and Tom Hamilton were heartbreaking. Somehow Kate felt less masterful of herself and situations during this read. I can't believe it's only been a year and a half since I first read this. It feels so familiar and reliable. I look forward to reading more by Steinbeck instead of just rereading this masterpiece.

Colorful Biblical Tale of Flawed Humanity

East of Eden, Steinbeck's apex of his awe-inspiring talent, is based loosely on the tale of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel.

There is NO more evil, morally-corrupt female in the entire canon of Western Literature than Cathy Ames.


Cathy Ames

All Steinbeck’s characters seem so real. His novels achieve all this mastery despite being comfortably accessible reading. This novel keenly affected me and transported me to the lush open country of California in the early 20th century.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. It isn’t the first one I’ve read by Steinbeck (but it is the longest). John Steinbeck has the exceptional skill/talent/expertise of being able to describe landscapes, situations, events, individuals, all of humanity with equal perfection. You know his characters personally and you live in their surroundings. This brilliant saga — of several families (not just the Trask family), about a beautiful valley in California and about a country at the turn of the last century — concentrates all of Steinbeck’s genius in one book.

I finished this last night and afterwards, I lay back on my pillow extremely satisfied just thinking about it. It's so rare that I read something that delights me from beginning to end. While there were a few turns on the journey that confused me and seemed to take the book in a different direction, his connecting all the characters, the stories and do it with profound meaning is nothing short of brilliant. And to do it through his own person history, and one of the oldest stories of the Bible only adds to his brilliance.

I'm always surprised when I love a classic. Perhaps because there are a lot that I haven't liked, or merely tolerated, but this was a joy to read. The characters are so multi-dimensional and interesting that their stories and development become almost personal. Adam, Samuel, Lee, Abra, Cal, Aron, Kate/Cathy and even Liza were real for me. Their homes were real. Their towns were real. Best of all, the consequences to their actions were real.

How do you summaraize East of Eden? It's a story about good and evil. But most of all, it's a story about choice. For me, the central part of the book was the realization made by Lee, Adam and Samuel when they were dissecting the story of Cain and Able and their offerings. In one translation, the Lord rebukes Cain's offering by saying, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

It was while reading a different translation that Lee, a Chinese servant, noticed a difference. In it, rather than saying "thou shalt rule over him" it said "do thou rule over him" They noticed that it wasn't a promise, it was an order. Such a difference got Lee wondering what original word different translations came from.

After years of studying with Chinese philosophers and a rabbi, the consensus was that the original Hebrew word, Timshel, actually means "Thou mayest". Therefore, the bible does not order that man triumph over sin or promises that it will. It says that the way is open. For if thou mayest...that mayest not.

Brilliant! Because that's what I think! Agency is so important to Heavenly Father that he allowed 1/3 of His children to leave him permanently. Of course we have a choice over sin.

Steinbeck leaves the story briefly in Chapter 34 when he writes a short essay about the one story that exists. He says,

Humans are caught - in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too - in a net of good and evil....A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well -- or ill? In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted short cuts to love. When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influences and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world. We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.

This is what his book is about it. Man's struggle over good and evil. In a completely human story, Steinbeck captured THE story with his characters and storylines. This is a book I happily recommend to anyone and will buy for my all-time greatest books library.

DNF 45%
I just cannot get myself through this book. I’ve never been so miserable listening to an audiobook. I can’t bring myself to even care about any of the characters in this incredibly racist story, so I’m out.

Although I do like Steinbeck’s strong, simple style of writing, this book let me down. With this book Steinbeck is delivering a message to his readers. I do agree with the message imparted, but I dislike that it is pounded into us. It isn’t enough to draw the story of Cain and Abel in one generation of a family, but Steinbeck repeats the story in the next generation of the family too. The message becomes a rant. God blessed Cain with freewill. That is the message, and it is up to us to choose what we will do with our lives. Will we succumb to evil or will we fight? The choice is up to us. Some of the characters will take up the challenge and others will not.

For me the story is too simplified. Look at the names: Charles and Cathy and Cal and Cain, all with the beginning letter C! Then there is Adam and Aron and Abra and of course Abel.

The book is a mix of fact and fiction. Steinbeck records the life of his own family, the Hamiltons, one of the two families portrayed in the novel. The other family, the Trasks, is fictional. The book has a slow start since one family is based in Connecticut; that is the Trasks. Steinbeck’s own family begins in the Salinas Valley of California. Slowly you learn about both; it takes a while to get all gathered in California where the action gets going. It is also a retelling of the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis.

Feminists may criticize Steinbeck for making Cathy, a woman, into a devil. A little search into Steinbeck’s own life quickly shows that Cathy is modeled on his second wife, Gwyn Conger. Authors do write from their own experiences. I do not make this criticism; I believe authors’ best writing reflect their own life experiences. My complaint is the over simplification of the devil in Cathy; this turns it almost into a horror story. Maybe you enjoy horror stories!

Furthermore let it be said that those readers who are not drawn to character analysis and philosophizing should not choose this book. Here is a sample of Steinbeck’s way of writing, how he draws his characters and how he philosophizes:

Jo Valery got along by watching and listening and, as he said himself, not sticking his neck out. He had built his hatreds little by little, beginning with a mother who neglected him, a father who alternately whipped and slobbered over him, and it had been easy to transfer his developing hatred to a teacher who disciplined him and the policeman who chased him and the preacher who lectured him. Even before the first magistrate looked down on him, Jo had developed a fine staple of hates toward the whole world he knew. Hate didn’t live alone. It must have love as a trigger, a goad or a stimulant. Jo early developed a gently protective love for Jo. He comforted and flattered and cherished Jo. He set up walls to save Jo from a hostile world, and gradually Jo became proof against wrong. If Jo got into trouble it was because the world was an angry conspiracy against him, and if Jo attacked the world it was revenge and they darn well deserved it the sons of bitches. (Chapter 45)
Steinbeck spends many lines on what makes people behave as they do, how love and hate are tied together, one egging on the other! He gives us evil characters, good character and others that are more human, those like most of us who are a mixture of good and bad attributes.

Few authors are able to write masterpiece after masterpiece. I am giving this book two stars because there are interesting ideas and some tremendous lines, but the message is oversimplified and hammered into us. I still like Steinbeck. I gave The Grapes of Wrath five stars. I have chosen to immediately follow this book with Travels with Charley: In Search of America , now I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t appreciate Steinbeck’s writing, would I?! Actions say much more than words. Already I have begun listening to it and feel that this is going to please me much more. It too is a mixture of fact and fiction, but here the ideas presented are an elderly man’s thoughts and queries rather than a rant. And there is a dog! I like books with dogs. Charley is a French Poodle, kind of similar in appearance to Oscar sitting here with me on my avatar. Oscar is no Poodle, though most think he is either a poodle-mix or a sheep; he is a Curly Coated Retriever!

It is very important to pay attention to chapter 24. It sums up the whole book and is found less than half way through to the end. At the book’s conclusion someone dies with the Hebrew word “timshel” on his lips. You have to know what that word means. For those who need some help, here is a link: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/E..., that explains what this means and how it is important in the book. Reading this link is a bit of a spoiler, so I am giving you warning.

Finally, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Richard Poe. The narration was excellent. I have no complaints whatsoever. This audiobook was not available to me at Audible, since I live in Belgium, but it was available to me from Downpour

Απευθύνομαι σε όλους τους φίλους που μέσω Goodreads ανταλλάσουμε σκέψεις ,απόψεις,like και εκτιμώ τη γνώμη τους.
Αν είναι ένα βιβλίο που οφείλουμε να διαβάσουμε το Ανατολικά της Εδέμ δεσπόζει ως το πιο αντιπροσωπευτικό δείγμα.
Η πένα του Steinbeck αφοπλίζει από τις πρώτες σελίδες.
Μυθιστόρημα με ένταση,αγωνία και αλησμόνητους χαραχτήρες: Σάιρους,
Σάμιουελ,Λίζα,Κέιτ,Αντάμ,Λι,Άαρον,Κειλεμπ και δεκάδες άλλοι
Συνθέτουν μια ιστορία του καλού και του κακού σε αντιπαλότητα, της δύναμης και της αδυναμίας,της αγάπης και του μίσους,της ομορφιάς και της ασχήμιας αλλά και του φθονού,της προδοσίας και της θνητότητας.
Ο Μιχάλης Μακρόπουλος έμπειρος και αξιόλογος μεταφραστής έδωσε μια πιο σύγχρονη πνοή στο κείμενο.

n  “Timshel”n

It’s the Hebrew word meaning “thou mayest” and is the lynch pin concept that this glorious novel swirls around – basically, we as humans have the power to choose our paths in life, whether it’s to be good or evil or somewhere in between.

This isn’t the perfect book, but it’s sort of like a beautiful woman, who has a chip in her front tooth, the imperfection is there to heighten the beauty around it, not detract from it. Steinbeck has arguably never been better; the description (read: info dump) of the Salinas Valley that starts this book is readable and how often can anyone say that.

Mixing biblical metaphors with the happenings of two disparate families – one reasonably content and productive, the other never quite getting themselves together and as a consequence forever struggling with their inner demons and inherent inadequacies.

The book is not without humor, but it’s the drama and pathos that will leave you wrecked. The tear-jerker of an ending is one of the best I’ve ever read.

The film with James Dean, although good, doesn’t really do this sprawling book justice, plus Julie Harris was horribly miscast as Abra.

This is the best book about an evil psychopathic hooker by a Nobel Prize winner ever written! So kudos Mr. Steinbeck for writing the best book I’ve read in quite a while.

This was a buddy ready with my thunder buddy (reader) for life: Stepheny.



Literature comes alive and who wouldn’t give over a Nobel Prize for this.

"In uncertainty I am certain that underneath their topmost layers of frailty men want to be good and want to be loved. Indeed, most of their vices are attempted shortcuts to love...We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the neverending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."

- John Steinbeck East of Eden

John Steinbeck's East of Eden is, at its core, the story of humanity. The story of love lost and found. The story of failure and glorious victory. The story of selfishness and sacrifice. The story of control and freedom. The story of depression and soaring spirits. East of Eden, in a word, is the story of us. Five stars.

- 2022 Re-Read -

Original review still fits my thoughts on this incredible work on human struggle, love, greed, loss, sin, redemption and longing. I am again blown away and awed by this book.

“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”

A modern retelling of the story of Cain and Abel, East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons.

No review I could ever write would do this book justice. I was almost tempted to just have my review as this simple statement: “if you haven’t read this, just do it.” But.... incase you haven’t noticed, I often have a lot to say.

Where to begin? I’ll start with Steinbeck’s writing. This was some of the most gorgeous writing I’ve ever read - it’s readable yet breathtaking. Especially when he is describing the Salinas Valley, or when he is providing commentary on human nature. It simply blew me away.

And the characters!! This is an epic, multi-generational tale that focuses on two families and they are all so exquisitely developed and BELIEVABLE. My favourite was Samuel (of course I’m going to go for the Irishman!), but they were all so incredible. Even Cathy, who was so dark and twisted!

I’ve been thinking about this one ever since I finished, pondering the concept of good and evil, and free will. My brain just cannot deal with how fucking amazing this book was. 700+ pages and yet perfectly paced and wonderfully crafted. Please do not let the length put you off, it is worth every goddamn page.

East of Eden has firmly cemented its place in my top 5 books of ALL TIME.

To begin with, I would like to thank Richard Poe for recording such an incredible audiobook for this masterpiece – definitely, one of the best audiobooks I've come across lately.

n  Initial thoughtsn

I remember I read my first Steinbeck a couple of years ago, and since then I have been really impressed by his beautiful narrative and his memorable characters in every single novel I have picked up. Firstly, The Pearl made me realized that his style of writing will be for me, and then Of Mice and Men—a story that made me cry like a baby—was so important for me that I consider Steinbeck to be one of my favorite authors from that moment on; eventually, both characters and prose were definitely the reason why I wanted to read all his novels.
So, when I decided to pick up East of Eden, my first assumption was that it might turn into my favorite Steinbeck novel—spoiler alert: it is not my favorite one—and of course, one of my best readings of my life. You can imagine that I was rather surprised to see how things were somehow different from what I had in mind beforehand, yet it ended up being a fantastic experience.

n  The Story and The Charactersn

Once I started reading East of Eden what firstly surprised me was the pace of the story; I think you don't find every day a book whose pace of the story is really, really fast as in this case. It took me a few chapters to get used to the way the book is written, especially because I was trying to find the answers to some questions I got while reading those chapters, and also because there are many events happening at once, which is something I eventually enjoyed.
Speaking of the story, I think the less you know about the plot, the more you will enjoy it – since this novel doesn't have just one plot, or only one main character, but many of them, the way you can approach to it is by discovering by yourself what's happening from one chapter to another. I thought this book is like putting together a large puzzle; you get your pieces while you read, and therefore, you will be able to solve it.
East of Eden reminded me of two of my favorite novels so far: One Hundred Years of Solitude and Wuthering Heights, not just because of the family aspect such as in the García Márquez's novel, but also because of the gloomy, dark atmosphere which is constantly present in the Emily Brontë's book. Also, one of the main characters in East of Eden seems to be quite similar to one of those main characters in Wuthering Heights, in terms of their personality and behavior, and even their names are almost the same, which in the end looks like an interesting coincidence.

As for the characters, both The Hamiltons and The Trasks are memorable families, characters who are there to make this story be like a hurricane, but at the same time, who are so realistic and palpable. You can tell they are making decisions as though they were actual human beings. There are no villains, no heroes, just characters being people, which is something that Steinbeck was able to depict perfectly.
I think, and maybe many people would agree with me, that Lee is the most remarkable, memorable character in the novel, not only because what he is constantly saying—his dialogues are so spot on, perfect for understanding essential things in life—but also because he is one of the best developed characters in the book, being present in almost the whole story. Needless to say that Lee became my favorite character, and the main reason I would read East of Eden again.

n  The Writingn

The style of writing was definitely what I enjoyed the most, being at times complex and other times straightforward, but always quite precise and saying what it is needed to be said. Most cases, both the reader and the characters 'discover' the whole truth about something at the same time, being impressive the way in which the good or bad news might come out of the blue.
As I said before, the pace of the narrative is fast, many things are happening one after another, and even when something dreadful or depressing is happening, there is no time to stop thinking about it deeply, you just need to move on as the characters usually do. This is another aspect of the writing style that really amazed me, since it makes you feel as if you were living a situation you might actually live in real life, and for instance, characters' thoughts, feelings and emotions are very well depicted in order that they can react to that specific situation in a particular way. It feels authentic and it shows us their reactions and the consequences of theirs decisions.
Lastly, I must not forget to talk about the beautiful, astonishing descriptions, especially of those places where the story is mainly set (Salinas Valley to be more precise) as well as the symbolism which is, at some point, easy to understand, yet biblical (perhaps it was not that difficult since I had to read that passage in the Bible, the Story of Cain and Abel, in order to understand its relation to East of Eden, story that was completely unknown to me until then).

n  Final Thoughtsn

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of literature, a great masterpiece that everyone should read at least once in their life. A powerful story, many unforgettable characters and a genuinely beautiful prose. Now, I must confess this was close to being a 5-star novel for me, however, it should have been a little bit shorter—at times, I felt exhausted even reading just one hour per day, and there are chapters which are not completely important for the story, which might be kind of tiring after a while—and the ending, which was really good, and yet it didn't live up to my expectations. I felt the ending somewhat abrupt and not so strong as the rest of the book. Perhaps it was just me.
Needless to say I'd wholeheartedly recommend this book, one of the best Steinbeck books I've read so far.

Favorite quotes:

... nearly all men are afraid, and they don’t even know what causes their fear—shadows, perplexities, dangers without names or numbers, fear of a faceless death. But if you can bring yourself to face not shadows but real death, described and recognizable, by bullet or saber, arrow or lance, then you need never be afraid again, at least not the same way you were before.

The proofs that God does not exist are very strong, but in lots of people they are not as strong as the feeling that He does.

A man may have lived all of his life in the gray, and the land and trees of him dark and somber. The events, even the important ones, may have trooped by faceless and pale. And then—the glory—so that a cricket song sweetens his ears, the smell of the earth rises chanting to his nose, and dappling light under a tree blesses his eyes. Then a man pours outward, a torrent of him, and yet he is not diminished. And I guess a man’s importance in the world can be measured by the quality and number of his glories. It is a lonely thing but it relates us to the world. It is the mother of all creativeness, and it sets each man separate from all other men.

Feed a man, clothe him, put him in a good house, and he will die of despair.

When a man comes to die, no matter what his talents and influence and genius, if he dies unloved his life must be a failure to him and his dying a cold horror. It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.

Nobody has the right to remove any single experience from another. Life and death are promised. We have a right to pain.

I'm ashamed that it took me four months to write up this review, but I just couldn't find the right words to describe how I feel about this phenomenal book. Because it was absolute perfection!

I did watch the movie adaption first (ages ago) and loved it, and it has a very special place in my heart because it started off my obsession with James Dean (who I now call my favorite person of all time, so yeah, it's a pretty big deal to me). I've been wanting to read the book ever since, but I was a bit hesitant, because I heard that there are many differences between the two versions. I realized very quickly that this is correct and I became worried, because Cal (who is portrayed by James Dean in the film) was my favorite character in the film and he was nowhere near in sight.

But I realized just as quickly that my concerns were pointless, because Adam was just as fascinating and interesting! His story was just super exciting, without ever being over the top or straying away from reality. I have absolutely zero interest in the country lifestyle and business that is described in the book, but damn, I was still enthralled and never bored!

It was so great to get more insight into the characters I already knew and give them more depth (which now makes me view the movie in a completely different light!), as well as get to know some new characters. All of them were interesting, three dimensional, realistic and special in their own way.The writing was wonderful as well, and (to my surprise) easy to read.

This is one of those novels that will stay with me forever, for reasons I can't explain. I know that I will cherish it and hold it close to my heart, and probably reread it several times throughout the rest of my life.