I am on a golden roll of amazingly fantastic books!! East of Eden by John Steinbeck was our book club pick for this month. I almost didn't read it. You see, it's an old friend...and I ALMOST didn't re-read it... and that would have been tragic.


East of Eden is an epic story about good and evil. It tells the story of two families: the Trasks and the Hamiltons. It spans 3 generations and retells the Biblical story of Cain and Abel set in the Salinas Valley of Northern California.


Perspective...life experience...testimony. Do they change who we are? Do they change our world view? Most definitely. The first time I read East of Eden I had just turned 17 years old. It was summer vacation and I was looking for a good book to read. This book had such a powerful impact on me that I clearly remember where I was when I read it (laying on the couch in our living room) and the feelings it provoked. At this time I had only the smallest fleeting shadow of religion and virtually no knowledge of the Bible, and not much interest in philosophy. This was about 4 months before Stacey and I met the Nolan sisters and I returned to church. The discussion between Samuel, Lee, and Adam about the story of Cain and Abel was so profound to me that I began scribbling in the margins, underlining/highlighting things, and actually "pondered" on the nature of man. I grabbed my scriptures untouched since my baptism and turned to Genesis and began to read. God works in mysterious ways...and the spirit recognizes truth. Free will...of course...that made sense to me. "Thou mayest..." I had no understanding of Mormon Doctrine and Free Agency. But something rang absolutely "true" to me...that we have a choice and it is that choice that defines who we are. Powerful stuff for a religionless, scriptureless, self-involved 17 year old.


Fast forward 18 years and what a difference those 18 years have made. What a gift it was to read this book again farther down the road of life. At 17 years old I identified with the rejected child and at 35 years old I felt more the emotions of a parent who doesn't ever want her children not to feel loved and accepted. When I came to the chapter on the discussion of Cain and Abel I wasn't blown away by the "truth" of "thou mayest..." I felt more like..."Yep! That's how it works". But I was struck again by how powerfully important free will is. Isn't that why we fight for freedom and for the freedom of those around us? Without freedom there is no free agency and without free agency there is no plan of salvation. It IS the oldest story...it is what we fought for in the premortal world...and it what we continue fighting for today. Freedom...choice...free agency...the ability to do "otherwise".

At 35 years old I am much more knowledgeable of the scriptures and what is the major theme of the Old Testament in particular? Choice and consequences. Simple huh? Not only that but as is pointed out in the Introduction of East of Eden written by David Wyatt that the Bible "Has only one set of first parents but many Cains and Abels: Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal Son and his brother, Satan and Christ--in each one of these twosomes one is somehow lucky, or better, or preferred." (pg. xxii)

Steinbeck says: "The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt--and there is the story of mankind."


Some are put off by Steinbeck and his details and descriptions. I have criticized him myself while reading Grapes of Wrath. I felt like...come on...enough of the scenery let's get back to the story but in East of Eden I loved his details and descriptions. Steinbeck was also criticized by reviewers by leaving the story every so often for his monologues. I must say that at 17 years old I too found it annoying but at 35 years old I loved it. You see I have since developed a deep love of philosophy, politics, and history. I am continually reminded that history repeats itself. Each generation is always surprised that we feel and can relate to the same things as generations past. Many of Steinbeck's monologues that were relevant to the story which takes place in the late 1800's and early 1900's were also applicable to the time Steinbeck wrote the novel, the 1950's, and are still relevant today in 2008.


I particularly loved this quote:

"I don't know how it will be in the years to come. There are monstrous changes taking place in the world, forces shaping a future whose face we do not know. Some of these forces seem evil to us, perhaps not in themselves but in their tendency to eliminate other things we hold good...when our food and clothing and housing all are born in the complication of mass production, mass method is bound to get into our thinking and to eliminate all other thinking...has entered our economics, our politics, and even our religion, so that some nations have substituted the idea collective for the idea of God. This in my time is the danger. There is great tension in the world, tension toward a breaking point, and men are unhappy and confused. At such times it seems natural and good to me to ask myself these questions. What do I believe in? What must I fight for and what must I fight against." (pg. 131-132)


Steinbeck wrote that he worried about his monologues and commentaries that "...had he not too often stopped the book and gone into discussions of God knows what. His only answer was 'Yes, I have. I don't know why. Just wanted too. Perhaps I was wrong.' " I don't think he was.


If it isn't blatantly obvious I LOVE this book!! One of my all-time favorites. Steinbeck is a genius and this book is his crowning glory. I love books that you come away from still have you thinking...for days...weeks. Was Adam Trask like what the original Adam would have been like if he had never fallen and only Eve did? WHY was Cathy the way she was? Are monsters born or created? What happens to Cal and Abra? What happens to Cal's children? Does the cycle continue? Is the cycle broken? Why is there only one lovable woman in the story?


READ THIS BOOK!! If you've already read it...read it again.

I rate it: EXCELLENT!!

There is only one story which, from time immemorial, has been relentlessly reappearing in different forms, faces, and times and that is the never-ending battle between the Good and the Bad, the Gods and the Monsters, the Christ and the Satan, the Angels and the Demons, the crop-farmer and the shepherd, Folly and Wisdom, n  We and our alter-egon. Not always the Good wins. Not always the Bad loses. A victory gets replaced by a sliding defeat of same height and a defeat by a rising victory of same height. And, that is how it is.

This is undoubtedly one of the greatest works of all-time. This reenactment of The Fall of Adam and Eve and The murderous rivalry of Cain and Abel is not only inexorably beautiful but also profoundly meaningful.

"The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection and with the crime guilt—and there is the story of mankind."

Competitions are not always healthy or even humane especially when they are between siblings and most importantly where there is a room for disposition.

"Even God can have a preference, can he? Let's suppose God liked lamb better than vegetables. I think I do myself. Cain brought him a bunch of carrots maybe. And God said, 'I don't like this. Try again. Bring me something I like and I'll set you up alongside your brother.' But Cain got mad. His feelings were hurt. And when a man's feelings are hurt he wants to strike at something, and Abel was in the way of his anger."

This book is a tremendously balanced mixture of Irish humor in form of Hamilton couple, Chinese philosophy in form of all-known Lee, and unfathomable morality (Ok! Subjective opinion) in form of Trask's family.

Quoting one of my favorites from LEE (Who is my most favorite and memorable character!)

“We’re a violent people, Cal. Does it seem strange to you that I include myself? Maybe it’s true that we are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous. If our ancestors had not been that, they would have stayed in their home plots in the other world and starved over the squeezed-out soil.

That’s why I include myself. We all have that heritage, no matter what old land our fathers left. All colors and blends of Americans have somewhat the same tendencies. It’s a breed–selected out by accident. And so we’re over-brave and over-fearful – we’re kind and cruel as children. We’re over-friendly and at the same time frightened by strangers. We boast and are impressed. We’re over-sentimental and realistic. We are mundane and materialistic–and do you know of any other nation that acts for ideals? We eat too much. We have no taste, no sense of proportion. We throw our energy about like waste. In the old lands, they say of us that we go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening culture. Can it be that our critics have not the key or the language of our culture? That’s what we are, Cal–all of us. You aren't very different.”


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


P.S. Thank you for reading my favorite quotes from this epic book :)

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.

"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.

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.

Those who are hurt most have the tremendous ability to heal, but what if a bruised heart defies to heal and turns indifferent by the time, what if a hand castoff once never advances again, what if a child lulled fallaciously to sleep never believes in fairies again, what if Cain abandoned God who rejected his sacrifice and preferred Abel over him. God was rejected in exchange and rightly so!

East of Eden might be taken leisurely as the re-telling of biblical tale of original sin, or a family biography , the tone of author in throughout this elephantine volume (took me eternity to wind up) is of a lover who longs for his lost love, Steinbeck’s California is more like a character than the mere setting, it breaths and reeks and bleeds like other characters of the tale, they are prone to trust and betrayed, to love and befooled, fallible figures with all the flaws a perfect human can come with, the wars they wage within themselves on the daily basis does little to crack the outer shell, some are exhausted by the instinctive meanness in them, to be good is an effort sedulous:
Released in September of 1952, the reading public certainly confirmed the merits of Steinbeck’s masterpiece. East of Eden is arguably his most problematic work, an attempt to weave together the history of Steinbeck's family and an invented story that is a modern parallel to that of Cain and Abel, the structural flaws of the story, the intrusive narrative, forced text, lack of unity between the tales of two families the Hamiltons and Trasks, and sheer evil in the form of only female character is what makes us doubt its high merits, but yet it echoes through ages and to this day is not out of print.
We might acclaim this magnum opus of Steinbeck, for its breadth and scope, we eventually come to condemn the seemingly incoherent structure of the tale, the people who populate the story are writhed and broken, rejected and dismayed, abandoned and repudiated, and every one of them is chained in his own hell, pondering over the only one colossal confusion that ever struck human mind, what the potent victor in His rage can else inflict, do I repent, or change, and they are given answer in “thou mayest”
Amid the cacophony of its uneven tone and structure, the tale has never ceased to fascinate our relentless hearts, who identify these characters, know them, and have been them at some point of time, Steinbeck’s characterization of the main antagonist in the text, Cathy Ames Trask. Simultaneously a prostitute and a mother, a masochist and a coward, a manipulator and a loner, Cathy is the catalyst for the plot of the novel. Her actions wreak havoc on the lives of everyone, she is a monster in true sense of the word, and she delights in causing destruction. Cathy’s behavior is indeed diabolical, and she is introduced to us as a congenital monster who has always been evil.

But then, there is this hope a thing with feathers, even inborn monsterity can be placated with words of love, Love the godforsaken epidemic that makes us uniquely vulnerable, the power we give someone to completely mess up with our heart and hurt it in the places, where no other can reach: this fragility and defenselessness makes it a fortress unconquerable, love never aims to achieve anything, nor even love in return, paradise might not exist, might there not be God, as long as we breathe love, the world is a place worth living even for monsters, because all is not lost!

از رمان شرق بهشت چی بنویسم؟از کجا شروع کنم؟!
رمان شرق بهشت منو زیر و رو کرد و چقدر تحت تاثیراین رمان قرار گرفتم. قلم اشتاین بک زیبا، گیرا واز همون صفحات اولش روح منو تسخیرکرد که باعث شد سخته بتونم ازش دل بکنم

باید بگم چقدر پشیمونم این رمان سالها پیش که میرفتم کتابفروشی همیشه جلوی چشام بود ومن تاالان ازش غافل بودم و اصلا هم بخودم زحمت ندادم خلاصشو بخونم. پس اگه نخوندین اشتباه منو نکنین وبدون تعلل سراغش برین مطمئنم ناامیدتون نمیکنه:))

اشتاین بک قطعا یک شاهکار خلق کرده،عاشق شیوه ی روایت رمان شدم،مثل این میمونه نویسنده دست شما را میگیره و به دوردست ها میبره و شمارا با دو نسل از خانواده ی هامیلتون و خانوادهٔ تراسک آشنا می کنه. کم کم کارکترها را گسترش می یابد هر کارکتری که در طول رمان معرفی می شود ثاثیری بر جا می گذارد. اشتاین بک در شرق بهشت مبارزه ی بین خیر و شر را قشنگ توسط کارکترها توصیف می کند.بنظرم واقعا باید خوند این کتاب را و درک کرد.
کل این کتاب در مورد خوبی و بدیهاست. جالبه اینکه بدونیم آدم های بد چقدر میتونن در زندگیمون تاثیر بذارن؟
در تمام مدتی که وقتی می‌رسیدم به بخش های کتی با علاقه میخوندم شخصیت نفرت انگیزی داشت و چقدر واقعی با همه ی بدیهایی که کرد آخرش چی شد واقعا؟
اینم سرنوشت آدمای بد

در آینده ی نه چندان دور حتما سراغ بقیهٔ کتابهاش میرم:)))

Parts of this book are god-like. At different stages in the beginning, middle, and end, I burnt through pages like this was some sort of mystery-thriller, but obviously with all the depth of Steinbeck...

Then there's the characters, which here are some of the best. Cal's struggle--to be good when he's so compelled to be bad--is one of the more interesting ones I've come across. Kate is a perfectly written evil bitch and every time she pops onto the page, you can't wait to see what she'll do next.

My only problem is that, overall, Part I--which is about 25% of the book--is REALLY slow. With the exception of a few scenes, it reads like straight exposition. It was so not good, that I thought about abandoning it. But, given the reviews, I struggled on, and of course it was worth it. Like every Steinbeck book, I started out thinking: Man, this book sucks. WTF? And then, by the middle, I thought: OMG, what's gonna happen? This is the bomb. And then by the end, I thought it was the best.

-Voliš li ga?
-Voliš li je?

Pitanja postavljana iznova i iznova u ovom nedodirivom romanu. I nikad objašnjenja, bez obzira na odgovor. Da ili ne. Svejedno je. To je nešto van ljudskog razuma, nešto izopšteno našom potrebom za objašnjenjem i shvatanjem.

Stajnbek u ovom obimnom romanu, po prirodi biblijskom i po veličini i po sadržini (brojne, ali nimalo napadne aluzije na mitove), piše priču dve porodice. Dve male, stvarne porodice (Stajnbek je potomak Hamiltonovih) koje služe kao mikroplatno za prikaz celokupne čovekove istorije. Sve se svodi na tu jednu jedinu priču koja nas proganja. Hamiltonovi (ne Hemiltonovi, zaboga, ua prevod) i Treskovi su srce ovog romana i svaki od članova ove dve porodice zaslužuje apsolutnu pažnju i posvećenost koju im Stajnbek pruža (uz neke male izuzetke, pošto je ipak reč o desetinama likova). Bez ikakve sumnje, ovde sam upoznao neke od najstvarnijih, najmudrijih i najdivnije napisanih likova: Adam, Kol, Aron Tresk, Semjuel (!) i Liza Hamilton, kinez Li (!), pa čak i Keti Ejms. Niko od njih nije prazan lik, niko nije stereotip ili prazna ljuska, svi imaju dušu koja se jasno vidi i snažno utiče na čitaoca.

Roman je filozofske prirode i veći deo radnje se odvija kroz dijaloge. Brojne rasprave na brojne teme, od kojih većina zadire u samu prirodu ljudskosti. Surovo je čitati o toliko likova koje proganja teret dobrote ili teret zla ili teret dobrote i zla, ali Stajnbek misli da je to neophodno.

Na sedamsto stranica ovog romana saznao sam više o sebi nego posle bilo koje druge knjige. U rečima, pronašao sam pitanja i potrudio sam se da odgovorim na njih najbolje što umem. Zvuči pretenciozno, ali iskreno mislim da je to odlika velikih knjiga. Pred tobom, za tebe, i nisu toliko velike, daleke.

U trenutku najveće sreće, Stajnbek ruši idealnu scenu i donosi tugu. Svako može da oseti da se to sprema, ali niko zaista ne očekuje tako nešto. Zašto je promena jedina sveprisutna? Jer - ti možeš. Jedan jedini izbor je doveo do toga. Ali čak i tad, nešto nalik prećutnoj nadi i dalje opstaje, kao što apsolutno crno telo ne postoji zaista u vidljivom svetu. Uvek se nekakva svetlost provuče. "Uzvišenost bola". Jer - ti možeš. To je po mom mišljenju najlepša poruka koju pisac može da prenese. Možda i jedina prava, kao što je ovaj roman u Stajnbekovim očima jedini pravi koji je napisao.

Svet je tu. Na dohvat ruke. I sve je moguće: i tuga i radost i još mnogo drugih suprotnih, ali nimalo uzajamno isključivih stvari. Voliš li je? Voliš li ga?
Da. Ne. Nije ni bitno, Stajnbek kaže.
Timšel. I to je jedina istina.

5+ (6)

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.

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.

Niezaprzeczalnie pięciogwiazdkowa powieść.