n  “All great and precious things are lonely.”n

Such an amazing book. An instant all time favourite.

I'm sure you've heard of this book. Often touted as one of the "greatest novels of all time" or "books you must read before you die". For some reason, I've been putting it off. Maybe because I was made to study Of Mice and Men to death in school, or maybe because I thought The Grapes of Wrath was a little overrated. But I've been missing out.

A closer look should have told me that. Because I love family sagas. Epic, multi-generational tales filled with rich characterization and plenty of drama. The House of the Spirits is a great example. These books really pull me into the characters' lives. I get a sense that I've grown up with them, gone through each hardship with them, and come out the other side. They always leave me feeling emotional.

East of Eden is a great book from every angle.

The characters come bounding off the pages, offering a sort of Cain and Abel retelling set before, during, and after the great westward migration of early modern America (it's no coincidence that the Trask brothers are called Charles and Adam).

Steinbeck could not have more vividly painted the Salinas Valley in our minds if he had literally dragged us there in person. It's a beautiful, dusty, challenging place to be and into it comes the story of the Trasks and the Hamiltons. I cannot stress enough how well-drawn these characters are as we move with them through poverty, war, wealth, murder, love and lies.

n  “But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”n

It's rare that a book is both a thoughtful historical tale with strong themes, and a fast-paced, highly-readable romp through the lives of people who are smart, naive, calculating, lovable, mean, selfish and confused. It's surprising how often the terms "easily readable" and "masterpiece" are mutually exclusive - but that is not the case here. I couldn't put it down.

I just... don't even know how to fully summarize my thoughts and feelings. East of Eden is clever, it's "deep", but it's also so damn enjoyable. I loved all the relationships and conflicts between the characters. And I especially loved Cathy - the kind of twisted female character I'd expect Gillian Flynn to create.

If you're looking for an intelligent classic - read it. If you're looking for an exciting pageturner - read it.

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در کتاب شرق بهشت ، جان اشتاین بک کبیر جهانی کامل ، سرشار از جزئیات ، طبیعتی محسور کننده ، آدمهایی از جنس های متفاوت و در کل آمریکای اوایل قرن بیستم را به زیباترین شکل ممکن به تصویر کشیده است .
از زیبایی قلم و سحر و جادوی نویسنده چیزی نمی توان گفت ، گویی که کتاب را به پرده بزرگ سینما تبدیل کرده است ، کلمات جاندار و قوی ، محیط زنده و سرشار از رنگ ، شخصیت های داستان جملگی عمیق و ریشه دار. استاد کتاب را به زیبایی تمام نقاشی کرده بر بوم طبیعت ، با قلم مویی از جنس مردمان کتاب واستاد البته با استعاره های فلسفی بوم را رنگ و طرحی هم زده.
اشتاین بک تصویر بسیار زیبایی از آمریکای قبل از جنگ اول نشان داده ، بزرگ و وسیع ،صبور و آرام ، خاکی با برکت ، پر آب غرق در صلح و صفا . مردمی با خصوصیات متفاوت ولی عموما ساده و آزاد اندیش ، راستگو و قابل اعتماد ، کاری و سختکوش .
گویی قدر سرزمین موقعیت ها را می دانند و هر کس به دنبال ساختن آینده خویش است ، هرکس خود را می سازد و از ساخته شدن افراد است که جامعه قوی حاصل می شود .نسلی که پوست انداختن آمریکای در حال رشد را می بیند ، نسلی که پیشرفت را در راندن ماشین های هندلی به جای کالسکه می بیند ، برایش مهم هم نیست که روشن کردن ماشین هندلی بسیار سخت یا زمان بر باشد ،نسلی که به تدریج با مفهوم سرمایه داری و قدرت دلار آشنا می شود ، نسلی که محصول لوبیا را جمع آوری و احتکار کرده و سپس به چند برابر قیمت به انگلیسیهای در جنگ می فروشد . نسلی که خوبی و بدی را با هم پرورش می دهد .
در جهان اشتاین بک حتی نژاد پرستی هم جایی ندارد ، دو شخصیت بسیار دانای کتاب همیلتون آمریکایی و لی چینی هستند . این دو هستند که درون و ذات انسان ها را ، روح سفید یا سیاه آنها را خلاصه ریشه های خیر وشر را درون آنها می بینند و حس می کنند .
اشتاین بک با بیانی ساده و بسیار روان خواننده را با خود به کالیفرنیا و شهر سالیناس می برد ، او را بر فراز قله ها و کوه ها ، رودها و جوی ها ، جنگل ها و بیشه ها می گرداند و سپس برای او از خانواده های تراسک و هامیلتون می گوید ، و از همین جا فرآیند طلسم شدن خواننده شروع می شود ، گویی که او هم در آن خانه ها حضور دارد ،گویی که خواننده هم سنگینی نگاه اخم آلود پدر بر چهره پسر را حس می کند ، آهنگ پای مصنوعی بر کف چوبی خانه ، وزش باد میان درختان ، با استادی تمام توصیف شده اند .
اشتاین بک برایمان از برادر کُشی می گوید ، نسخه مدرن هابیل و قابیل ، او برایمان از بهشت می گوید وانسان رانده شده ، از گناه ، از عذاب وجدان ،از تفاوت آدمیان ؛ از جبر و انتخاب ، از سرنوشت و از ریشه بدی ها : شر
اشتاین بک حتی از تربیت فرزندان هم می گوید ، این که چگونه تبعیض بین فرزندان می تواند آینده آنها را دگرگون کند ، این که چگونه یک نفر تاجر می شود و دیگری بی کاره ، یکی که می گذارد و می رود و کسی که می ماند ، کسی که تغییر ایجاد می کند و کسی که خواهان ثبات است ، گرایشهای مختلف افراد است که بنای جامعه آینده می شود .
شرق بهشت کتابی ایست که خواننده را رها نمی کند ، چه در طول داستان و چه پس از اتمام آن ذهن خواننده کاملا مشغول دنیای آفریده شده نویسنده است ، کتابی ایست که کهنه نمی شود و قطعا می توان آن را بارها خواند ومستش شد .

This book was even better the second time around.

This has to be one of my favourites of what I have read of Steinbeck's work so far. And don't let the Biblical references in the story turn you away. They help emphasize the story and make it more meaningful.

n  Bulgarian review below/Ревюто на български е по-долуn
Human life is a repetition. It repeats the lives of old and it repeats itself. Human life is also a spiral. Sometimes it seems we are walking in circles, but actually we’re getting ever so slightly closer to the center. We make mistakes that people smarter than us and people more stupid than us also made, but we continue moving towards our own centers. Everything that could ever be done has already been done, we only change it a bit and adapt it. And we keep going through time.

Steinbeck’s novel is swarming with biblical references. I haven’t even grasped all of them, I’m quite sure of that. I won’t write about Cain and Abel, the references to the characters’ names, the circular motion of events, and the inevitable predictability of some of them. I’d like to take a closer look at some of the characters who touched me to the raw. At the guilty without guilt. For example, it would be logical, considering all the other parable elements, that Cathy’s character should be related to Eve, with the original cunning and sinful nature attributed to women. Cathy, however, is a victim of herself. She’s a victim of what she doesn’t know and can’t recognize in others. Steinbeck doesn’t condemn her, he just states her psychological crookedness, pities her, even forgives her. Cathy is one of those people who lack something, and she lives with her disability without being able to fathom it out. How can you explain to a blind person what does the color blue look like? She is not what she is because she wants it, but simply because she can’t be anything else.

‘Perhaps we can’t understand Cathy, but on the other hand we are capable of many things in all directions, of great virtues and great sins. And who in his mind has not probed the black water? Maybe we all have in us a secret pond where evil and ugly things germinate and grow strong… Might it not be that in the dark pools of some men the evil grows strong enough to wriggle over the fence and swim free? Would not such a man be our monster, and are we not related to him in our hidden water?’

If Cathy is the shadow, Samuel Hamilton is the brightest sun. Samuel is a dreamer, an inventor, a philosopher, restless, eternally seeking. He passes through life like a blaze, like a demigod, and even his children can’t believe he’s getting older. Though invariably poor, Sam Hamilton has other treasuries that are brimming over – his family and his imagination. He’s the incarnation of the gentle rapture of existence, a person who have realized perhaps one of the most important truths – that we should enjoy every little thing, for what else are we living for? The characters of Sam and Cathy prove the simple principle that if you are deprived of something, then fate, nature or whatever it is that takes care of these things, gives you something else in abundance in order to survive. Whether you are ‘good’ or ‘bad’, whether you will harm or help someone. A principle that even Darwin noticed, observing the creatures around him.

‘East of Eden’ is an allegorical novel. It tells a story old as the hills. Steinbeck builds a thesis gradually and patiently and manages to shatter it to pieces at the end. Yes, there were whispers here and there about this twist. The last character I wanted to scribble something about is Caleb. Like Cathy, he carried something in himself that he couldn’t appease. Cal played his biblical role brilliantly. He did everything that was expected of him. He sought love and goodwill, made a gift, killed his brother, and he was marked by his guilt. The only thing left for him was to close the circle. That is how it has always been and how it should be.

Human life is a repetition. It repeats the lives of old and it repeats itself. What choice do we have then? Only one – the choice of getting out of this pitfall.

‘And I feel that a man is a very important thing – maybe more important than a star… I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed…’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Човешкият живот е повторяемост. Повтаря животите преди него, повтаря и самия себе си. Човешкият живот също така е и спирала. Понякога ни се струва, че обикаляме в кръг, но всъщност малко по малко приближаваме към центъра. Допускаме грешки, които са допускали и по-умни, и по-глупави от нас, но продължаваме към своя си център. Всичко, което някога е можело да бъде направено, вече е направено, ние само го попроменяме и нагаждаме. И продължаваме напред през времето.

Библейски отпратки в романа на Стайнбек колкото щеш. Някои от тях дори не съм уловила, убедена съм. Няма да пиша за Каин и Авел, за препратките в имената на персонажите, за кръговрата на събитията, за неизбежната предвидимост на някои от тях. Ще ми се да се спра върху няколко персонажа, които ме жегнаха по-дълбоко. Върху виновните без вина. Така например съвсем логично би било, като се имат предвид всички останали притчови елементи, образът на Кати да се обвърже с Ева, с някак изконната лукавост и греховност, която се приписва на жената. Кати обаче е жертва на себе си. Жертва е на онова в себе си, което не познава и не може да разпознае у другите. Стайнбек не я осъжда, единствено констатира психическата ѝ уродливост, съжалява я, прощава ѝ дори. Кати е от хората, на които нещо липсва, и живее с недъга си, без да може да го проумее. Защото как да обясниш на един по рождение незрящ човек какво е синьо? Тя не е такава, каквато е, защото иска, а просто защото не може иначе.

„Ние може би не разбираме Кати, но, от друга страна, сме способни на много неща в различни посоки, на големи добродетели и на големи пороци. Та кой от нас в мислите си не е решавал да се окъпе в черната вода от приказката? Навярно у всекиго от нас има по едно скрито блато, в което се въдят и растат, и укрепват всякакви грозни и долни неща… Не е ли обаче възможно в мрачните блата на някои хора злото така да се развие, че да се прекачи през оградата и да плъпне на свобода? Няма ли такъв човек да стане за нас чудовище? И не сме ли по някакъв начин сродени с него чрез тези наши скрити води?“

Ако Кати е сянката, то огрян от най-яркото слънце е Самуел Хамилтън. Самуел е мечтател, изобретател, философ, неспокоен, вечно търсещ. Той преминава през живота като някакво ярко зарево, като полубожество, за което дори децата му не могат да повярват, че остарява. Макар и неизменно беден, Сам Хамилтън си има други препълнени съкровищници – семейството си и своето въображение. Той е въплъщение на кроткия възторг от битието, човек, който може би е осъзнал една от най-важните истини – трябва да се радваме на всяка дреболия, иначе за какво ни има? Образите на Сам и Кати са доказателство на простичкия принцип, че ако си лишен от нещо, съдбата, природата или там каквото се грижи за тези работи, ти дава друго в изобилие, за да оцелееш. Без оглед дали си „добър“ или „лош“, дали ще навредиш или помогнеш ти самият на някого. Принцип, който впрочем дори Дарвин съзира, наблюдавайки тварите около себе си.

„На изток от Рая“ е иносказателен роман. Разбира се, че проследява история, стара като света. Бавно и търпеливо Стайнбек гради една теза и успява да я разбие на късчета в края. Да, промъкваха се тук-там нашепвания за този обрат. Последният персонаж, за който исках да драсна нещичко, е Кейлъб. И той като Кати носеше нещо у себе си, което не можеше да усмири. Кейл изигра блестящо своята библейска роля. Направи всичко, което се очакваше от него. Търсеше обич и благоволение, направи дар, уби брата си, белязан беше от своята вина. Остана му единствено да затвори кръга. Така е бивало и така трябва да бъде.

Човешкият живот е повторяемост. Повтаря животите преди него, повтаря и самия себе си. Какво ни остава тогава? Само едно – изборът дали да се измъкнем от тази примка.

„И схващам, че човекът е нещо изключително важно, дори може би по-важно и от небесните светила… заобичах това блестящо сечиво, човешката душа. Във Вселената тя е нещо прекрасно и неповторимо. Вечно нападана, но никога не унищожавана...“

I hate this book. Hate. Ponderous, pretentious, melodramatic, self-satisfied, patronizing to its readers, with ultimately nothing to say. Can be summarized thus: a bunch of people with no formal education whatsoever sit around discussing the time they read the Old Testament in Hebrew. They then tell us all how to live. Uh...right. I knew we were in trouble with the unbelievably lame introduction -- some forced, self-congratulatory metaphor about a box, if memory serves -- but it's hard to believe it actually got worse from there. In any event, with its smug aura of "Here you will find WISDOM," it's certainly no wonder that it's right up Oprah's alley.

The fact that people worship this misbegotten mess of a book as they might worship pieces of the True Cross is just plain depressing. Apparently the way to literary immortality is to give 'em a decent narrative, throw in some breathless nonsense about free will and the Bible, and don't forget to puff out your chest and tell everyone that you've written a masterpiece. Gack. For this they gave him the Nobel Prize?

********

After deleting I don't know how many comments calling me names and getting several pieces of hate email, I'm adding this addendum, because it will save both me and a bunch of other people from wasting time: I'll delete any comments that I consider abusive or that I think constitute ad hominem arguments, so do keep that in mind if you're considering posting a long screed.

What can I say about this wonderful book that hasn't already been said in reviews. You have probably already heard it compared to "The" Garden of Eden and Adam, and his two sons, Cain and Abel.
You wouldn't think that John Steinbeck would change that up much, right ?
East of Eden is a little bit different and so good.
Except that East of Eden shakes things up a little bit, and by a little bit, we mean that it changes around everything.
Adam and Charles Trask are two competitive brothers with daddy issues. Cathy is a cold-hearted monster who uses her sexuality to control (read: destroy) people. She is just the kind of person we love to hate .
Whoa. Don't remember that happening in Paradise, now do you ? That's just the beginning.
Throw in an inventive Irish-American farmer and a sage Chinese-American servant as side-characters watching and commenting as this whole train wreck unfolds, and you've got yourself a story.
I loved all the characters in the book, and I liked how John Steinbeck told the story as being part of the family because he is.
I think everyone should read this book at least once. I thoroughly enjoyed it

Wow. That’s all I can think to say. Thank you

I have no words to describe what this novel did to my reading self!

It was my first Steinbeck, and it made me fall in love with his writing, his ideas, his cry for individual freedom and social justice. It made me ache for goodness in a world of evil, and it made me respect the power of storytelling to explain the inexplicable difficulties of family life.

It was the first time I felt scared of a fictional character!

I don't think I have ever been so deeply shaken as by Cathy/Kate, and she remains the villain with whom I compare all other literary villains. And yet, she fascinated me, she was like a snake hypnotising a mouse, and she merged the mythical ideas of Eve and the serpent into one powerful person - destructive and beautiful, exciting and dangerous.

Yet despite the biblical references which dominate the narrative, the monumental family saga has more resemblance with a Greek tragedy than with a Christian tale: facing the shame of failure, most characters choose to exit the stage rather than gaining redemption through suffering. Their lifeline is the freedom of CHOICE, not dogmatic obedience:

"And this I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about."

Of all the books I don't have time to reread, this is the one that is tempting me most - like a snake-Eve pointing towards a shiny apple - this is where you will find the knowledge of good and evil, and it is your choice if you read it or not!

It will make you shiver - with fear and admiration for the human imagination!