Why East of Eden? This was an exceptional book that I never would have picked it up if not for the enthusiastic recommendations from an attorney in my office and my step mother. They are both readers I really respect, and both said that this was worth the read.
After drudging through Grapes of Wrath in high school, I just never felt the need to read Steinbeck ever again. Now I find myself wondering if I would like Grapes of Wrath... Maybe I was just too young to appreciate his brilliant writing?
The basics about the book: The book wrestles with strong, biblical themes. Good and evil. Sin. virtue. Cain and Abel and paternalistic love and rejection. While these aren't ideas I mull around with regularly, I was captured by this book wholeheartedly.
The themes in book recur to be reevaluated over different situations. It felt like a philosopher's way of thinking out loud on the written page; applying the same idea to different scenarios and seeing what happens. Almost scientific, but so raw and artfully done so that we could all experience it together. It may have just been good timing for this book in my life, but some moments were so visceral it was almost painful to ask for more from the book.
I am truly in awe of his matter of fact descriptions of human nature. Piercing descriptions of the human condition - the inner most thoughts and motivations of all types of different people and how they interact with the world. It is a genius book on social interaction - how our inner most fears and dreams impact not only ourselves but everyone around us.
Recommended for: Anyone ready to explore themselves; their family dynamics; or anyone wanting a little philosophical contemplation.
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