East of Eden

Critics

• East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

  Home Contact us Posts Comments Anytime I come across a novel that is a ‘re-telling’ of some other work, I become a little nervous. So this author was either too unoriginal to come up with his own themes and feels the need to re-hash someone else’s, o ... (read full critics)

  bookgeeks published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

• EAST OF EDEN

  When he began EAST OF EDEN, John Steinbeck intended to write about his family, and how they settled in California. Along the way, the story grew and changed, until it became an allegory about good and evil and a symbolic re-creation of the biblical s ... (read full critics)

  teenreads published on Thu, 16 Sep 2010

7 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  It seems almost pointless to review such a classic. A must for all lovers of literature.

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  Elaine said on Feb 5, 2011 about the Library Binding edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  In his journal, 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 Hamilto ... (continue)

  In his journal, 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 Caina and Abel. Here is a 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.

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  meganzing said on Feb 21, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  Even the title is perfect.

  Written as an allegory to Biblical Cain and Abel, Steinbeck merely uses that as a springboard to create his own masterpiece. The beauty is that he does it without uprooting history from fiction.

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  fruitfulfig said on Feb 10, 2012 | Add your feedback

• 

  this book made me fall in love with literature!

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  angiehh said on May 23, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  Did you enjoy reading this book? What did you like/dislike about it?

  I didn’t really enjoy this book for the reason that it is a very tough plot with tormented characters. Such is a unpleasant history about good and evil human behaviours having a considerably dosage of morality. In fact, I thi ... (continue)

  Did you enjoy reading this book? What did you like/dislike about it?

  I didn’t really enjoy this book for the reason that it is a very tough plot with tormented characters. Such is a unpleasant history about good and evil human behaviours having a considerably dosage of morality. In fact, I thing that I should select better my English readings because if I didn’t, to read is the less attractive thing to do.

  Do you think this book has helped to improve your English?

  Probably, it has but it’s a slow process. Next I copy some words that I learned and their meanings.

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  Julillamb said on Apr 23, 2009 | Add your feedback

• 

  Dear Pat,
  You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood and you said, "Why don't you make something for me?"
  I asked you what you wanted, and you said, "A box."
  "What for?"
  "To put things in."
  "What things?"
  "Whatever you have," you said.
  Well, he ... (continue)

  Dear Pat,
  You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood and you said, "Why don't you make something for me?"
  I asked you what you wanted, and you said, "A box."
  "What for?"
  "To put things in."
  "What things?"
  "Whatever you have," you said.
  Well, here's your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts—the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation.
  And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you.
  And still, the box is not full.
  John

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  Marcoguermandi said on Feb 17, 2009 | Add your feedback

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Book Details

• Rating:
  (133)
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• English Books
• Paperback 106 Pages
• Edition: 2
• ISBN-10: 1405865261
• ISBN-13: 9781405865265
• Publisher: Pearson Education Limited
• Pub date: Feb 01, 2008
• Also available as: Hardcover, Library Binding, Unbound, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani, Polskie Książki, Svenska böcker

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