East Of Eden - John Steinbeck

Title: East Of Eden     Author: John Steinbeck   Number of Pages: 601

Dates Read: December 30, 2010 - January 04, 2011

Rating: **********10/**********10 stars

First Sentence: The Salinas Valley is in Northern California.
Last Sentence: Mouse over --> His eyes closed and he slept.
Favorite Passage: May be spoiler-ish, mouse over --> He blurted out, "I wish you were my daughter--" he was shocked at himself. He went to the stove and turned out the gas under the tea-kettle, then lighted it again. 

She said softly, "I wish you were my father."

He glanced quickly at her and away. "You do?"

"Yes I do"

"Why?"

"Because I love you."

Summary: The tale of the Trask family, with a sub-plot of the Hamiltons. From the book cover: "Adam Trask came to California from Connecticut to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wide to the brink of madness and Dam is left alone to raise his boys. One boy thrives... and the other grows up in loneliness, enveloped by a mysterious darkness."

Writing Style: A beautiful, easy to understand writing style with believable dialogue. Touching and, at times, very funny, East of Eden is great entertainment, a true classic, and one of those books that you wish would never end. Great to read aloud and share with someone you love.

Plot: Thoroughly enjoyable. Steinbeck tugs at your emotions, plucks you funny bone, and gives his readers a complete work of art. The only thing I would ever change is more about the Hamilton family, because while there is a good amount of time dedicated to them, I feel that after a while, there is less said about them and it leaves you wanting more.


Character Development: Perfect, whether you love or hate the characters, it is because Steinbeck created people you feel, that evoke actual emotion and maybe even attachment. They are incredibly well developed, with even some minor characters getting a chapter dedicated to them. You start to get to know a whole town in a way. My favorite character by far is without a doubt, Lee. His wisdom and blunt sense of humor is endearing and I wish Steinbeck could create a Lee of my own to give me sage advice and coffee every time there is a lull in conversation.

Ending: Believable, but sad, for many reasons. I don't want to spoil it at all, so I will leave it at that. No loose ends, no plot holes, a satisfactory ending that still leaves you wishing there was more to read, not because you have a dissatisfaction with the book, but the opposite, you want to follow these people for the rest of their lives, and their children's lives, and their children's children's lives.

Overall: I added this to my list of favorites immediately. As soon as it started I wanted to sit and read it all the way through, and I tried as hard as I could to do so! And as soon as it ended I wanted to start it all over again. There are a lot of characters in the first few chapters, so if you have trouble with remembering them, as I do, you may want to create a little family tree or chart of some kind. I suppose it's a total cliche to say, and I have already said it in some form or another already, but I can't stress the sense of sadness you feel when closing this book because you never want it to end. John Steinbeck creates such a realistic and wonderful story that you feel could really happen, but still has a sense of magic to it. I'm trying to find something to say about this book that isn't all gushing and praise, but I can't really find fault in it. All I can say is that I wish he had written more chapters about the Hamiltons, because I really loved many of the characters in the Hamilton family, especially Liza, the mother. I very rarely completely love a book, but this is hands down one of my favorites. I feel that everyone should read this at least once, as soon as possible.

Cover Design/Aesthetic: The cover design of the edition I have is a beautiful, classic cover with a grey-scale design. I have a deep love of the classic parchment paper trend they have going on lately, and this edition has that. (I've been trying to collect as many of these books as I can get my hands on.) Overall it has an excellent feel that feels like a big brick of awesomeness in your hands, like something you can really sink your teeth into, especially in the middle of the book when you can get a good hold of it. A lot of people find that it's strange that I put so much emphasis on feel, but I look at reading as an EVENT, and touch is still a sense that can be fulfilled with reading, and should be if done right. That's why as much I would like a Nook or a Kindle for travel, I love the feel of a book to ever give up buying the physical book itself.

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This is my first full review, so it's a little rusty right now, but the more I write, and the more suggestions I get, the better they'll be! I may condense this down a bit and combine a few topics together to create a better flow in the future. I hope this is helpful to you and this site can add to your love of reading.

xoxo, Jennifyr