East of Eden is one of my all-time favorite novels.
this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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East of Eden is a masterpiece
I really enjoyed Of Mice and Men, I read it in school and the ending really had an impact on young me. Currently having difficulty finishing East of Eden, maybe because it jumps around a lot.
Of Mice and Men was probably my favorite "high-school lit" book.
The Pearl on the other hand was my least favorite.
This was also the first book I read from him and it really made an impact. East of Eden is my current read. Are you still at the beginning? It gets smoother to read when he has set up all the scenes and the relationships start to develop I feel.
I'm about a third of the way through now, it seems to be more settled so I'm hoping I'll manage to finish. Enjoy your read!
Thanks! Enjoy your read as well!
Which books did you read? Which one currently? I love Steinbeck for his characters. They can seem so real. Sometimes in life you meet someone that’s just so unique, such a one-in-a-million type of person and those are the people you find in his novels, especially East of Eden and Cannery Row.
I always giggle thinking about the part in cannery row that starts something like “Henri the French painter wasn’t actually French. His name wasn’t really Henri either. And he didn’t paint”
That book has so much life in it with these little vignettes. I was in Santa Cruz recently and wished I could have made time to visit Salinas and Monterrey but we didn’t get to go. All I know of that area is how he describes it like paradise.
Tortilla Flats was pretty good too. Grapes of Wrath is obviously incredible but it’s kinda like Requiem for a Dream “that was fantastic. I never want to watch it again”
I feel that as an American that he lifts us up. That he puts my country on the map for literature on par with Dickens and Victor Hugo and Dostoevsky. I’m proud to have Steinbeck in my cultural heritage
Wow, great response, thank you for sharing your thoughts! I started with Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl and now I'm reading East of Eden. What about you?
I love what you're saying about the characters, because it really feels te same to me! They are so thoroughly created by him, they always seem to manifest as actual historical people.
Never heard of Cannery row but especially the scene you're describing seems so great, I just added it straight to my reading list.
He really does stand in line with all those great authors and plays an enormously valuable role in the field of literature and the history of America.
Oh I forgot about Mice and Men! What did you think of that one?
Picked it up when I rediscovered my passion for reading around 7-8 years ago and it really fascinated me. The story, his writing style... and was the first book to make me cry. Did you like it?
He wrote a sequel to Cannery Row: Sweet Thursday
oh, and the two books were combined into a movie (made in the '90s i think), titled "Cannery Row".
Only read 'Of mice and men' so far, has been suprisingly difficult to find books at the local bookstore, and havent bothered ordering online yet as I have other books to read first.
Lovely story and a quick read. Only problem was the terrible translation riddled with typos.
One of my favorite writers but haven't read any Steinbeck for a few years. But Tortilla Flats is probably my favorite. Planning to read East of Eden in english sometime soon since I've only read it in swedish maybe 10-15 years ago.
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Travels with Charlie was a great and quick read. It's about his road trip across America with his dog in his homemade truck bed travel camper.
I heard about that book - it seems great and I'm looking forward to reading it sometime soon! Did you like it?
Yes I did. He recounts his experiences meeting different people around the country. I hope this isn't a spoiler, but what I appreciated was his honest opinions about the different areas and people he met. He wasn't being some pollyanna and trying to find the good in everyone. If he didn't like someone he met or a particular part of the country, he didn't sugarcoat it. And by the last part of his trip, he just wanted to get home to his wife, which I found very relatable when I'm traveling for work or have been on a vacation that's gone on a little too long.
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