Backsliding into East of Eden: One Woman’s Literary Journey into John Steinbeck’s Magnum Opus

Not Salinas Valley, CA, but a valley. 

Some subjects in of East of Eden are PG-13, though not explicitly so. This book review may include these subjects. 

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Serves me right, really it does. East of Eden was published in 1952, and though it is more recent than most of my favorite novels, I can’t say it is contemporary literature, therefore it does not count in my quest to make friends with modern fiction. I got what I deserved. 

To preface and clarify my review, I will say that my distaste of the novel does not lie in the theme or plot or moral conversation or allegory (though two or more generations of Cain and Abel allegory is a little exhausting) as written in the wikipedia synopsis. 

My distaste lies in the tone, the writing, the long-drawn-out angst, the shoveling and rolling in muck, the ever-darkening, never-lightening skies, the unrelenting hopelessness, and the narrator’s inability to literarily describe a woman without commenting on her breasts.  

The following is a candid recollection of my reactions to listening to the East of Eden unabridged audio recording. This is my honest, biased, subjective opinion. The reader is warned. 

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The italics are my thoughts and/or commentary. 

Part I: 

 “Aaargh! Do we really need to know about Cathy’s breasts (twice so far)? Or that women’s thighs had gone limp?” *eye roll, head roll*

“This is such a gravely, man’s-man book.” 

woman : Jane Austen : : man : Steinbeck

Part II

“Soo … I read The Grapes of Wraith in high school and though not overly impressed with it, I recognized that Steinbeck was considered to be a 'good' writer.” 

“And though he considered East of Eden (EOE) as his magnum opus, I find it a bit too much of everything. So heavy handed with violence. “

“I like subtlety in my literature; (the older the better), and I admire cleverness. I consider overt violence and sensuality cliched and trite, and distracting to a good theme and plot. I appreciate that Steinbeck doesn’t go into detail to the point where it becomes obscene–there’s an uptick.” 

“Regret. I shouldn’t have downloaded this book!  Day after day, hour after hour of dreary desperation and criminal insanity and whoring and …”

“I give up. Dickens at least put some little upswings into his dreariest stories. I’ll just assume the characters live horrifyingly putrid lives and hand this down generation after generation, then die at the hands of Cathy-like people. That’s enough for me. I’m going to go cheer myself up with  Dostoyovsky.” 

“This long-drawn-out story is interesting but Steinbeck’s plowing me into the ground.  I don’t want to hear about all that sad dysfunctional crud, really. I’m done.” 

“Life is two short to read/listen to books like this. Of Mice and Men was awesome.  It is a lot like EOE, but a lot shorter and that’s what made it great. Sad, hopeless and short. This book makes me want to poke my eyes and ears out.” 

After Sam Hamilton (a character in the book) read the Bible account of Cain and Abel: 

‘Maybe Liza is right. There’s nothing to understand.’ 

Adam sighed deeply, ‘It’s not a comforting story, is it?’ 

"I agree Adam. Absolutely.” 

 “Alright, I’ll stick around … but the minute this story gets all whore-y and stupid, I’m stopping. I’ve got to familiarize myself with Walter Scott.” 

A mid-way literary critique: 

“Writing: just okay, overdone in places, never wowed me. 

Story: heavy handed with violence and implied "sensuality", and smack your face biblical allegory, that isn’t all that original or well-done. 

Interesting that the narrator couldn’t (of course) know all the story, but he pops up almost randomly and interjects irrelevant stories. Dostoyevsky uses this first-person-narrator, then slips back to third person techniques in some of his novels. 

Part III Ch 3

Steinbeck starts to describe Abra as a teen. 

“No. Don’t do it Steinbeck! Don’t you ….” 

“… and her breasts were rising with eleven of her years …” 

“Aaaargh! Good grief! What does that even mean? Can he even see a woman as human? or just breasts and guile? Sheesh! The way he writes about young girls and their bodies is a little creepy. This book makes me dislike Steinbeck as a writer and a person. It’d be different if a character in the book was obsessed with women’s breasts, but it’s the narrator … with the same last name as the author!” 

Section 3 Ch 11

“I quit. Will delete it off my phone. So depressing, without hope … I really don’t care what happens in the end. My prediction is that it will be a huge let down. Disappointment rolled in the mucky grime of humanity. Ugh.” 

“Okay. I’ll keep listening. I read the synopsis on wikipedia, but it …”

“No. I’m ditching it. I have better things to read. This is the most torturous book I’ve ever listened to. He loves to couch philosophy and his made-up psychology into torturous  unnatural conversations between the characters. I know how it ends, I don’t have to listen to him explain it to me in way too many words.” 

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Sculpture at Fred Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI

Now, I don’t deny that darkness is in the world. I don’t enjoy pulpy happily-ever-after-every-time novels that candy-coat humanity and life. I understand that sometimes a writer has to write life how it is, and many times it is dirty, painful and ugly. But I also understand there is light in the world, too. Beautiful, redeeming, merciful, hope-filled light. I detected very little real hope in EOE, only Old Testament hopelessness, stuck in a world where sin piles upon itself, no matter how many lambs are sacrificed. 

Reader, I beg, don’t get me wrong. Please don’t write me off as a sheltered, wimpy reader because of my distaste for Steinbeck. I’ve taken on the dreariest Russians writers, endured the stuffiest droning British novelists and suffered through novels punctuated with rambling histories  and scientific discourses with only mild sighs of discontent, but somehow, I just can’t finish this book. It’s not the length, or even the plot, it’s the hopelessness.