Book 4: East of Eden by John Steinbeck

My rating: 3.75 Stars

Length
This may be the first 600 page book I've ever finished that wasn't part of the Harry Potter Series or the scriptural canon. Nothing else is coming to mind, and so I'm feeling pretty good about myself.

Worth
Was it worth it? Yes, I think so. But you know the feeling when you're reading a really long book and you're just waiting for the climax or at least hungrily hoping for some phenomenal ending? This didn't happen for me. The story was so intricate with so many characters, personalities, and large units of time fleeting by (the book covers three generations of two families in great detail), that the experience was not like reading a detailed story of a single character (where you may only get inside that character's head or witness a small portion of their life--perhaps even a day or a few hours).

But when I got to the end of the book, I wasn't surprised by the last page. I always can't wait for that last page! But when I finally got there, I felt like I had already experienced the impact of that last line earlier in the book--twice. That was a little dissappointing.

Value
But one thing I learned while reading this book is not to read a book for the last page. "Enjoy the ride," as they say. Relish the individual stories in the overarching plot as they come. After about 400 pages, I submitted to this fact that the book wasn't going to have a huge overhaul in the story or a sudden change of pace.

Familiarity
Here's what I find so brilliant about this Old-Testament-based story: it felt a lot like reading scriptures. Although the parallel telling of the Biblical account of Cain and Abel was pretty obvious with symbols and characters put on a plate for you, the story captured the feelings you get while reading scripture. You know, generations of people passing by--wars, calamities, famines, marriages, prophets coming and going, moves, deaths, "and so it came to pass . . . " East of Eden was similarly structured and told as a narration of two families across several generations and their relationship with each other, their God, and their land.

Narration
One thing that was unusual for me was that I don't often read books where there are multiple narrators; I mean that in the sense that you get into everyone's head, and not just the main character's. There were so many "main" characters in this book that it took me about 500 pages before it dawned on me who the true protagonist was. Call me slow.

And on that same note, what was also trippy was that John Steinbeck was blood related to the characters he wrote about. The book mixes up these potent elements of truth and fiction in a way that is almost jarring while you're reading. Like, wait, was that true? Did that really happen? Is this really Steinbeck's family history? How much of this is true? With the accounts of wars and the development of the Salinas Valley, I would almost categorize this book as historical fiction with a teensy element of memoir. How's that for a rich reading experience?

QUOTES
"____________!"

Here are lines that made me reread, stop and think, or say, "Hm" or "Ha!" out loud while reading. One thing that also makes this book true to the biblical form is that it didn't fall short as a collection of wise proverbs. It was almost over the top sometimes with the prophet figures just spouting off these well-crafted lines. But I can appreciate that sort of thing, even if I don't really know anyone who says these kinds of things off the top of their head--and yet, that's what is so excellent about the written word.

On Love, Empathy & Healing:
“You are one of the rare people who can separate your observation from your preconception. You see what is, where most people see what they expect.”

“You can only understand people if you feel them in yourself.”

“No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us.”

“If a story is about the hearer he will not listen.”

“Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others to talk.”

“They say a clean cut heals soonest.”

“Tom’s cowardice was as huge as his courage, as it must be in great men. His violence balanced his tenderness, and himself was a pitted battlefield of his own forces.”

On Loneliness & Creativity:
“Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men. . . . Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man.”

On Hatred:
“Hate cannot live alone. It must have love as a trigger, a goad, or a stimulant.”

“ . . . [And] from his three months in automobile school he had gained a great though weary contempt for human beings.” [See future, unwritten article entitled “The Smarter You Are, the Meaner You Get.”]

On Distant Relationships with Fathers:
“It is true that Cal had never looked into his father’s eyes before, and it is true that many people never look into their father’s eyes. Adam’s irises were light blue with dark radial lines leading into the vortices of his pupils.”

On the Specialization of America:
“Alf was a jack-of-all-trades . . . Alf could do anything, and as a result he was a financial failure although he worked all the time.”

“Maybe the knowledge is too great and maybe men are growing too small . . . Maybe a specialist is only a coward, afraid to look out of his little cage. And think what any specialist misses—the whole world over his fence.”

More on Chronemics, Punctuality & Tardiness:
The split second has been growing more and more important to us . . . But it isn’t silly, this preoccupation with small time units. One thing late or early can disrupt everything around it, and the disturbance runs outwards in bands like the waves from a dropped stone in a quiet pool.”

On Immaturity:
“When you’re a child you’re the center of everything. Everything happens for you. Other people? They’re only ghosts furnished for you to talk to.”