A synopsis and response to the book East of Eden.

2. East of Eden is a MODERNIZED RETELLING OF
THE CAIN AND Abel story.
It is not a tit for tat parallel, as Steinbeck has taken
his own liberties.
The story is beautiful, moving, Deep, complex and
redemptive.
Most of the characters are very complex. Some you
hate, others you love but they all have their perfect
place.

3. There is a relentless tension throughout the story. It
is a masterpiece of rising and falling action
throughout. As the tension in one situation is
decreasing you can feeling it rising between two other
characters.
It’s gritty and real. Every instance in this story could
be a person’s life. The work is timeless because it
deals with the rawest and most transcendent human
issues.

4. The big questions in the story.
Can Adam trask overcome his own personal pain and
and love his children as they are?
Can caleb find peace and love from his father?
Can caleb ever except himself?

5. I identified with caleb a great deal. I think that if you
have a sibling that seems to be perfect and constantly
praised you can tend to feel like you will never
measure up. This can lead to deviant behavior. Caleb
always struggled between loving his brother and
hating him at the same time. He had the same
struggle towards his father and his father never
allowed for him to have his own path. Aaron
naturally pleased his father and met his expectations.
This lead caleb to believe that he was broken and evil.
The story lives in this tension for much of the book.

6. Do Not! I repeat, DO NOT! Watch the movie for this
book and think you will understand the book at all.
The movie paints all of the characters wrong with the
exception of abra and Kate. You will have a difficult
time finding a review of this movie that says
otherwise.
This movie leaves out more than it tells. Caleb is
made to look like a whiny punk teenager (James dean
does a much better job with a similar role in rebel
without a cause).

7. In closing, I would like to encourage you to enjoy the
story for it’s good story telling elements but also think
deeply about the story and discover if you have a
shared life experience with any of the characters. I
think we can all find commonalities with every
character in this masterpiece.