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A review by nelsonminar
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
5.0
What a phenomenal book. It feels out of time. Very modern, particularly in its psychology. Also dated both for the period setting and the narrative weight of it. Mostly I just enjoyed reading such a sprawling, mature American book. I didn't know writing like this existed. Maybe I'm finally old enough to appreciate it.
OTOH I kind of miss being in high school English classes. There's a lot going on in this book that I didn't completely follow. I could do with a week or two of English teacher exercises. I'm no critic though, so I'll just highlight a couple of themes that I thought were particularly interesting.
Of course the main theme, the Cain & Abel story, is fantastic. I'm sure that's what every high school senior would write in his essay, so I won't say more on that theme.
But implicit in that story is that this is a male story. A story of male emotions, and men's weaknesses, and men's relationships with other men. But not daddy issues, at least not so much, East of Eden is mostly about brothers. And being a man and being respected, and being a man and having weakness. Steinbeck's writing about the fragility of masculinity feels incredibly contemporary to me, way more insightful than most of the "men's movement" crap of the past 20 years (or its slightly better gay cousin.) Steinbeck is like an anti-Hemingway in his sensitivity to men's emotions, and loved that.
The downside is this book is not about women. It doesn't pass the Bechdel test and the only women characters in it are relatively two dimensional foils for the male story. Except maybe Kate, the central villain. And what an interesting character she is! The treatment of her feels dated and sexist to me in that Kate is just fundamentally evil and broken, none of the subtlety that the men get. But also modern in that she's still a well drawn character with plenty of motivation and complexity. And a great villain and victim of her own circumstance.
The other character I found fascinating is Lee, the Chinese servant. If there's any compelling female character in the book, it's him, the way he's completely feminized in the text. But he's not a victim or a shrinking violet or a foil. He's the bedrock for the family. I love the section devoted to his studying Hebrew, both for the character development and the way it dovetails into the central theme in the book, the free will to make moral choices. He's a great character. Dated, he's too tinged with Oriental stereotypes to fully pass in 2015. But still a better drawn persona than most of the modern fiction I read. Also unusual to see a 1900 era Chinese man in California, I'm not sure I've ever seen another book about that kind of person.
I feel like there must be 10 other novels like this in English, classics, that I've not read. I should read them.
OTOH I kind of miss being in high school English classes. There's a lot going on in this book that I didn't completely follow. I could do with a week or two of English teacher exercises. I'm no critic though, so I'll just highlight a couple of themes that I thought were particularly interesting.
Of course the main theme, the Cain & Abel story, is fantastic. I'm sure that's what every high school senior would write in his essay, so I won't say more on that theme.
But implicit in that story is that this is a male story. A story of male emotions, and men's weaknesses, and men's relationships with other men. But not daddy issues, at least not so much, East of Eden is mostly about brothers. And being a man and being respected, and being a man and having weakness. Steinbeck's writing about the fragility of masculinity feels incredibly contemporary to me, way more insightful than most of the "men's movement" crap of the past 20 years (or its slightly better gay cousin.) Steinbeck is like an anti-Hemingway in his sensitivity to men's emotions, and loved that.
The downside is this book is not about women. It doesn't pass the Bechdel test and the only women characters in it are relatively two dimensional foils for the male story. Except maybe Kate, the central villain. And what an interesting character she is! The treatment of her feels dated and sexist to me in that Kate is just fundamentally evil and broken, none of the subtlety that the men get. But also modern in that she's still a well drawn character with plenty of motivation and complexity. And a great villain and victim of her own circumstance.
The other character I found fascinating is Lee, the Chinese servant. If there's any compelling female character in the book, it's him, the way he's completely feminized in the text. But he's not a victim or a shrinking violet or a foil. He's the bedrock for the family. I love the section devoted to his studying Hebrew, both for the character development and the way it dovetails into the central theme in the book, the free will to make moral choices. He's a great character. Dated, he's too tinged with Oriental stereotypes to fully pass in 2015. But still a better drawn persona than most of the modern fiction I read. Also unusual to see a 1900 era Chinese man in California, I'm not sure I've ever seen another book about that kind of person.
I feel like there must be 10 other novels like this in English, classics, that I've not read. I should read them.