I finally got to what is considered Steinbeck's magnum opus (whatever that means), and what a magnum opus it is (whatever that means). I’ve never been to the Salinas Valley, but Steinbeck made it so easy for me to believe I was there. See, the thing with Steinbeck, which not so many other writers can achieve on such an epic scale, is that he can take vast, multi-charactered, mystically-layered, dogmatically themed epic stories and make them so easy to read. He manages to weave profound learnings, teachings and messages, into such simple narratives that we can all understand. I think he might be the best at executing such a big task.
First things first, the size of the book. It’s a generational tale that follows two families who intertwine throughout the book. The length of the book can be intimidating because you know you must put some time into it, but I never felt bored with it. I always find with these books that contains so many characters, that it often isn’t the main protagonist/s I enjoy the most. I always end up loving the sidekick characters (see Samwise, Hermione, Melquíades etc.) or those who dip in and out of the story yet play a vital role in driving the plot. In this instance, it is Lee, servant to the Trask family, who more or less raises the two Trask boys himself and keeps the family unit together. He’s a legend. The other is Abra, the smart, calculative love interest of Aron, and then subsequently Cal. She’s cool, in control and is wise beyond her years. And as the generational transitions took place, I never felt a yearning to “take me back to the good old times”. As the characters evolved and aged, I wanted to see into the future. I wanted to know what happened next – and this is exactly how a book should make you feel.
The time period is around the mid-1800s up until the end of the First World War. This was a fascinating time in the development of technology, industry and, of course, war. The book does brilliantly to weave the world’s happenings into the lives of the characters. It comically addresses the emergence of the Ford car and what starts out as a piece of broken-down trash that “will never catch on”, seamlessly becomes a part of the characters’ everyday lives. Then that of looming war, a death sentence for so many men that directly affects the Trask family, effectively bookending the saga.
There is also a not-so-subtle religious element to this book. I mean, it’s named East of Eden, which suggests the characters have turned a sharp right away from paradise, and that in their garden there’s nothing but curses and death. The common thread throughout each generation is the repetition of the story of Cain and Abel. The book shows in different ways how sibling love and sibling rivalry are so closely intertwined that it can amount to devastating outcomes.
I wouldn’t say that the book ends positively. It’s a tragedy if anything. A failure of the human spirit. But oddly, I didn’t come away from the book feeling sad or down. I think that might be due to how impressed I was at the way the book had been written, the richness of characters, and how invested I was in the book. In that sense, I didn’t want it to end.
A final shout out to Cathy, or Kate as she is later known. She might just be one of the most evil bitches I have ever read. She is pretty much the devil, and I loved how much I hated her. There was not an ounce of kindness in her, and what I found most evil about her was how calculated her evil could be. She would make a decision for herself (like leave Adam once the babies were born), then not change her mind one iota for months on end, even shooting Adam to carry out her decision. She was a force to be reckoned with and had a very powerful hold on me. Bravo, Steinbeck.
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