DemocraSay

In response to The Most Influential Book You've Ever Read.

This is a book I read when I was in my mid teens. It was not required reading: I was just going through a "Steinbeck" phase. I had read things like "Cannery Row," “Tortilla Flat,” "Of Mice and Men," "Sweet Thursday," etc. I had even read "The Grapes of Wrath" -- and then I picked up "East of Eden," a large book and thought, "do I really want to read this?" All I can say is that I'm really glad that I did!

Obviously, I loved Steinbeck's writing style. He is a true "story teller." "East of Eden" is a strange mix of semi-biography (including the origins of Steinbeck’s family on his maternal grandparent's side), and fiction – in part an allegory of the book of Genesis. Woven in is his deep love of the Salinas Valley. He was reported to have said about this book that, "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."

What grabbed me right from the start were his observations: on life, on the surrounding natural world, and on human behavior. The description of the Salinas Valley is amazing in its detail. So much so, that when I went there for the first time years later, I was so excited to see the towns, the river, and the mountains. They were so faithfully described – right down to the prevailing winds and the types of soil! Steinbeck always added great little asides like questioning why something was called something, i.e. “Shirttail Lane?” You can’t help from then on thinking the same thing – why was it called that? What is the story?

Then there are the characters: the good, the sad and the downright ugly. The true villain of the book is the character of Cathy Ames. Steinbeck introduces her with a hypothesis. He asks if a person can be born with obvious physical deformities, it is not also possible that a person could also be born missing something as basic as compassion or human decency? He then introduces us to a very beautiful young girl who quickly and cleverly learns how to manipulate the people around for her own gain -- without a shred of guilt or an iota of kindness. She rapidly kills her parents and goes on to wreak havoc on the lives of anyone who crosses her path. The families we meet are stoic settlers. The Trasks on the East Coast, scratch out a farmer’s living. It is basic survival and not an easy or pleasant life. The Hamilton’s in the Salinas Valley have such poor soil and so little water, that they help others, more fortunate then themselves, to farm successfully. They are a family guided by stories, humor, love and the Bible.
As the story unfolds, we become more any more aware of the parallels with the book of Genesis. We can help but watch with horror and fascination as parts of the story mirror the Bible and in the end give us that book's same grace, “timshel—‘Thou mayest.’”

It may be a long read, but I would recommend it to anyone!