Reviews - East Of Eden | The StoryGraph

10.5k reviews for:

East Of Eden

John Steinbeck

4.46 AVERAGE

cbowen50's review against another edition

5.0

Wow.

immyamer's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lucithm's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional inspiring slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

shoutout to my grandmother and my 10th grade english teacher for convincing me to read this, after I’d already kinda written off john steinbeck - because this is one of the best pieces of literature I’ve ever read

I’m genuinely having a hard time putting my thoughts into words because I don’t think I’ve fully processed this book yet but OH MY GOD 😭😭

the characters in this (especially cal and cathy) are so well written and multilayered, I absolutely LOVEE the themes of good / evil and how we are born / what we choose to be because THOU MAYEST!!!

also don’t even get me started on samuel and lee…
I’m so used to classics being full of harmful and repetitive racial stereotypes and even though this one is far from being perfect in regards to that, having an Irish and a Chinese character who not only play major roles in the story but are also portrayed as wise, kind and caring was so refreshing <3

as someone who didn’t grow up religious at all, it took me a very embarrassing amount of time until I realised that this is a biblical retelling, but the moment I made the connection between their names and Abel and Cain I almost had a stroke

steinbeck’s writing style felt very simplistic most of the time (it was still deeply impactful and I have like 50 new favourite quotes now), and though I usually prefer a rather lush and flowery language, this really worked for me because I was so absorbed into the story and practically flew through this

this is probably the longest review I’ve ever written, yet I feel like there’s so much more I could say about this book yet none of it would ever do it justice…
but yeah this is the type of shit that I’ll still think about and come back to in years

kpfox9's review against another edition

5.0

thou mayest! why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth… he still has the great choice

brianjohnsonok's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

deb_weiss's review against another edition

5.0

This book was so incredible! Its been recommended to me for years, but I finally added it to my "Must Read, No Battles" list for 2021.

Where to begin?

The writing is so beautiful. The character development is amazing (and intense! Kate anyone?). I first thought that the way the story spanned generations would be long or boring, but instead it was brilliant. His ability to tell the story through a variety of perspectives created such insight to the story itself. I have to read everything else he wrote.

Samuel and Lee are my favorite characters. The symbolism throughout the storylines. The parallel history in each generation... My favorite was the discussion about _timshel_ (p.299-305, p. 520, p. 601 ) such powerful, truthful ideas. The way he presents ideas around personal agency and seeing and accepting truth (in people and situations) was so good.

Definitely a re-read and definitely in my top 25.