A review by apurpleyuan
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Steinbeck's masterpiece. I keep returning to it, admiring his writing, his themes, his imagery, his characters, his thoughts. It's clear that he put his heart into this book. And it's actually a surprise, to me, how much this captured me, and how riveted I was, reading this book about fathers and sons (of which I am neither), about brothers (of which I am not one), about families and expectations and love. It feels like there is very little that happens, but in reality there is so much happening in the minds and emotions of the characters. 

I want to make a note of how much I enjoyed the character of Lee. When Lee was introduced as a character, I was prepared to simply accept that racism is built into the time period. 'Pleasantly surprised' doesn't begin to describe my feelings as more and more of him was revealed to the reader. He's an incredible character, and the way he defies stereotypes and yet is still clearly Chinese is astounding to me. 

The story of Cal and Aron is heart-wrenching, and because this is a story of Cain and Abel, you can see it coming from a mile away. Lee says,

I think this is the best-known story in the world because it is everybody's story. I think it is the symbol story of the human soul … The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with the crime guilt—and there is the story of mankind.

But Steinbeck makes it real and grounds it, and I think when Cal says "Am I supposed to look after him?" I felt more sorrow than I had ever simply reading the story in the Bible. And that ending is simply transcendental. Lee implores the dying Adam to bless Cal and forgive him. "Free him! Bless him!" And this not only frees Cal, it's a blessing upon us, upon humanity, a reminder that 'thou mayest' rule over sin. We have a choice, in what we do.