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lucithm 's review for:
East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
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
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