East of Eden: A Long Post on Why I Love Long Books

Wow. Just wow. I am still reeling.

I just finish East of Eden by John Steinbeck. It was assigned for summer reading, and it was excellent. Just like Atlas Shrugged, it reminded me why I love long books. The complexity of the plot; the vividness of the characters; the flawlessness of the interwoven themes; the smoothly shifting scenes: It was beautiful, simply beautiful.

When I began to read, I’ll admit, I did not have high hopes. I didn’t like The Grapes of Wrath and I expected EoE to be the same. But it was so much better. It so perfectly captured human nature and the strange bonds of family and the existence of choice.

I loved the parallel to the story of Cain and Abel: I suppose, since I had to pay attention to this for summer reading, it stood out to me a lot. I wonder, though, if I would have still noticed everything that I did had I not been specifically looking out for it. I like to think that I would have. I’ve always found the story of Cain and Abel interesting. Sad, but interesting. They both gave what they had, and it was only in his anger and disappointment over his rejection that Cain sinned. Abel, I am sure, if similarly treated, would have reacted in the same matter. Maybe it’s my vegetarian-ness, but I like “tillers of ground” more than shepherds. I liked Cain more. Abel was undeveloped (though I suppose, in 16 lines, Cain was not more developed). He was not presented with any flaws. Cain, on the other hand, was not, in my opinion, evil. He was hurt and sad. He was a product of his circumstances. I guess I’ve always had a sort of back story in my head to the verses. In my version of the story, the character whom I like least of all, honestly, is God.

Similarly, I liked the characters in EoE that paralleled Cain far more. First, I preferred Charles to Adam. Charles, of course, was more outwardly cruel. He nearly killed Adam and sinfully slept with Cathy. But his motives always seemed to at least somewhat justify his actions. Adam, although he never did anything as wrong, never had good reasons for doing what he did. Charles acted out of love (for his father), which manifested itself as jealousy and callousness. Adam felt no love for his father and loved only the idea of his wife. Adam was dim, self-centered, and weak. He isolated himself while at war, after Cathy left, and whenever he had difficult times. His reaction to troubles (inward self pity and neglect of others) was, in my opinion, just as bad as Charles’ reaction (outward harshness). Charles, I wanted to hug. Adam, I wanted to give a Prozac and kick.

I said, before, that the character I liked least was God. I stand by this. When Adam became Father, he spurned Cal and ultimately caused the tragic ending to the story. It made me dislike him further (Though, note, despite the fact that I dislike him, he is an excellent character. I don’t want that to be confusing). Also, I didn’t like Adam’s father. Lying bastard.

Then, there was Aron and Caleb. Aron, in so many ways, is the person who I do not want to be. He imagines people as more than people and concepts as perfect when they, like all else, are flawed. It’s my favorite John Green theme personified. “What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.” Aron carries around lofty ideals of people. He imagines Abra as being morally perfect. He attempts to convert Cal. He sees the church as perfect. And he, like his father, in order to deal with personal pain, reverts into himself and ignores the pain of those around him. He wishes to go to a monastery to escape the filth of the world and stop from feeling “dirty”. When he learns of Cathy’s profession, he flees to war, leaving those who love him to deal with the pain on their own. He is weak, he is idealistic, and he is selfish. Those qualities, I think, I fear more than cruelty.

Caleb, on the other hand is smart. He knows himself, he knows others, and he knows his flaws. He is said to be far less likeable, but this I do not understand. Cal acknowledges all the bad he possesses. At times, he indulges in self-pity, but he knows this (largely thanks to Lee) and knows that he is weak (in some ways) because of it. But, he does not let this allow him to fail. I know his motives are sometimes selfish; I know he tried to buy his father. But, I love him all the same. He was far more classically Human than Adam, and I think, more like me. (Yes, I am more like Cal, but it is Adam whom I fear.) I wanted to hug Cal.

Abra, of course, comes in here. She is smart. She is strong, yet feminine in the best possible ways. I was glad that she turned to Cal. They match. She and Aron did not.

Lee. Oh Lee. I liked the earlier chapters in which you saw him interact with Sam Hamilton (who I also really liked as a character). The pair are most certainly the most intelligent and fatherly characters in the book. I really liked the concept of timshel, “though mayest”. I love biblical quotes and I’m really interested by the different interpretations of the Bible. Timshel I found particularly interesting. I think, really, it should be common sense. People may, or may not, triumph over sin. People may, or may not, seek salvation. That is, practically, not metaphysically. I still am a hard determinist. :) They can’t really do anything but what they are predisposed to thanks to causality. Whee.

I certainly didn’t hate Cathy/Kate. She was a product of her circumstances as well, though not ones I understand thoroughly. I do not understand where her “evil” and I hate that word) came from. But I don’t really think it matters. She was what she was. She felt pain too and she felt that her actions were necessary. It’s funny that I like her more than Adam and Aron. I don’t know why I cannot simply attribute their actions and feelings to their circumstances. I suppose I am selectively not deterministic.

I was sad that Tom sort of faded from the story. He was a great fun older brother. I wish he’d stuck around more.

One thing that surprised me: I didn’t think Abra’s father was going to be a thief. I totally thought that he was one of the men that Kate had pictures of. I thought that, after hearing of her death, he immediately became “ill” out of fear that the pictures would be discovered. I assumed that he hadn’t heard they’d been destroyed because he wouldn’t see anyone. I was a little disappointed that he ended up just essentially being a white-collar criminal.

I enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first. I read the last 400 pages in a day (which would have been nothing in January, but is now something of an achievement; I had a slightly busy day too). But dang, it was good. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for an intriguing piece of fiction.

Total Book Count: 57
NonFic: 18 (31.5%)