East of Eden (Penguin Modern Classics)

Steinbeck, Mr John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141185074 ISBN 13: 9780141185071

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2000

'There is only one book to a man,' Steinbeck wrote of East of Eden, his most ambitious novel. Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

Review:

"A novel planned on the grandest possible scale...One of those occasions when a writer has aimed high and then summoned every ounce of energy, talent, seriousness, and passion of which he was capable...It is an entirely interesting and impressive book." The New York Herald Tribune "A fantasia and myth...a strange and original work of art." The New York Times Book Review "A moving, crying pageant with wilderness strengths." Carl Sandburg"When the book club ended a year ago, I said I would bring it back when I found the book that was moving and this is a great one. I read it for myself for the first time and then I had some friends read it. And we think it might be the best novel we've ever read!" Oprah Winfrey"

From the Back Cover:

A masterpiece of Biblical scope, and the magnum opus of one of America's most enduring authors, in a commemorative hardcover edition

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families-the Trasks and the Hamiltons-whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

The masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. Adapted for the 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan introducing James Dean, and read by thousands as the book that brought Oprah's Book Club back, East of Eden has remained vitally present in American culture for over half a century.