East of Eden
East of Eden is a
novel by
Nobel Prize winner
John Steinbeck, published in September
1952.
Often described as Steinbeck's most ambitious novel,
East of Eden brings to life the intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and their interwoven stories. The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John (then 6½ and 4½ respectively). Steinbeck wanted to describe the
Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells, and colors.
According to his last wife Elaine, he considered this to be a requiem for himself - his greatest novel ever. Steinbeck states about
East of Eden: "It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years." He further claimed: "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this."
Elaine, in looking back on the year that he worked on the book, said that his work on the novel affected him deeply. Perhaps the best way to put it would be to say that it was the last stage in putting himself back together after the years that had torn him apart.
The story is primarily set in the Salinas Valley,
California, between the beginning of the
20th century and the end of
World War I. Samuel Hamilton and his wife Liza, immigrants from
Ireland, raise their nine children on the rough unfertile hillside. As their children leave the nest, Adam Trask, newly wed and newly rich after a tumultuous childhood in the East and years of military service and wandering, moves into a large and fertile valley plot nearby, aided by the wealth of his deceased father.
The book treats of depravity and beneficence,
love and the struggle for acceptance, greatness and the capacity for self-destruction, and especially of
guilt and
freedom. It ties these themes together with references to and parallels with the biblical
Book of Genesis. Steinbeck's inspiration for the novel comes from the fourth chapter of Genesis, verses one through sixteen, which recounts the story of
Cain and
Abel. The title,
East of Eden, was chosen by Steinbeck from Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16: "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." (Authorised Version)
The book did not go well with the critics, who found the novel heavy-handed and unconvincing in its use of Biblical allusion. Nevertheless it became an instant best-seller in November of
1952, a mere month after it was released, and by now half a century after its release it is considered as one of Steinbeck's finest achievements. Recently it gained renewed popularity when it was placed on
Oprah's Book Club.
The book was adapted for cinema in the
1955 film East of Eden by director
Elia Kazan, and starring
James Dean,
Julie Harris,
Richard Davalos,
Raymond Massey,
Jo Van Fleet, and
Burl Ives. The movie deals with the second half of the book, hence Dean acts the part of Adam's son Cal while Davalos plays Aron, Cal's twin brother.
In
1981, a TV miniseries was aired, more faithful to the novel. It starred
Timothy Bottoms,
Jane Seymour,
Bruce Boxleitner,
Karen Allen,
Warren Oates,
Howard Duff, and
Anne Baxter.
Academy Award-winning director
Ron Howard is set to direct another remake of the novel, set to be released in
2006.
Babyshambles, the music band, have a song named 'East Of Eden'
Matt Costa's "Ballad of Miss Kate" is based on Cathy Ames.
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Free MonkeyNotes Study Guide at
PinkMonkey.com*
East of Eden a book discussion/review
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Classic Movies: East of Eden (1955) *
East of Eden: A resource guide to the 1955 film
