Word: steinbeck
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This is one of those family saga novels, the kind that well-up in authors every so often and cannot be repressed. John Steinbeck in this book traces his forebears through 602 pages and, being a skillful novelist, does it well, but in the end the reader wonders "Was it worth all the effort?" The answer here...
...comparison to Steinbeck's earlier novels, "East of Eden" has greater variation in mood and less singleness of theme. Because of the loose construction, one does not fell the direct impact found in such a work as "The Grapes of Wrath...
...that Mr. Steinbeck's relatives are not interesting people. On the contrary, they are the sort usually described as "tempestuous" and include a self-educated noble farmer, two pairs of moody brothers, and a monster. They are all interesting people, probably drawn from life, but one gets the feeling that in his drawings Mr. Steinbeck has exaggerated some lines until the characters themselves have become weird and unbelieveable...
...sometimes break down into plain, unmetered English. The fact is that even not being Irish does not save some of the other characters from this same precisely-accented. false speech. Lee, the Chinese servant, would be an appealing person if he spoke just plain excellent English, instead of Mr. Steinbeck's pretty sentences...
Ironically. Novelist Steinbeck has done some of his best writing in East of Eden. As always, he describes his Salinas Valley with fidelity and charm. Moreover, individual scenes and yarns are frequently turned with great skill. But whether as a novel about pioneers in a new country or just men & women working out their private, earthly fates, East of Eden is too blundering and ill-defined to make its story point. That point, says Steinbeck, is "the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil." East of Eden has over-generous portions of both, but a novelist who knows...