Our+Opinion

East of Eden really intrigued us because of the active plot and the dynamic characters. There was always something interesting happening with the multiple characters and we really enjoyed how Steinbeck correlated parts of the book to the biblical story of Cain and Abel.

Steinbeck’s characters paralleled people from this biblical reference. They all played a different roles and we found it challenging and enjoyable figuring out which Steinbeck character was which biblical charatcer. We found some things odd, like when it was stated that a "family man" went to a higher class brothel. We felt that this culture was very different from our own, and that in modern day, a "family man" would not have anything to do with prostitutes. For this reason, we didn’t like how much of the events and themes were based off of these men going to the brothels, because we felt that it was not completely realistic.

One aspect that our group found difficult to understand was the structure of Steinbeck's writing. Steinbeck wrote a very descriptive and intricate plot. The plot so deeply developed that, at times, our group was confused about the chronological order of events and the relations of the characters. His writing was complex, but also so descriptive that we often found the book slow. For example, the first chapter is strictly written on the setting and all of the surroundings. He talks about the Salinas Valley in California in the first whole section of the book. It was sometimes redundant, but above all it was a great description.

Our group would suggest this book to others, because it encourages the reader to form one's own opinions and higher level thinking. It had a lot of things to contemplate and that made the book interesting. We really enjoyed analyzing all of the characters and their purpose. The only negative comment we have about East of Eden would be that it is a lot of characters and story-lines to follow, sometimes making things harder to understand and comprehend.