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 . 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.
Encyclopedia
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 . 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.
Plot summary
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."
As he was writing the novel, Steinbeck went through a number of possible titles for the book, including "The Salinas Valley", which was the working title from the beginning, "My Valley", after a Texas businessman suggested he make it more universal, "Down to the Valley", and then, after he decided to incorporate the Biblical allusion directly into the title, "Cain Sign". It was only upon transcribing the 16 verses of Cain and Abel in the text itself that he enthusiastically took the last three words of the final verse, "East of Eden", as the novel's title.
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.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The book was adapted for cinema in the 1955
film East of Eden is a novel [i] by Nobel Prize [i] winner John Steinbeck [i], ...
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 2007.
Popular Culture
Babyshambles, the music band, have a song named 'East Of Eden'
Matt Costa's "Ballad of Miss Kate" is based on Cathy Ames.
Anna Nalick's "Drink Me" is inspired by the character of Cathy Ames.
External links
