East of Eden

Title: East of Eden
Author: John Steinbeck
Genre: Classic - set between Civil War and WWI
Pages (words): 601 (226,741)
Readability: 4.4
Rating (out of 5 stars): *****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description:  Follows the life of Adam Trask, who grows up on a farm in Connecticut, serves in the cavalry, then gets married and moves to the Salinas Valley in California.
Thoughts: Okay, so my description above is lame because there is no way to describe this book.  It could easily be three or four different novels, and they are all wound together in this single, spectacular book.  I'm not even sure that Adam is the main character, but that's the closest I can come.  Anyway, this is truly a 5-star book.  Apparently the critics like The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men from Steinbeck, but, for me, this book displays humanity's basest instincts and endless potential in a more striking way than any other that I have read.  East of Eden is constantly returning to man's internal struggle between good and evil, and it really drives home the message that we are free to choose which course we will take.  Perhaps this resonated with me so much because the idea of agency is such a huge part of my faith, and Steinbeck uses the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Able extensively in the text.  Anyway, the writing was beautiful, the characters are meticulously painted, the plot was captivating, and the theme was impactful.  All rolled up in one (long) book.  Highly recommended.

Disclaimer:  This one deserves a pretty heavy disclaimer.  There is a lot of prostitution in this book and some frank discussion of what goes on in a whore house.  For me, it never crossed the line into too much detail; all sexual references are quite indirect, but they are there.  Also, there is a fair amount of cursing in the book.  Again, I think it was all tastefully done and definitely not enough to merit not reading the book, but you've been given fair warning!

P.S.  A huge thanks to Katie, who recommended this book to me!