East of Eden Discussion

Here we are at the end of another month. East of Eden was quite an undertaking and if there are any of you who have read it before (Briana, nudge - nudge) please feel free to comment too.

This reviewer says East of Eden is a bore and should never be re-red or even read. I know a lot of people associate Steinbeck with heavy reading because we were all 'forced' to read something of his in High School when we would have rather been reading Seventeen or Cosmo. I did have a hard time getting into the book...did you?


Here is one of the questions I stole from This site:

Adam Trask struggles to overcome the actions of others—his father, brother, and wife—and make his own life. What is the lesson that he learns that frees him from Kate and allows him to love his sons? He says to Cal near the end that "if you want to give me a present—give me a good life. That would be something I could value." Does Adam have a good life? What hinders him? Would you characterize his life as successful in the end?

And another:

What constitutes true wealth in the book? The Hamiltons and the Trasks are most explicitly differentiated by their relationship to money: though Sam Hamilton works hard he accumulates little, while Adam Trask moons and mourns and lives off the money acquired by his father. Think of different times that money is sought after or rejected by characters (such as Will Hamilton and Cal Trask) and the role that it plays to help and hinder them in realizing their dreams. Does the quest for money ever obscure deeper desires?

So here we are...lets get the comments rolling...If you have comments that don't relate to the questions above - that is AWESOME...please share them.