It’s time for a classic! Our December selection will be John Steinbeck’s 1952 masterpiece, East of Eden.
Steinbeck considered East of Eden to be his greatest work. He said, “I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this.”
Discussion begins December 1st. Please join us!
Happy that this classic is the book for our December discussion!
One of the best books ever written.
How Steinbeck came to win the Nobel Prize:
Will look forward to reading this with you!
Addendum to NJTM’s post #3:
I ordered a copy of the book: love the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/East-Eden-Penguin-Orange-Collection/dp/0143129481/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1476443965&sr=1-1&keywords=east+of+eden
^ Quite a stylistic change from the original cover: https://theamericanscholar.org/john-steinbecks-east-of-eden/#.WADWlOs8KrU
Why does that Penguin Orange Collection edition have a bunny on it??
Patience, @NJTheatreMOM, and all shall be revealed to you…I’ll just say that rabbit hunting plays a role in the novel.
Here’s the rest of the collection: http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/PNG/penguin-orange-collection
Will I own them all? Maybe, just maybe.
Hmm … East of Eden and rabbit - enough Google hits to mean something - including a character named Rabbit - BUT I don’t want to figure out the whys and wherefores. I’d enter spoiler territory. (I haven’t read the book.)
I have already started the book. I was just going to dip into it and read a few pages at the beginning to get a feel for it, but it sucked me right in.
I’m happy to confess that I’m just LOVING East of Eden. (Yes, me, the old curmudgeon who finds fault with almost everything.) This may sound weird, but I find there to be a sort of hearty muscularity (dare I say virility?? 
) to the writing that’s big turn-on.
My dad was born in the same decade as Steinbeck and also lived in the West when he was growing up. He used to try to model his affect on John Wayne, more or less, though he was actually a more sensitive soul inside.
When I’m reading the book, I can almost imagine the narrative being spoken in my dad’s voice.
I’m pretty certain I’m going to go back and read East of Eden a second time as soon as I finish it. Thanks so much, book club! I probably would never have picked up this book if not for you guys.
I’m so glad to hear that, @NJTheatreMOM. I am looking forward to getting started myself. I hope you are just as enthusiastic by page 608!
I’ve ordered my Kindle copy. We’re headed out Monday on a 10 day trip that will include beach time, so I hope to get a jump on the book then.
I read this once as a college student and again 35 years later. I’m glad to have a reason to read it again before December! What a great choice.
I re-read East of Eden several years ago and I was totally engrossed in the story, the setting, the characters. It is an outstanding choice.
Just finished East of Eden. Once I started it, I could hardly put it down. It was amazing! Beautifully written, intense, rich in dramatic incident, and introspective. It even had a satisfying ending, which I had somehow not expected.
I plan to go back and reread the book next month and take notes, in order to be ready for our discussion beginning December 1. See you then!
(I won’t be watching the 1955 movie starring James Dean. I’ve discovered that the film completely leaves out one of my favorite characters – a travesty!)
LOL, I’m having the exact opposite experience. It’s pretty much everything I despise! But I will struggle on and look forward to the discussion!
So interesting, mathmom! Well, at least I won’t be the grumpy naysayer this time around.
I probably read this book five times during high school. It will be interesting to see how I find it as an old lady