East of Eden

John Steinbeck 1952

Devastation Rating

Emotionally Ruined
family literary fiction historical philosophical

Our Take

Steinbeck's Cain and Abel across two American families, and the word timshel — thou mayest — as the only answer to original sin. Cathy/Kate is evil and Sam Hamilton is grace and the Trask men are caught between them. A novel that contains the whole argument about whether people can choose to be good.

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