What I find kind of hilarious, is that the first paragraph of the “Major Themes” part of Wikipedia’s page on East of Eden makes explicit reference to Cain and Able and references the quotation from Genesis from which the title is derived. She didn’t even have to read the book, she just needed to do some minimal amount of research on the book. She didn’t bother, which says pretty much everything.
I'm so sick of other people telling me that my reading, my comprehension, my "imagining" is not sufficient when I read something, so I need those same people (who make it clear in every action that they hate me) to "reimagine" it for me. Thankfully I don't watch any of this crap because they always give themselves away, but it disgusts me all the same.
No reason to watch another retelling of a classic through the eyes of a modern feminist lens. They use the names of tried and true classics only to get people to watch. Full well knowing it’s the only shot anyone would be interested in there awful storytelling. East of Eden was a wonderful story that needs no further interpretation. Making a series that is true to the source material would be wildly popular, no reimagining is needed. These narcissists just don’t see it that way. I suspect they will make Cathy the victim of some sort of abuse at a young age, most likely by her father or some sort of Christian pastor to explain her evil ways. Completely ignoring the text Steinbeck laid out in plain English.
Destruction of the source material and demoralization of the fans is the point.
What gets me is that people keep paying for it. (And then being disappointed.) What did you expect? How many times do you have to be kicked in the face before you realize... there's a 99% chance I'm going to get kicked in the face. When they tell you who they are, believe them!
I loved East of Eden. It is one of my favorite books, and I had the same reaction as you did. I read it about the same time (early high school years). I didn't like the Grapes of Wrath, and my English teacher suggested I read East of Eden. When baby Adam is given a rag with whiskey because he wouldn't stop crying, I was floored. I had never read anything like it, and maybe because I tend to be a nurturer, it was a scene that has stuck with me my entire life. (Plus, the beauty of the area, near where I grew up, is so well done by Steinbeck. It reminds me of what California had been during its golden years.) .... You are absolutely correct in your analysis of Cathy Ames. God gave us free will. There is good and there is evil and we ignore evil at our peril.
I'll add, that as a thriller writer I will always seek to understand why my villains do what they do. That doesn't mean I sympathize with all of them, or that they are always justified in their actions, but that understanding villains also helps us understand our heroes.
I'm so glad other readers didn't like The Grapes of Wrath! I couldn't finish it. I've always been a bit embarrassed to admit that because TGOW is supposedly one of the Great American Novels.
I had to read it in high school and just thought it was depressing. East of Eden was depressing, but there was also hope, and it was beautifully written. I also love family sagas. The people in the story made it unputdownable.
Forgive me if I'm being dense (no coffee yet this morning), but if East of Eden "is the second greatest novel ever written about the power of personal agency," what is the first?
From what I know about Liza, it would be something by Dostoyevsky. Most likely The Brothers Karamazov but maybe she’d give title to Crime and Punishment.
I need to reread EoE. It's been years. I always struggle with stories with big family trees and multiple generations. (Also, WHY do authors name characters with the same names?!) Most of my mental energy is devoted to keep track of who is who.
But I do remember Cathy. I didn't remember all the details, so thanks for the recap. All I remembered was I had never before hated a character as much as I hated that woman! Never in all my life had I had such a reaction to a book. I LOATHED her.
I wonder if Steinbeck did it intentionally as a "tribute" or callback to Wuthering Heights? I have no idea. Just a wild guess on my part. It maybe has nothing to do with it.
Well, this was timely. Solely on account of this Substack, I ordered a copy of East of Eden a couple weeks ago and started reading this weekend. Read through the first 8 chapters. Imagine my surprise to see this in my email this morning! (I did stop reading today’s post about halfway through to avoid spoilers.)
East of Eden is my all time favorite book and I was hopeful about the adaptation until I read the interviews with the cast and director. I doubt I will even waste my time watching it now. It is a sad state of affairs for sure. Also won't be watching the Narnia mess.
Same here. I was hopeful that a 7-part series could capture some of its breadth and beauty. I can’t think of a more ambitious and sweeping book than East of Eden. It is part love letter to California, part family lore, and part remarkable tale of personal agency. It’s also one of my top 10 favorites of all time. Instead, we have been shown that it was taken on by people who seemingly willfully misinterpreted it.
I really like “Grapes of Wrath”. I read it in high school, and then again many years later, partly because my nephew was in a stage production. I don’t think of it as simply “American Dream is gone” but more along the lines of a semi-history. I have mixed feelings about “Of Mice and Men” because I saw the film first and that often makes the book just strange.
I’ve not read much else of his. I found the short stories simply not engaging.
I will give East of Eden a try. Even without any knowledge of it other than the title and the author, it would never occur to me that it wasn’t , in some way, connected to Cain and Abel.
That's the thing, though. You still have some connection to the Bible, even as literature. Even if you have never read the Bible, that reference is in your mind through the culture. Many people today no longer have that cultural memory.
That’s so true. A good friend who is an atheist has said she was very grateful for a course that included a lot of basic Bible literacy because so much of Western civilization - literature, art and music assumes a degree of knowledge.
ANd that knowledge is vanishing. Years ago , a co-worker shocked me when he asked me about ‘that weird play and meal in the middle of a wedding ceremony’ by which he mean a standard communion service.
We live in times where people go soft headed on evil foolishly believing that it is okay as long as doesn't blindside them when they least expect it. Only as long as they don't have to take the fall. This seems to be playing out in all aspects of our society and everyone's lives. And so it seeps into Netflix.
A necessary and important essay.The relativism, the re-invention of evil as "good," the everybody-has-his-reasons, the sheer inability to see, recognize, and call out evil is killing us
Madam, my great books/classics reading list is long enough that I may not finish in this lifetime, and yet I am pondering whether or not to purchase East of Eden so that I at least have it on hand, should the time come I can read it.
THANK YOU! I got into a massive argument years ago in my high school Honors English class when my teacher tried to sell us the same schlock that the Netflix series is apparently trying to do. We had to do a group discussion project and all my fellow group members gave me a 2/5 because I was "being difficult" (read: telling the truth about one of the most evil women in literature after Madame DeFarge and possibly Lady M, with Jadis *maybe* getting an honorable mention if I was pressed), and my Honors English teacher gave me a D and said maybe I hadn't read the book thoughtfully enough, as Cathy was "a victim of circumstances" and we "should empathize with her" (!!!!!!!). I dropped her class.
Wow, I wonder if that’s where my dad got his projections on me—from Steinbeck’s Cathy. He told me I was born without a soul because I left the cult I was born and raised in. A fav book of mine btw. All time. Evidently I need not to watch the movie.
What I find kind of hilarious, is that the first paragraph of the “Major Themes” part of Wikipedia’s page on East of Eden makes explicit reference to Cain and Able and references the quotation from Genesis from which the title is derived. She didn’t even have to read the book, she just needed to do some minimal amount of research on the book. She didn’t bother, which says pretty much everything.
Yes she literally just had to look on Wikipedia. 😂
I'm so sick of other people telling me that my reading, my comprehension, my "imagining" is not sufficient when I read something, so I need those same people (who make it clear in every action that they hate me) to "reimagine" it for me. Thankfully I don't watch any of this crap because they always give themselves away, but it disgusts me all the same.
No reason to watch another retelling of a classic through the eyes of a modern feminist lens. They use the names of tried and true classics only to get people to watch. Full well knowing it’s the only shot anyone would be interested in there awful storytelling. East of Eden was a wonderful story that needs no further interpretation. Making a series that is true to the source material would be wildly popular, no reimagining is needed. These narcissists just don’t see it that way. I suspect they will make Cathy the victim of some sort of abuse at a young age, most likely by her father or some sort of Christian pastor to explain her evil ways. Completely ignoring the text Steinbeck laid out in plain English.
Destruction of the source material and demoralization of the fans is the point.
What gets me is that people keep paying for it. (And then being disappointed.) What did you expect? How many times do you have to be kicked in the face before you realize... there's a 99% chance I'm going to get kicked in the face. When they tell you who they are, believe them!
Great essay.
I loved East of Eden. It is one of my favorite books, and I had the same reaction as you did. I read it about the same time (early high school years). I didn't like the Grapes of Wrath, and my English teacher suggested I read East of Eden. When baby Adam is given a rag with whiskey because he wouldn't stop crying, I was floored. I had never read anything like it, and maybe because I tend to be a nurturer, it was a scene that has stuck with me my entire life. (Plus, the beauty of the area, near where I grew up, is so well done by Steinbeck. It reminds me of what California had been during its golden years.) .... You are absolutely correct in your analysis of Cathy Ames. God gave us free will. There is good and there is evil and we ignore evil at our peril.
I'll add, that as a thriller writer I will always seek to understand why my villains do what they do. That doesn't mean I sympathize with all of them, or that they are always justified in their actions, but that understanding villains also helps us understand our heroes.
I'm so glad other readers didn't like The Grapes of Wrath! I couldn't finish it. I've always been a bit embarrassed to admit that because TGOW is supposedly one of the Great American Novels.
I had to read it in high school and just thought it was depressing. East of Eden was depressing, but there was also hope, and it was beautifully written. I also love family sagas. The people in the story made it unputdownable.
It’s not as great as East of Eden! Lol
Forgive me if I'm being dense (no coffee yet this morning), but if East of Eden "is the second greatest novel ever written about the power of personal agency," what is the first?
I believe she puts The Brothers Karamazov in the number one spot.
From what I know about Liza, it would be something by Dostoyevsky. Most likely The Brothers Karamazov but maybe she’d give title to Crime and Punishment.
‘Just William’ - the bits with Violet Elizabeth Bott.
I also want to know!
Maybe Huck Finn?
I need to reread EoE. It's been years. I always struggle with stories with big family trees and multiple generations. (Also, WHY do authors name characters with the same names?!) Most of my mental energy is devoted to keep track of who is who.
But I do remember Cathy. I didn't remember all the details, so thanks for the recap. All I remembered was I had never before hated a character as much as I hated that woman! Never in all my life had I had such a reaction to a book. I LOATHED her.
And then I read Wuthering Heights.
What is it with woman named Cathy with a "C"?!
Well Catherine with a C used to be the more common spelling.
I wonder if Steinbeck did it intentionally as a "tribute" or callback to Wuthering Heights? I have no idea. Just a wild guess on my part. It maybe has nothing to do with it.
"Great literature must contain a moral vision." This, in a nutshell. That same actually applies to good commercial fiction, too.
Well, this was timely. Solely on account of this Substack, I ordered a copy of East of Eden a couple weeks ago and started reading this weekend. Read through the first 8 chapters. Imagine my surprise to see this in my email this morning! (I did stop reading today’s post about halfway through to avoid spoilers.)
East of Eden is my all time favorite book and I was hopeful about the adaptation until I read the interviews with the cast and director. I doubt I will even waste my time watching it now. It is a sad state of affairs for sure. Also won't be watching the Narnia mess.
Same here. I was hopeful that a 7-part series could capture some of its breadth and beauty. I can’t think of a more ambitious and sweeping book than East of Eden. It is part love letter to California, part family lore, and part remarkable tale of personal agency. It’s also one of my top 10 favorites of all time. Instead, we have been shown that it was taken on by people who seemingly willfully misinterpreted it.
I really like “Grapes of Wrath”. I read it in high school, and then again many years later, partly because my nephew was in a stage production. I don’t think of it as simply “American Dream is gone” but more along the lines of a semi-history. I have mixed feelings about “Of Mice and Men” because I saw the film first and that often makes the book just strange.
I’ve not read much else of his. I found the short stories simply not engaging.
I will give East of Eden a try. Even without any knowledge of it other than the title and the author, it would never occur to me that it wasn’t , in some way, connected to Cain and Abel.
That's the thing, though. You still have some connection to the Bible, even as literature. Even if you have never read the Bible, that reference is in your mind through the culture. Many people today no longer have that cultural memory.
That’s so true. A good friend who is an atheist has said she was very grateful for a course that included a lot of basic Bible literacy because so much of Western civilization - literature, art and music assumes a degree of knowledge.
ANd that knowledge is vanishing. Years ago , a co-worker shocked me when he asked me about ‘that weird play and meal in the middle of a wedding ceremony’ by which he mean a standard communion service.
Yep! We took it for granted for generations that people would simply know basic concepts, names, phrases, etc. In many places, it's nearly gone now.
Give The Pearl a try too! I reread it a couple of years ago and was blown away by it. The way music threads through it is exquisitely done.
I will !
Bravo!
We live in times where people go soft headed on evil foolishly believing that it is okay as long as doesn't blindside them when they least expect it. Only as long as they don't have to take the fall. This seems to be playing out in all aspects of our society and everyone's lives. And so it seeps into Netflix.
A necessary and important essay.The relativism, the re-invention of evil as "good," the everybody-has-his-reasons, the sheer inability to see, recognize, and call out evil is killing us
Madam, my great books/classics reading list is long enough that I may not finish in this lifetime, and yet I am pondering whether or not to purchase East of Eden so that I at least have it on hand, should the time come I can read it.
You should bump East of Eden near the top of your list. It is seminal.
Go for it! Or just get it at the library. It should be easily found.
THANK YOU! I got into a massive argument years ago in my high school Honors English class when my teacher tried to sell us the same schlock that the Netflix series is apparently trying to do. We had to do a group discussion project and all my fellow group members gave me a 2/5 because I was "being difficult" (read: telling the truth about one of the most evil women in literature after Madame DeFarge and possibly Lady M, with Jadis *maybe* getting an honorable mention if I was pressed), and my Honors English teacher gave me a D and said maybe I hadn't read the book thoughtfully enough, as Cathy was "a victim of circumstances" and we "should empathize with her" (!!!!!!!). I dropped her class.
Wow, I wonder if that’s where my dad got his projections on me—from Steinbeck’s Cathy. He told me I was born without a soul because I left the cult I was born and raised in. A fav book of mine btw. All time. Evidently I need not to watch the movie.