Sixteen novels published by John Steinbeck Before his death in 1968, “East of Eden“I think everything else I’ve written is in some sense practical for that,” he said of the multigenerational saga about two families in the author’s farming hometown of Salinas, California. Published in 1952, the book is told by a fictionalized version of Steinbeck’s account of the sufferings of the rich but miserable Trasks and the difficult but spirited Hamiltons from the late nineteenth century. century until the First World War.
“East of Eden” is back on the cultural radar with Netflix’s thrilling new adaptation about Cathy Ames (played by Florence Pugh), a headstrong woman who marries the hapless Adam Trask, gives birth to twins, and abandons them all as soon as she becomes physically fit to join and eventually run a brothel. (When the man asks her what she’s going to do with the two babies, she tells him to throw them down the well.) Suffice it to say, Cathy is the main reason for going along with the situation.
I hope it’s not too blasphemous to say that I prefer the miniseries to the book. find adaptation quite erratic. Zoe Kazan, the creator of the series, makes Cathy sympathetic; her evil character is a product of the sexist violence of her time. Steinbeck didn’t bother to do this because he saw him as a born sociopath. I also loved Kazan’s detailing of the character of Lee, Adam’s brain servant, who struggles with the issue of not truly belonging anywhere as a Chinese American in the early twentieth-century United States while raising Adam’s children.
However, the novel is not without its advantages. The series’ major advantage is the sense of historical scope conveyed through the book’s aging narrator; The narrator tries to describe how things used to be: what a miracle refrigerators were in the beginning, or how absurdly difficult it was to start the first automobiles. (My favorite chapter is about the narrator’s mother, Olive Hamilton, taking her first flight. She says the mother “doesn’t believe” in aviation—the Wright brothers had taken their first trip less than twenty years ago—but Olive gets on the plane despite her fear of not disappointing her children.) I didn’t always respond to the narrator’s folkish chattering tone, but her love of her hometown—the seasons, the smells—gives the story meaning. temperature that does not transfer much from page to screen. And like all beloved multi-generational tales, the novel is wonderfully gripping; This is especially impressive because it deals with Steinbeck’s own family history.
For those who enjoy this kind of gripping story, read Jeffrey Eugenides’ “Middlesex,” a multi-generational epic that blends fantasy and biography. Or, if the historical backdrop of “East of Eden” intrigues you, try Min Jin Lee’s nearly century-spanning “East of Eden.”Pachinko” explores the effects of Japan’s colonization of Korea on one family. Or read Isabel Allende’s magical-realist work:House of SpiritsA work that combines references to the political turmoil in Chile with complex family dynamics.
For more: Read how our critic Alexandra Schwartz explains how the show unnecessarily softens Steinbeck’s worst character.