description: In his journal, John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families-the Trasks and the Hamiltons-whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new, rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives, nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness, enveloped by a mysterious darkness. First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.
language: English
title: East of Eden
titlecomplete: East of Eden
characters: Will Hamilton, Olive Hamilton, Samuel Hamilton, Liza Hamilton, Tom Hamilton, Caleb Trask, Charles Trask, Cyrus Trask, Lee, Dessie Hamilton, Abra Bacon, Aron Trask, Adam Trask, Cathy Ames, Joe Valery
genres: 20th Century, American, Historical Fiction, Historical, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature, Classic Literature, Classics, Fiction
ratings_count: 518928
places: Salinas Valley, California, The United States of America, California
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Audie Award
category: Classic, awardedAt: 1641024000000
name: Deutscher Hörbuchpreis
category: Bestes Hörspiel, awardedAt: -536428800000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction
publisher: Penguin Books