EAST OF EDEN

My little bro gave Subaruwoman the John Steinbeck novel, "East of Eden," for Christmas a few years ago. At the time it was not on my list of books to read. Watching her read each page closely and hearing her gasp and awe, I decided I had to read this oldie. I'm sure I had been told to read this in my college years but I probably read the Cliff Notes instead so I could spend my time doing anything but read a novel. There are a few reasons that I enjoyed this novel. First, they really don't write novels like that any more. It was good without having to be too dramatic or throw in shock value to keep the readers attention. Secondly, it has one of the most evil characters I've encountered in a novel. She didn't hack anybody up and eat them--not Hannibal kind of evil. But evil like a politician might be evil--conniving and confidently so. Lastly and the main reason I enjoyed this novel is because Steinbeck was on to Family Systems Theory long before anybody else. He understood family dynamics and what happens when one family member receives all the attention due to some deficit and how secrets eventually creep up from the gutter of our lives and infest and sometimes destroy people. Good stuff. Beware, small portions of the novel are a bit politically incorrect. Nevertheless, I do recommend when you complete the latest greatest book that made Oprah's Book List, you pick up an oldie like East of Eden, dust it off and give yourself some time to read it in big chunks. Hope you likie likie.