East of Eden | 
Steinbeck status: on page 28 of 600. 😆 (I'll be reading this one slowly; it's not one to be rushed. I feel like I need to chew each sentence, to fully absorb it. And that's a good feeling for me right now. 😊) I'm also highlighting passages like crazy! This is a great example of how descriptive the book is. 🌼♥️
New book and a view for my lunchtime break today. 😍
This book is just over #600pages and is one I hope to read eventually. Though I haven‘t had much luck with his books to date…
I have a picture of this bust on Cannery Row from 1993, but I‘m too lazy to dig out my old camera chip and upload it to the laptop. This photo is courtesy of the Library of Congress website.
#bookmoods
Working on a chapter a day. Coffee, Deck views, happiness.
bailedA rare occurrence for me, but I am cutting my loses and bailing on this one. I‘m sure it pays off but I can‘t get through the copious rambling dialogue and the outright offensive descriptions of things. It has taken me 2 weeks to not get 200 pages in and I CANNOT fathom reading 400 more. I wanted to finish it because it‘s a classic, but who cares? Maybe I‘ll revisit when there aren‘t so many glorious tomes watching me suffer from the TBR shelf 🪦
Sitting outside with my multiple drinks and multiple books for the multiple facets of my personality 👯♀️
I went to dinner and to see The Batman and then got home and was going to start reading this, but I really just took this picture and been scrolling 📱📵📖
pickMy latest read in my new bookcase! I‘ve been meaning to read this for decade, finally got it done! Such an expansive, complex and American book, I didn‘t love it but I appreciated it and the place it holds in our history and literary culture. The characters are iconic, the writing exceptional and now I want to watch the classic movie with James Dean. #BookspinBingo #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks #20in4 @Andrew65 #MountTBR
#currentlisten #BFC21 Trying to finish this 25 hour #audiobook before the end of the year. Halfway there, will take a lot of walking! #chunkster
pickIt's still that good. If you've not read it, read it.
"Hate cannot live alone. It must have love as a trigger, a goad, or a stimulant."
"I guess no matter how weak and negative a good man is, he has as many sins on him as he can bear. I have enough sins to trouble me. Maybe they aren't very fine sins compared to some, but, the way I feel, they're all I can take care of. Please forgive me."
"I know that sometimes a lie is used in kindness. I don't believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost. That's a running sore."
"We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virute, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is."
"You're a brave man," Lee said.
"No, I'm an old man. And if I should have anything on my conscience it won't be for long."
"An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie. It takes great courage to back a truth unacceptable to our times. There's a punishment for it, and it's usually crucifixion."
"There are no ugly questions except those clothed in condescension."
"There's a capacity for appetite that a whole heaven and earth of cake can't satisfy."
"When two men live together they usually maintain a kind of shabby neatness out of incipient rage at each other."
"A man so painfully in love is capable of self-torture beyond belief"
"There was a real fear mixed up in his love, and the precipitate from the mixing of these two is cruelty."
"Eventlessness has no posts to drape duration on. From nothing to nothing is no time at all."
"His conscience bridged him to his brother and did his pain for him the way at other times he had done his homework."
"She had a dour Presbyterian mind and a code of morals that pinned down and beat the brains out of nearly everything that was pleasant to do."
I've known one or two such Presbyterians.
"You can boast about anything if it's all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast."
pickA great novel which speaks on the battle between good and evil that we, as humans, are each are entangled in. Highly recommend.
I am finally reading East of Eden which I have meant to do for many years. No time like the present, especially during Banned Books Week! #bannedbook
Despite being a Steinbeck fan, I have never read East of Eden. Starting a buddy read with my neighbor.
pickWhen I start a book that I just KNOW is going to be great after the first 30-50 pages, I do one of two things: devour it as fast as possible, or savor it over many weeks. I took the latter approach with this one. After all, there‘s no time like the first time!
This book is a masterpiece. I don‘t know why I waited so long to read it. I‘ve always loved the movie but now I look at them as 2 totally separate things. Please, read this! 5⭐️
#classic
Just finished my weekly pages in East of Eden. I‘m at the halfway point. It‘s good, and not at all like I expected it to be. This is my first Steinbeck, and I‘m glad that it‘s easy reading. #deweysreadathon
pickThis book is a beautiful and wonderful read that takes time and patience (the plot is not streamlined or linear) and is well worth the effort. It follows a plethora of characters that all intertwine and connect in some way, all of which have some impact on the reader in large and small ways, as they seek love, acceptance, identity, glory, worth, money, revenge, and passions.
pickJust finished East of Eden and realized that this book ends on a mic drop/“daaaaaaaaayum” moment. This is the pinnacle of Steinbeck—nay, American lit. (Sorry Sam Clemens.) You definitely need to have some patience with it since it doesn‘t necessarily have a super concrete plot. But man, is this ever the type of book that makes you pause after finishing it, hold it and its heft in two hands, stare at the cover and go, “...... Whoa.”
About halfway through East of Eden. Did not expect to enjoy this one as much as I am. Steinbeck at peak Steinbeck perhaps. Might keep this one in the shelves.
pickLast six chapters are worth their weight in gold.
pickThis family saga was an excellent read about the nature of man. Steinbeck was a master of character development, and he did it best in this book. Steinbeck captures the essence of man's struggle to do well and rule over sin when it knocks on the door, especially when it comes to the strong emotions tied to family.
"The Salinas Valley is in Northern California."
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
#meetthelittens
1. Pittsburgh, PA, USA
2. East of Eden followed by Dracula
3. Lord of the Rings, but the McCarthy border trilogy is great.
4. The Prestige. The book? just ok.
5. Arrested Development or Futurama
6. The Oh Hellos and Tow'rs are my current favs (check out reviews on my blog www.bgfg77.com... I like lyrics)
7. Grey. Yep, grey.
8. Literary Fiction
9. Dick's Sporting Goods & By Grace For Glory Publishing (#writtenbyalitten)
10. Nopers
Hate cannot live alone. It must have love as a trigger, a goad, or a stimulant.
Once Adam had remarked on the quiet splendor of Lee‘s clothes, and Lee had grinned at him. “I have to do it,” he said. “One must be very rich to dress as badly as you do. The poor are forced to dress well.”
I know that sometimes a lie is used in kindness. I don‘t believe it ever works kindly. The quick pain of truth can pass away, but the slow, eating agony of a lie is never lost.
pickThe kind of book that you can revisit at many stages in your life, and you‘ll take away something new from it each time.
We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil. And it occurs to me that evil must constantly respawn, while good, while virtue, is immortal. Vice has always a new fresh young face, while virtue is venerable as nothing else in the world is.
You can boast about anything if it‘s all you have. Maybe the less you have, the more you are required to boast.
“You see, there's a responsibility in being a person. It's more than just taking up space where air would be.” ― John Steinbeck
#thoughtprovokingthursday @BayouGirl85
Thanks for the tag @EadieB ❤️
pickSteinbeck has certainly given his all to one of his most renowned books. East of Eden is ambitious and incredibly descriptive. His character portrayals are fantastic and he plays out a contemporary version of the stories of the Garden of Eden and Cain and Abel. The prose and geographic descriptions of Salinas too are thoroughly enjoyable. He questions identity, and love, about how they manifest in people or why they don‘t. I recommend.
