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Book Review By David Loftus
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

An epic story of at least two generations of two families -- a deteriorating New England family and a set of Irish immigrants -- is set in California's rich Salinas Valley among a cast of Chinese, Mexicans, and "working girls." Steinbeck portrays the struggle of good and evil in siblings, spouses, and within individual characters; the theme of Cain versus Abel reappears in different settings and time periods from 1865 to 1918. (The fine 1955 movie starring James Dean relates only the last third to half of this sprawling tale, omitting the childhoods and early marriage of his character's parents.) Besides the rollicking tale with a "bad seed woman" near its center, Steinbeck provides a historical backdrop that includes the fortunes of different waves of immigrants to California, the appearance of various inventions (a Ford, a new windmill, an attempt to ship lettuce in icebox train cars), food profiteering in wartime, and organized prostitution across the West.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? -
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 ()

Writing Style
Sex in book? Yes
What kind of sex: - vague references only
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog
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