Rereading Steinbeck’s East of Eden and found this amazing aerial of Salinas, CA in 1906 on the library of congress website. You can see the Steinbeck house close to center, but he was only 4 years old at the time. The red light district and Chinatown is on this side of the train tracks to the left, just off camera (where “Kate’s” was). Lots of real places in this photo that were mythologized and made it into the book. I also figured out where the Hamilton Ranch was about 40 minutes south and it’s still as lonely and barren as it was described.

East of Eden is my favorite book, so I’m honestly really disappointed by some of these changes. The Hamiltons are such an important part of the heart, history, and philosophy of the novel, and changing Cathy’s character this much worries me too. I understand that adaptations have to make cuts, but this is one of those books where the details and themes are the whole point. I really, really hope they haven’t stripped away what makes East of Eden so extraordinary.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/east-of-eden-netflix-adaptation_uk_6abd0962e4b02a789b31b7fc

So I have a book that has: Of Mice and Men, the Pearl, Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row. I read 3 of those. And my favourites are (it may sound overly harsh but I want to give more information to go off of):

1. Of mice and men. Straight-forward prose, liked the George and Lenny dynamic, overall deep characters given the volume of words, the ending I didn't expect and it kind of stuck with me.

   1. Cannery Row. Had some hilarious moments, liked Doc and Mack and the gang very much, some subplots were interesting but lead nowhere. Also I found the setting of Monterey kind of boring. I guess it's his hometown area but apart from the different animals I don't know how it would be good for worldbuilding.
   2. The Pearl. The message and the ending is good but pace and my familiarity with the setting is bad.

So do I go for Tortilla Flat (which I have) or East of Eden?

I gave up tattooing a while ago, but I made an exception for Ed Ricketts.

Cannery Row is my favorite book, and it had a huge influence on my graphic novel inspired by the history of the central California coast, so this felt like a fittingly permanent way to honor that particular fixation.

The portrait also had to be tattooed upside down from my perspective, on the outside of my calf, while I folded myself into a shape not recognized by modern anatomy. All things considered, I’m pretty happy with it.

Based on Steinbeck's 1947 novel of the same name, directed by Victor Vicas, and starring Joan Collins, Jayne Mansfield, Dan Dailey, and Rick Jason.

/r/steinbeck is ready for a fresh start, new energy, new direction, and someone like you to bring it back to life. If you’ve been thinking about growing your impact without starting from scratch, this is your chance!

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Interesting and insightful entries regarding John Steinbeck from Twentieth Century Authors (1942) and its First Supplement (1955). These two volumes contain 2,550 author entries and the editors requested autobiographical sketches, but not surprisingly Steinbeck didn't provide one.

Hey guys! I wrote this article on East of Eden and wanted to share it here. I'm a big fan of Steinbeck, and psychology, so this is an article on Steinbeck and psychology

hello i just finished east of eden and i LOVED it. i have so much to say on it, but the one thing that i could not get out of my head while reading was seeing lee and adam’s relationship as queer-coded. i have seen maybe 2-3 papers tackling the gender dynamics of cathy and lee, but not necessarily the queerness.

i hold the belief that you can really use any lens to analyze anything, so if you didn’t read it that way that’s fine, this was just my interpretation. i was just wondering if anyone else saw it that way? am i alone in this? LOL. like to me this is the exact same way people read the great gatsby with a queer lens.

Didn't expect the end scene to be so quick. I was expecting a long struggle that was very tense (I mean it was, just not this short).

Beautiful

I haven't read East of Eden for about 10 years, but this morning I randomly thought of the scene where Olive wins a ride in the airplane, prompting me to read the chapter over lunch (Ch. 14). Beautiful chapter. "But my poor mother—I must tell you that there are certain things in the existence of which my mother did not believe, against any possible evidence to the contrary. One was a bad Hamilton and another was the airplane. The fact that she had seen them didn’t make her believe in them one bit more."

Hello! I have this collection of 11 old Steinbeck books. I believe most, if not all, of them to be first editions but please correct me if I am mistaken. I am looking to sell these but am having trouble figuring out how. I have contacted my local rare book sellers and have not found interest. I figure I could throw them up on Ebay but am not experienced enough to know how to properly appraise each book. Does anyone have any advice on how to sell these? Or at least how to properly appraise them?

As 2025 comes to an end I thought I’d post my reflections on the year that was my “Steinbeck Year.” I have never been an avid reader of fiction, so needless to say Steinbeck struck a chord with me resulting in a serial reading of 18 of his works. Starting with East of Eden and ending with King Arthur, I actually plan to read Sweet Thursday as my last hurrah. My only regret is that I wish I could have kept a journal of my reflections as I read through each work.

I’ve never read much fiction as an adult. Starting in mid 2024 I resolved to read more, and after knocking out a few books by other and very different authors, I gave East of Eden a go. And it floored me. I thought if Steinbeck could write a compelling story such as that, there would be a whole world of incredible story telling in his works. And while most of the subsequent stories did not hit that EoE level of epic-ness, I came away from the experience more reflective and better for it.

When asked - and I was asked quite often - what it was about Steinbeck that compelled me to read these books back to back, my response usually caught the other person off guard. Given any other author it would be easy to talk about action-packed adventures and inspiring acts of heroism. But the attractiveness of Steinbeck’s works is something different altogether. What is compelling to me about Steinbeck is his ability to narrate life as it happens between the highs and lows. What defines “life” isn’t summiting the peaks or clawing out of the valleys, but living life through the day-to-day, the oftentimes monotonous activities that in aggregate produce more progress and growth. In books like “In Dubious Battle” I’m reminded that there are movements and purposes that outlive a single individual. And while it’s gut-wrenching to read of the demise of the “main” character, it’s also a sobering reminder that none of us are the main character of the larger narrative.

On a lighter note, I would rank my Top 3: - East of Eden - To a God Unknown - Various short stories from the Long Valley (“Saint Katy” specifically)

Honorable Mention to “Cup of Gold.”

I just couldn’t get into “King Arthur” which was actually my first time reading any Arthurian work. While I appreciated finally understanding the source of such a timeless story, I found it boring and repetitive. To add, the Penguin Classics editions of these books provide such a enjoyable and rich context to the particular work at hand. It was interesting to read what was happening in the life of Steinbeck as he conceptualized the story, some over the course of months and others years.

If you’re still reading, thank you for your interest and time! Any recommendations you might have? Even though I read it in High School, should I pick up some of his non-fiction work like “Travels” or “America?”

Timshel,

Austin