3 Reasons to Read "East of Eden" to Close Out 2023

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Hi there, readers!

Starting November 5th and ending just before Christmas, the Big Read will be reading and discussing John Steinbeck’s 1952 East of Eden. Set in California’s Salinas Valley, this historical novel tells the multi-generational story of the Trask and Hamilton families; it especially zeroes in on the rivalry between two brothers, Cal and Aron (standing in for Cain and Abel), and their relationships with their fathers.

Join us to read the novel that Steinbeck himself considered his masterpiece. Below are three reasons to close out 2023 with an all-time American classic.

East of Eden touches on life’s foundational themes

Most classic novels have attained that status because they explore the universal themes of human experience. In East of Eden, Steinbeck describes and invites readers to consider the most foundational ideas of our existence: the eternal struggle between right and wrong, the passage (and seasons) of time, family (siblings, marriage, parenthood), identity, money and work, the nature of love itself.

There are plenty of universal themes to be found in literature; those that Steinbeck brings to us in East of Eden are the bedrock of what we’re doing here.

Steinbeck joins the external and internal

“John Steinbeck brings together the human heart and the land.”

—Naturalist and author Barry Lopez

In response to that thought-provoking quote, John Steinbeck scholar Dr. Susan Shillinglaw said this:

“Lopez urges us to consider two primal landscapes: external landscapes — our relations to the land, to oaks, to the whir of night frogs — and interior landscapes, often shaped by the places where we live. John Steinbeck’s work brings together both these landscapes in extraordinary ways, ways that may deeply affect those of us living at the cusp of a new century.”

Few authors combine these two elements as well as Steinbeck. As we read East of Eden together over the next couple of months, we’ll explore what this interplay means and what it looks like in our world and in our lives.

Steinbeck’s writing embraces the fullness of life

“Steinbeck endures because he does not permit readers to complacently dig in, like the hermit crab. He embraces the fullness of life. With compassion, tolerance, and humility, he surveys landscapes: of place, of spirit, of a nation.”

—Dr. Susan Shillinglaw

Modern readers should need no further exhortation to dive into John Steinbeck than that “he embraces the fullness of life.” In a society that’s been made shallow and uninteresting by our all-consuming screens, the fullness of life is exactly what I’m after.

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• Weekly recaps with background, contextual material, and highlights from that week’s chapters.

• Access to our robust weekly discussions, where you’ll get invaluable insights from a diverse community of readers.

• The motivation and accountability to read an all-time classic. Even a great story sometimes requires a bit of endurance.

Reading schedule

As noted above, we’re starting on Sunday, November 5th. I’ll kick us off on that date with some further background and contextual material on Steinbeck and East of Eden. We’ll read ~80 pages per week and I’ll send recaps of the previous week’s reading each Sunday morning. Keep in mind that the reading schedule is just a guideline. Read ahead if you feel like it, or save a couple of weeks of reading for a single sitting.

The idea is not to have a rigid system but rather a rough guide so that the recaps and discussions make sense.

Here’s the Google Sheets link to the schedule.

And here’s a downloadable PDF:

East Of Eden Reading Schedule Sheet1

37.8KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

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I hope you’ll join me! It’s going to be a blast. If you have any questions or comments, don’t hesitate to comment or email me back.

-Jeremy