I am part of a monthly book club called, affectionately and jokingly, “The Book Club For Snobs.” It’s been meeting for the larger part of 20 years! It’s an invite-only kind of membership (thus the name), but none of us are really snobs — unless you consider loving the classics snobbish. The club has members of all ages and life stages and, even though it’s only been a few months for me, I can already tell that these women and I will be friends for many years to come. When we meet every 4 weeks or so, we usually don’t talk a lot beyond the book and general discussion questions; to be honest, I don’t even know the last name of several of the members. But what I have found is in sharing the love of reading, asking the hard questions in response, learning about things outside of the scope of my personal beliefs, I have quickly found a setting that is the right soil for my personal growth. I hope if you too get lost within the pages of a book, you will seek out to join a community so we all can rumble over the idea Oscar Wilde so poignantly phrased: “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life.”
A good book is like a well placed mirror, it helps us see what we need to, when we need to.- Leah Graham
The first book I want to introduce you to in this series is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I had never before read a book by Steinbeck (Shocking and tragic, I know!). EofE is a memorable and sweeping tale of three generations of the Trask family, which turns out to be a modern retelling of the Cain & Abel/Good vs. Evil origin story from the Bible. With each generation of the family, members represented the “good” and the “bad” and this was hinted at by Steinbeck with the names of the good folks all start with the letter “A” (like Abel in the Bible) and the the bad folks start with the letter “C” (like Cain). Oddly enough, throughout the story I often found myself feeling angry at the good characters and wanting to shake because “they should know better” and even excuse away the bad characters at different points in the story. Mixed up, eh? An overarching theme is that each person has a choice to make with the hand life deals us. So…will we or won’t we ______?
Throughout the book, Steinbeck’s writing makes e a quick detour to the side of the road to help the reader take in the picture of the surroundings. Steinbeck’s writing on the landscape and daily living of the Salinas Valley in California makes me want to jump in the car and road trip there only to be disappointed the farm doesn’t exist, and the Hamilton neighbors (based on Steinbeck’s actual kin) are long gone. The characters and dialogue are rich and every couple of chapters brings a plot development that left me reeling. And believed I was actually holding my breath during the last 2 pages of the book.
Favorite Character:
Lee. He is the voice of reason and intellect and the glue that holds the Trask family together. Lee is a first generation Chinese-American, born from hard working immigrant parents with a tragic story of their involvement with the construction of the California railway. Lee is a key player and takes the role of saying out loud what most the reader is thinking or questioning. It is Lee’s character that examines the most profound idea of the book, the Hebrew word, “Timshel”( Thou mayest, thou mayest not) also known as personal choice and free will. I wish Steinbeck would have made a prequel on the life and times of Lee, he didn’t, but it just goes to show the worthiness of his character and how even the smaller players made up a grand cast in this morality tale.
Memorable Quotes:
“I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.”
“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.”
“People like you to be something, preferably what they are.”
“It’s a hard thing to leave any deeply routine life, even if you hate it.”
What have you been reading lately?
Have you East of Eden or any other works by John Steinbeck? If so, what did you think of it?
Let me know in the comments! And be on the lookout for more in this series.
