East of Eden by John Steinbeck Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.68 You Save: $13.32 (74%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of East of Eden
Book Review: 5 STARS.....Deserves nothing less.
Summary: 5 Stars
This and "Of mice and men" have made me a total Steinbeck nut. Im serious, this guy can write! Timshel, I will never forget that word. I really wont, and anyone thats ever read the book will know exactly what Im talking about. I picked this book up after reading "of mice and men" which totally blew me away, not much caring for the prostituted OPRAH label on it, but because the title was intriguing. It centers in around the themes of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel, not in a religious sense but in more of a human kind form of looking at life. The defects of life and society are portrayed to a point where you really gotta sit back and think for a bit. I loved the characters too. I really felt like i Knew Sam hamilton. I loved it. Pick it up. Its a keeper.Book Review: 5 Stars For the Story, 1 For Poor Proofreading
Summary: 3 Stars
Read the other reviews for plot synopsis and lit crit. The reason for the three-star review: Oprah's Book Club edition (and this probably applies to the Centennial edition as well) of Steinbeck's epic masterpiece has been bespoiled by sloppy proofreading. Riddled with typos and spelling mistakes galore, this edition is frustrating to read. I typically don't buy anything with Oprah's name on it, but this tome was available used for only three bucks on Amazon, so what the heck. Penguin is one of the premier publishers of classic literature, and I am heartbroken that Penguin chose to print something so rife with errors. What disrespect to Steinbeck's genius.Book Review: 5 stars for the book - as for Oprah.....
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book - but I feel a certain shame about the Oprah book club logo. This book stands as a masterpiece without any endorsements from a pop icon (fad if you will). For someone like Oprah to vainly attatch her name to piece of art is kind of like blasphemy (though oddly enough I don't consider myself religous). Does anyone else out there think it is distasteful to attatch your name to a classic and sell it around the world -as if the book wasn't capable of communicating on its own? Steinbeck is a great author - and he is not to be insulted by this horrid oprah book club logo - restore his works properly like any respectable artist!Book Review: A "boring masterpiece"
Summary: 4 Stars
There were times, in the middle of the book, when I was so bored by the writing style and I wanted to stop reading it. But I was patient and it paid off. At times I wanted to give the novel two stars, then three stars, then four stars, and it probably deserves a full mark. But I'm keeping it at four stars to tell some readers, especially those who haven't read classics before, that it's not an easy read.
I've read "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown before reading this. They were entertaining throughout, but you forget them the moment you finish them. East of Eden, although boring at times, had an impact on me and changed the way I look at life. It just gives you wisdom and a new perspective. And that's what makes a book a great book. I may revisit this epic again.
Book Review: A Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
One of my all time favorites. I read this book many years ago and recently purchased it for my home library. I enjoyed reading it just as much the second time around.