East of Eden

This book has always looked overwhelming to me. It's not small, not short, and a literary classic (which may or may not mean it's cryptic and difficult to read). After I got through the first couple of overly descriptive chapters, I was hooked. I liked his characters and the way they were portrayed very much. He is able to let you get to know his characters so deeply - both what they are thinking, and how others perceive and deal with them. I think the thing that really got me the most was his exploration of the human character - it was so thoughtful and I think right on. I loved what I perceived to be one of his main themes - the nature of humans to have varying levels of light and dark in them, how that light or darkness may be created and inflamed, or may just exist - and ultimately how man's own free agency weaves through all of that. I really enjoyed his portrayal of what life might look like to people of all varying shades. He was not afraid to explore the darkest of the dark - a sociopathic character in whom the evil seemed to just exist, but also exploring those with mostly light in them - innocent and naive, and not entirely suited to the real world in all of its complexities. The rest of his characters were more in the middle, and easier to like and relate to. It covers a lot of life and a lot of history, and of course I love the 1890s as a time period generally (though of course it ends past the turn of the century). Some of the other themes and topics he discusses in his book seemed really weird or random, but by the end I could see the masterpiece he wove using some of those seemingly random discussions or themes as a later way to bring home the point. I just loved it, and found it worthy. And to any of you thinking you might to read it...timshel...but I think you should.