I've just finished John Steinbeck's East of Eden this morning and it's now one of the best novels I've ever read. It's also officially now one of my top 5 favorite books of all-time. I honestly didn't know anything about this novel or Steinbeck before until this January and I've found out my mom had the International Collector's Library edition of it so I decided to borrow it. So this is my first Steinbeck novel.
What I really love about East of Eden is it's main themes such as the struggle between good and evil and the consequences of favoritism and jealously. I have a huge amount of respect and love for the characters expect for Cathy Ames because she's the most manipulative and narcissistic antagonist I had ever read about than from any other book.
It's such an amazing epic and I now plan to read Steinbeck's other novels including The Grapes of Wrath this fall. It's a real reading experience that I will never forget.