east of eden

I believe that I read about one book each year that turns my life, if not upside down, at least a little bit sideways. I say one book a year and not every few years because the number of years in my life is still very little and because read quite a few books recently that I knew I would enjoy. Some books that have made me feel like I'd gotten a change in my glasses prescription are Fahrenheit 451, The Bell Jar, Catch-22, Invisible Man, and of course, Ulysses.

I finished East of Eden last week and I knew it would become one of those books before I even got to the halfway mark. It took me almost a month to finish, which is the longest I've spent with any book thus far in China, but this is only because each sentence and each little story woven together was something that I wanted to savor. I did not want it to end on the last page, and yet the ending was still satisfying--a rare balance that I applaud Steinbeck for achieving.

After reading The Grapes of Wrath in 10th grade, I promptly went to my local borders and bought East of Eden. Since then, it has always been the book that I would look at and think, "when I have a good chunk of free time I'll read you." One summer and winter vacation after another and I still had not found that good chunk of time. But I am wholly glad that I waited until now, almost 7 years later, to read it.

I know that East of Eden is a popular book to assign for high school English because of it surely provides lots of material for talking about symbolism, themes, blah blah. But really, I think that I would not have been as deeply touched if I had read this book in high school. The overarching musings on loneliness, the burden and gift of being a singular being, the longing to love and be loved, yes these are all things that most high schoolers will brood upon and will likely latch onto in East of Eden. But I think I have gotten just old enough to really feel all of these things, and not in a self-pitying way either. In fact, the feeling is almost one of comfort and joy, much like the suffering of mankind that Marx talks about in his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. 

While reading, I also remembered that of course someone made the book into a movie, and with James Dean no less. But after searching through some East of Eden tags on tumblr and google images, it seems like they've distilled the giant and sweeping (but quiet and never obtrusive) greatness of the novel into just the love story between Cal and Abra, which really doesn't even happen until the last 10% of the book. I'm itching to see it, but I'll hold off til I'm back in the states. In the meantime, looking at movie stills of James Dean ain't so bad.

This last one is from when Marlon Brando visited the set! Too much beauty in one place. I love how Julie Harris is the only one who looks totally enamored.

Update: After some google searching I just learned a remake is in development. Now my question is, are they going to remake the movie, or actually attempt to make a truer book to film adaptation? Also, plenty of rumors about Kristen Stewart of playing either Cathy/Kate or Abra. She's wrong for both parts, imho. This plus the Gatsby remake have convinced me that Americans are experiencing a great dose of nostalgia for the golden age of American classics. Might the current economic downswing have something to do with it?