East of Eden

[thisdirtydrug]

just finished reading this incredible novel. Steinbeck is known best for The Grapes of Wrath, but I am starting to believe that it is because the movie version did so well, and not because it was his greatest novel. James Dean as Cal Trask does seem enticing, but I dunno about academy award winning or anything. I am sort of floored right now by this novel. It drips with so much passion (good and bad), and is just an incredible look at what it is to believe something about yourself...to have to struggle against the perceptions we form inside-out. It speaks very eloquently about the idea of feeling rejected, or insufficent, and just how powerful that emotion can become. I am still less than impressed with Steinbeck's female characters, but he sure knows how to write about the intensity of humanity in spite of not knowing truly how to write a woman. Can't blame him though. He does what he does well. It would be nice to see him stretch himself though...guess that means I'll be reading everything else he's written to see if he ever did manage to write a rounded woman. I just can't get over how much of this book is a combination of raw feeling and meticulously controlled thought. It's so great, I would almost call it destructive...I feel both alive and spent right now. It's time for bed...work in the morning.

~Timshel

P.S. I have a dog. Sheila. She's beautiful. ;)