Reviews tagging 'Murder'

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

37 reviews

lief_'s review

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kmhst25's review

Go to review page

Misogynistic garbage dressed up as philosophy. I forced myself to finish all 600 pages of this trash so I could come here and tell you not to. The takeaway is supposed to be that all men contain good and evil. We are apparently supposed to take the men part literally, since it excludes the female antagonist of the novel, who is the male epitomy of female evil in the most comically stupid and over-the-top manner. 

Conveniently, almost all of the evil committed by men in the book is committed against women, including (trigger warning: rape)
a woman being gang-raped to death while giving birth.
But hey, the book says, don't hate those men! They loved that baby! This book is the moral equivalent of saying that all prisons should be abolished, and responding "Who cares?!" when someone asks "But what about all the serial killers and rapists?" This is a book by a man for men who can only perceive the world as a male place; it lacks any humanity.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

libbykerns's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

a magnificent, sprawling novel of human wrestlings and starkly beautiful prose. there were sections that i wish tied in better to the overall narrative—but this was a wonderful read. it will stay with me for a long time. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

carajewels's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

wow. an intergenerational epic that sometimes felt like a marathon to read until i suddenly felt i was one with the characters. i have so many feelings about the events of this book and i have no clue where to express them! the central metaphor of adam and eve, cain and abel i didn’t fully realize until the end, and i think it turns the biblical fable into something hopeful. cal is my favorite character, he is so human and leaves me hopeful for the events after the novel. i also love how steinbeck included his own life throughout the story but only briefly, once every hundred pages. i’m always a sucker for seeing generations of families growing up throughout the book, and watching adam repeat the same favoritism his father showed him as a child  killed me! 
“timshel”, thou mayest. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

brittsbooknook's review against another edition

Go to review page

Stopped at chapter 12 (of 55). This book is just a little too dark/saga-ish for me at this point in time. And it's too long to try and power through. I've read plenty of books longer than this but I enjoyed them so it was easy. There's so many books to read that I don't want to spend all this time on one I'm forcing myself to get through. I would like to try another book by Steinbeck; a shorter one.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

zworlund's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookerbride's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

junglejelly's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wanting a challenge and a classic, I picked up Steinbeck's East of Eden and got both.

The writing style is so easy to read and follow which helps with the slow pace of the novel.

The characters are the best part of the novel, I became very emotionally invested in them whether it was happiness or anger. These sets of families will not leave me for a long time.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

snow_leopard's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sugarplumstories's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings