A review by abby27
East of Eden by John Steinbeck

2.0

Goodness gracious this book dragged. I appreciate that its ending gives the audience hope, as the majority of the story was riddled with the deterministic belief that nothing is in our control. Depicting human nature as inherently cruel in order to reveal some "harsh reality" of the world is always boring to me, so I'm biased in this regard. However, the plot was entertaining and clever at many points, and I enjoyed Steinbeck's exploration of the moral dilemma of forgiveness.