My Favorite Book

For years, when people asked me what my favorite book was, I would get annoyed and skirt the question. I could list off a few books I'd enjoyed recently, or I could give personalized book recommendations, but my all time favorite book? No way.

“You can’t make a race horse of a pig.” “No,” said Samuel, “but you can make a very fast pig.”

Recently, I've slowly come to realize that I do indeed actually have a favorite book. It's a book I read a few years ago, and loved, and still love. It's East of Eden by John Steinbeck. There are so many things I love about this book, and I'm going to try to explain a few of them here.

“You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous.” 

One is it's epic quality. It's not the story of one person (though it basically takes place over the lifetime of one character), it's the story of a diverse and lifelike cast of characters. It's a tale of many years and many people. It's a story of good and evil, a story of life. Many things happen throughout the story, but the message in the end, at least the one I took out of it, is that life goes on.

“It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. There's a punishment for it and it's usually crucifixion.

Another reason is the characters and the symbolism. I love character driven novels, and this one is about as character driven as you can get. I also love the overt symbolism in the character's names: Adam and Charles, Caleb and Aron, Cathy and Abra. My favorite characters, though, didn't follow the C and A pattern, and are Samuel Hamilton, and Lee. They round out the world so completely.

“These too are of a burning color--not orange, not gold, but if pure gold were liquid and could raise a cream, that golden cream might be like the color of the poppies.

I also really like John Steinbeck's writing. This book is very quotable, and there are quotes from it scattered throughout this post. All passages in italics are quotes, pulled from the East of Eden Goodreads page.

“It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.” 

It's long. I know a lot of people don't like that about books, but at about 700 pages, it feels substantial. I don't think it could have been done any shorter, and it certainly wouldn't be the same if it were not so long.

“It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.”

I love the descriptive passages of the Salinas Valley. It's obviously a place Steinbeck loved very much.

“But the Hebrew word, the word timshel—‘Thou mayest’— that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if ‘Thou mayest’—it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.” 

Lastly, the ending is wonderful in my opinion. It ended the perfect way for the story (not necessarily the perfect way for the reader), and the last pages are beautiful.