A literary masterpiece!

East of Eden was a book I was "forced" to read in high school. I am so glad! This book has had such an impact on me.

It revolves around the lives of the Trask family: patriarch Adam, his brother Charles, Adam's twin sons, Aron and Cal, their mother Cathy, and the other characters who are involved in their lives. This story makes an interesting parallel to the story of Cain and Abel. Their is a lot of symbolism, such as all the of the "good" characters had names that began with an A like the biblical Abel (Aron and Adam), and the troubled character's names began with C like Cain (Cal, Cathy and Charles). The story encompasses lots of elements: sociopathy, sibling rivalry, evil and goodness.

This is a beautifully written book which I wasn't able to put down the first time I read it, and which I've read many times since. It's startling in parts; definitely not for children.