Favorite Book

Q: Which book did you prefer and why? Be specific with examples from the books.

A: So much though is put into novels that we are so unaware of. John Steinbeck would be one of the many authors that does this without our knowledge. He used alot of detail and assets to create his novel East of Eden. He interwine himself and his family, conflicts, and creativeness all together to combine into a marvelous story of the late 1800's to early 1900's.

I prefer the book East of Eden because I like how Steinbeck used the book as a retelling of his family history. He used his family as the Hamilton family characters in the story, using their personalities and characteristics to shape and reenact the way that his family members came to the Salinas Valley from Ireland and learned to survive. Some examples of family members were Samuel and Liza Hamilton, which were John Steinbeck's grandparents. He used half of the story to enlighten his children, while using the other half to create another story line.

I Also like how John Steinbeck created his own characters to intertwine with the story of his ancestry. One character would be Cathy Ames. The way he was able to describe her and express his hatred for such a person was amazing. He described her as cat-like, which is one of his great dislikes. He also made such a complicated and intricate family filled with emotions and past experiences that all the characters have experienced previously. The Trask family starts with how Adam and his family grows and molds. He goes through terrifying experiences with his brother trying to kill him and his lack of love for his father. This later retaliates as how he reacts to his own children when he becomes older. I loved how detailed and intertwined John Steinbeck made the story lines of the two families criss-cross into one amazing novel.

Another asset that i liked in the story was how he used different inner conflicts within the story. He used one as free will verses chance. He showed countless examples within the story of how each character was confronted with these choices. One would include Samuel's decision to confront Adam about not naming his sons. He made the choice to go over and made him realize what he is doing to his own family. He also used good verses evil. He made and reenacted characters through the story of how morally good or evil they really were. Cathy was a created character that he expressed with insane choices and hatred. He also retold his story of his grandfather, Samuel Hamilton, and how he was such a good-hearted and caring man and how he tried to provide for his family and inprove the lives of others within his town. He was also able to intertwine the story of Cain and Abel as well. He made the characters Adam and Charles tell the story of Cain and Abel, Charles being Cain and Adam being Able. I loved how much detail and characteristics that Steinbeck used to create this amazing American novel.