# I just finished East of Eden...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 11, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641 "2007-12-11T19:15:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/1 "2007-12-11T19:15:55Z")
…and now I need a hug. God, what a book!
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### Author:  [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/2 "2007-12-11T19:17:53Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders]
…and now I need a hug. God, what a book!
[/QUOTE]
At first I thought you meant \*\*Exit to Eden \*\* and I thought to myself, “You don’t need a hug, you need a shower and a strong course of antibiotics.” 🙂
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/3 "2007-12-11T19:19:57Z")
My favorite line from that (and I’m quoting from memory) is the one at the beginning of one of the chapters: _I believe there are monsters born into this world_.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/4 "2007-12-11T19:22:36Z")
Possibly the best book I’ve ever read.
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/5 "2007-12-11T19:24:25Z")
“Oh, but strawberries will never taste so good again and the thighs of women have lost their clutch!” 🙂
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### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/6 "2007-12-11T19:27:22Z")
[QUOTE=HelloNinja]
At first I thought you meant \*\*Exit to Eden \*\* and I thought to myself, “You don’t need a hug, you need a shower and a strong course of antibiotics.” 🙂
[/QUOTE]
Yeah, sure, that’s next on my list 😉
Seriously? The best line in the book has to be “‘Thou mayest!’ Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature withe the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice.” This is my third time through and I still get shivers as I read that passage. That whole chapter, in fact.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/7 "2007-12-11T22:18:01Z")
Oddly, enough, this is the selection for our discussion group tomorrow.
Of course, it’s a _movie_ discussion group. :smack: 😉
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### Author:  [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/8 "2007-12-11T23:20:27Z")
Steinbeck is not a favorite of mine, I admit. However, he is my son’s all-time favorite author and _East of Eden_ his second favorite book (first is _Of Mice & Men_). His favorite quote (which I also quite like) is “It would be absurd if we did not understand both angels and devils, since we invented them.”
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### Author:  [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/9 "2007-12-12T01:39:47Z")
I’ve always wanted to read _East of Eden_, but it just seemed too long. Though I got through _The Grapes of Wrath_ and loved it.
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/10 "2007-12-12T01:47:49Z")
So how’d you like that part when they cut the dinosaur’s head off to free the captive human and…
Ooops, wrong direction.
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### Author:  [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/11 "2007-12-12T02:01:29Z")
[QUOTE=Stauderhorse]
I’ve always wanted to read _East of Eden_, but it just seemed too long. Though I got through _The Grapes of Wrath_ and loved it.
[/QUOTE]
_East of Eden_ is better and more readable. It’s no chore to get through at all. The pages fly by. You should give it a shot. It’s one of those books that stays with you forever and that you’ll find yourself wanting to go back and read again every few years. It’s easily one of my top 5 favorite books. Maybe top 3. Maybe even the best.
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### Author:  [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/12 "2007-12-12T02:15:06Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
_East of Eden_ is better and more readable. It’s no chore to get through at all. The pages fly by. You should give it a shot. It’s one of those books that stays with you forever and that you’ll find yourself wanting to go back and read again every few years. It’s easily one of my top 5 favorite books. Maybe top 3. Maybe even the best.
[/QUOTE]
You have convinced me throroughly, sir. I’ve added it to my reading list. 😃
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/13 "2007-12-12T02:56:58Z")
But I could never figure out what he meant by that game “peewee.” You take a stick in the ground, hit it into the air with a paddle, and then hit it again with the paddle. Huh?
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### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/14 "2007-12-12T04:56:03Z")
No, I think the stick is lying on the ground, you hit one end with the stick so it whips up in the air, then whack it while it’s in the air. I think.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-finished-east-of-eden/429641/15 "2007-12-12T14:36:25Z")
Another huge Steinbeck fan here, with EoE being my fave of his.
It is funny, but it is easy to just assume everyone has read most/all of his work, and agrees that he is among the best authors. Seems so obvious as to not need to be stated.
His nonfiction is well worth reading too. I just love how clearly he writes.