East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Salinas Valley of California; a beautiful oasis tucked between mountains yet entrenched in a perpetual battle of harvest and hardship. This is where Steinbeck introduces us to two families; the Hamiltons and the Trasks. It is here where we follow the lives of each family member as they intersect to face their destinies and where we ultimately question the basic tenets of life; good and evil, fate and choice, peril and redemption.
East of Eden is undoubtedly John Steinbeck’s magnum opus. A book so rich with emotionally evocative themes that I was left staring at my wall for hours after I finished the last page. The story follows both the Trask and Hamilton family as they tend to their farms in the Salinas Valley through generations. It’s a story with many characters, events, and lessons. Which makes it difficult to fully capture its essence without nearly rewriting the whole novel itself or spoiling its emotional impact.
That’s why the best way to understand this book is to taste it. And I could find no better taste than that of the Sin Zin by Alexander Valley Vineyards to do just that. A zinfandel produced in California just north of the Salinas Valley, in Sonoma Valley, this wine is rich and spicy with flavors of dark fruit, warm spices, pepper, chocolate, and vanilla.
And it’s notes definitely bear some resemblance to many of the Trask and Hamilton characters:
The dark fruits of cherry and plum harken back to the lost dreams of Adam Trask, who wanted nothing more than to build a sweet garden oasis on his land to captivate his love, Cathy Ames.
The warm spices remind me of Lee, the Trask family's stalwart housekeeper and Samuel Hamilton’s dear friend - who so often is the source of comfort, or voice of kindness, that the Trask’s and Hamiltons’ cannot give to themselves.
The black pepper can only be Cathy Ames; dark, complex, and spicy. She embodies wickedness, sharp wit, and has a penchant for bestowing pain onto others.
The contrast of chocolate and vanilla are just like Aron and Cal Trask, the sons of Adam. Where Aron is gentle, Cal is turbulent and where Cal struggles to find control, Aron embodies it effortlessly. Both flavors, like both boys, can be very complex; sweet, bold, bitter, or warm in different contexts. They are perfectly paired yet can feel incongruous with each other at the same time, just like these brothers.
In the end, John Steinbeck referred to East of Eden as “the first book” and it has gone on to solidify itself as one of the best bodies of work ever created. The story made me question whether humans can be redeemed from our more evil tendencies or if we are destined to be what we are. Ultimately, the answer comes down to a single word that I think about daily: “Timshel”.
What does Timshel mean, you may ask? Well, I won’t spoil its meaning since that’s a revelation best learned from Steinbeck himself. But I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from East of Eden that I think perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the word:
“And now that you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.”
