Thinking Back About East of Eden

I keep hearing people talking about John Steinbeck's East of Eden. I keep hearing lots of praise about it, and I keep thinking about reading it earlier this year and having to at times force myself to finish it.

One of the things I've tried to do this year has been mix in classics in my reading. I read Frankenstein by Mary Shelley back in March and chose East of Eden in June as the 2nd in my classics in 2026 reading. I enjoyed Frankenstein. I did not enjoy East of Eden and for some reason I keep re-visiting it wondering if I missed something in the story that would've made a difference. I don't know whether it's because it's a classic and you're "supposed" to like the classics, but for whatever reason, I haven't been able to convince myself it was worth liking.

I don't write this to try to dissuade anyone from reading it. I'd encourage it even as it is a classic and hopefully you'll get something more out of it than I did.

There's always the Netflix Mini Series (which I intend on watching).