East of Eden

De: John Steinbeck

Narrado por: Richard Poe

The masterpiece of Steinbeck’s later years, East of Eden is a sprawling epic in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love’s absence.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A novel planned on the grandest possible scale...One of those occasions when a writer has aimed high and then summoned every ounce of energy, talent, seriousness, and passion of which he was capable...It is an entirely interesting and impressive book."
—The New York Herald Tribune

"A fantasia and myth...a strange and original work of art."
—The New York Times Book Review

"A moving, crying pageant with wilderness strengths."
—Carl Sandburg

"When the book club ended a year ago, I said I would bring it back when I found the book that was moving…and this is a great one. I read it for myself for the first time and then I had some friends read it. And we think it might be the best novel we've ever read!"
—Oprah Winfrey

Possibly the best audio book I have heard

I missed reading this when young, and the only impression I had of it was from the James Dean film, I am sad to say. This narrator sounds like the voice of Steinbeck whispering in your ear. I reach work in the morning desperate to leave my headphones on because I cannot bear to be parted from the book. It is the very best of Steinbeck produced and read to perfection. I may just start listening to it from the beginning in a couple of hours when I reach the end.

Flawless

I had always considered "Grapes of Wrath" the best book ever written. I figured for someone to write a masterpiece like that, their other books couldn't be any good. This book is so completely different and better in a lot of ways. I was blown away. Also, the narrator is absolutely flawless. I could listen to a 500 hour audiobook narrated by this guy.

Modern Fiction Writers take Lessons From John Steinbeck

Full characterization . Sequentially told. Show not tell. One point of view yet periodically multi views within a chapter. Reader has opportunity to get inside characters without prejudice. Non-predictable. Rich language without self-consciousness. Philosophical message imbedded through lovable and believeable characters. Economy of sentence structure yet natural. Audible version: great narrator. Didn't force dialect or tone of different persons but easily distinguishable. I will now read more of John Steinbeck!

Endlessly Depressing and Black

It is rare that I stop listening to a book but with just a couple of hours left to go I turned this one off and deleted it from my iPad. I love classic books and I don't mind books that are dark or depressing but this one is relentlessly black. When history started repeating itself I quit listening. I couldn't take it anymore. I found the reading by Richard Poe to be first-rate and I can see where others might like this book but it's not for me. I don't believe human beings can be 100% evil monsters, and the man who was a constant source of wisdom and truth got under my skin and irritated me after a while. I did enjoy the descriptions of the era and Salinas but the unfailing drive toward epic catastrophe wore me down and I skipped what is likely to be the inevitable ending of the book (I've never read it so I don't know how it ends).

What to read after the panorama of mankind that is East of Eden?

So vast. So timeless. Words shrink in describing the resonations of deft and singular aspects of humanity. I am speechless at the majesty of this story.