East of Eden

“No story has power, nor will it last, unless we feel in ourselves that it is true and true of us.” -Lee

Finished East of Eden by John Steinbeck today, another book scratched off my literary bucket list. This one I got into like its character Tom Hamilton who “crawled and groveled between the covers, tunneled like a mole among the thoughts, and came up with the book all over his face and hands.” I read the first chapter entirely aloud, needing to taste prose so poetically written. My copy is now properly dog eared and pencil marked and will reside on my bookshelf, revisited often. This book describes a true and true of us (fictional) story, a powerful and lasting one.
Five stars.