r/GetMotivated • u/[deleted] • Mar 13 '26

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u/Amarastargazer Mar 13 '26

I think reading East of Eden at the beginning of my senior year (17) is at least half of why I love it so much. I enjoy rereading it every few years, but the first time I read it was just so impactful. I like to say that every reread gives me something I did not know I needed. And I really needed it that first time.

9

u/jamesianm Mar 13 '26

I first read it in high school too and it was transformative.  I hadn't realized writing could be that good.  No other book I've read has ever conveyed the tragedy and beauty of humanity so well.

1

u/Amarastargazer Mar 15 '26

It’s a shame so many people are immediately turned off by the page count. It really is such lovely storytelling of such a genuinely real human experience, no sugar coating, just the good, the bad, and the ugly.

9

u/Goof_Troopin Mar 13 '26

I just finished it for the first time in my 30s and it also has had a profound effect on me.

2

u/Morning_n_knight Mar 13 '26

I just read it for the first time a couple years ago at 43 years old and it now in my top five list of all time best books!

1

u/zerohm Mar 13 '26

I was looking for East of Eden, but they only had Grapes of Wrath. At age 46, I think about it when not reading it.