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East of Eden

Penguin Modern Classics

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East of Eden

By: John Steinbeck, David Wyatt - introduction
Narrated by: Simon Manyonda
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'There is only one book to a man,' Steinbeck wrote of East of Eden, his most ambitious novel. Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity; the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

© John Steinbeck 1952 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Classics Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature Thought-Provoking Heartfelt
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This book is a triumph. It’s brutal and beautiful and thoughtful and poetic, all without a hint of pretension. I found it gripping.

The narration of this recording is painful. The American accent of the reader is unconvincing. He’s clearly trying very hard to do rhotic ‘r’s, and the result feels foRced and oveRt. And the Irish accent is risibly bad - I’ve not encountered worse. When the narrator remembers the character speaking is meant to be Irish, he uses what would be a more convincing (though still abysmal) Australian accent. It breaks the immersion and is constantly irritating. It’s to the book’s credit that the strength of the story carried me through.

I’m sure in his native accent he’s a fine reader, but giving this book to this performer was a terrible mistake. What a shame.

Excellent book let down by terrible accent work

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A pleasure listening to, one of my favourites that I always come back to, gripping to the last word.

The best novel ever written

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A story as old as time.
Intense and hard to listen to at some point. Life was so hard.
The production is pretty appealing though.
The audio is poor and it slightly takes away from the story.

I would love to have them recording it with really good voice actors and actresses.

The book deserves it.

One of the best books ever

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Very well narrated. Excellent reader. Brought the book alive for someone who can no longer read themself.

East of Eden

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I’ve loved this book for many years, decades , and read it several times. I still love it.

A Gem.

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