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West Branch Fiction Book Discussion

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

2023-06-29 18:30:00 2023-06-29 19:30:00 America/Chicago West Branch Fiction Book Discussion For June, we're reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. West Branch - ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

Thursday, June 29
6:30pm - 7:30pm

Add to Calendar 2023-06-29 18:30:00 2023-06-29 19:30:00 America/Chicago West Branch Fiction Book Discussion For June, we're reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck. West Branch - ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

West Branch

ASD West Zoom Room, Meeting Room

For June, we're reading East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

Join us for West Branch's monthly book discussion group! We read a variety of diverse contemporary and classic fiction and meet once a month for a thought-provoking conversation. Register for in-person or virtual. Copies are reserved and available for pickup for all attendees. 

Contact discussion facilitator Dani Linn at dtlinn@aurorapubliclibrary.org with questions, concerns, or suggestions.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Published in September 1952, the work is regarded by many to be Steinbeck's most ambitious novel and by Steinbeck himself to be his magnum opus. Steinbeck stated about East of Eden: "It has everything in it I have been able to learn about my craft or profession in all these years," and later said: "I think everything else I have written has been, in a sense, practice for this." The novel was originally addressed to Steinbeck's young sons, Thom and John. Steinbeck wanted to describe the Salinas Valley for them in detail: the sights, sounds, smells and colors.

East of Eden is a work 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. 

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden "the first book," and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California's Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies and intricate details of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. The Hamilton family in the novel is said to be based on the real-life family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck's maternal grandfather. A young John Steinbeck also appears briefly in the novel as a minor character.

Adapted for the 1955 film directed by Elia Kazan introducing James Dean, and read by thousands as the book that brought Oprah s Book Club back, East of Eden has remained vitally present in American culture for over half a century.

AGE GROUP: | Adults - ages 19+ |

EVENT TYPE: | Reading and Literacy | General Interest |

TAGS: | Book Club |

West Branch

Phone: 630-264-4117
Branch manager
Scott Grotto

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About the branch

This branch is connected to Washington Middle School and known for its creative displays and programs for adults. Complete with three study rooms and two conference rooms.

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