East of Eden is probably one of my favorite books, but what’s for certain is that Cal Trask is for sure my favorite fictional character.1 I never got Holden Caulfield the way other people get Holden Caulfied, but Cal I got. I haven’t read East of Eden since I was a teenager, but I think of Cal often and I think he’s still relevant to me now. I mean, I’m only a hundred times more angst-ridden today than I was then. What’s so interesting about Cal is that he tries so hard and yet fails over and over. Maybe that makes him an anti-hero, but it’s his awareness of what he lacks that makes him so interesting as a character. His dad and his brother are simply good, but they don’t see what’s happening around them.
East of Eden itself is an impressive book. I tire sometimes of Steinbeck’s descriptions. If you’ve tried to read The Grapes of Wrath, but could never get past the extensive description of dust in the first chapters, give it another try, because it gets a lot better.2 I should read East of Eden again as a Californian; it’s a character in itself. The story in East of Eden is really interesting, but it’s the relationships between the characters or maybe more so the characters’ motivations that leave me thinking, “how did Steinbeck do that?” It’s genius. Magic. Somehow he even pulls off a biblical allusion.3
I’ve been wanting to see the movie East of Eden for years, especially because it stars James Dean as Cal. I finally got a chance to watch it this weekend. The movie was kind of disappointing to me. I’m not a big fan of old movies or of soundtracks that basically scream at you how you should be feeling at that moment.4 While James Dean is totally enchanting, he just wasn’t Cal for me. There was a lot about his performance I liked. He does the loner thing well and he has kind of a charmingly awkward way about him, but I just kept thinking, “that’s James Dean.” It’s not just that he’s an icon; the character was a bit different–more dramatic and over the top. I’m of the philosophy that books are books and movies are movies, but I guess when you love a character so much, all those reasonable thoughts go out the window.
I didn’t know much about James Dean, though I’d recognize his image anywhere. I know I’ve already overused the word “interesting” in this post, but he really did have such an interesting look. And an interesting character. If I’d ever known him in real life, I probably would have either hated him or been in love with him. On the one hand, he really was Cal Trask, but on the other hand, he was unpredictable and a rebel and someone who liked to mess with people. According to a documentary on the East of Eden DVD, he had his heart broken by a girl who then turned around and got engaged almost immediately, so he showed up outside of the church on his motorcycle, making all kinds of noise. He also may or may not have been gay or bisexual.
He died when he was only 24. He’d made three movies, but only the first had been released. I knew that he’d died tragically in a car accident, but I’d always imagined a Rebel Without a Cause-like scene where he was speeding around a corner or something. The reality is that he raced cars and was actually on the way to a race (his mechanic with him in the car) in Salinas–John Steinbeck country–when a college student turned right in front of him. He tried to avoid hitting the guy, but he couldn’t. Jimmy, as his friends called him, was the only casualty of the crash.5 People were just falling in love with him when he died. There were a lot of Elvis-like conspiracies that he wasn’t really dead. People also ransacked his apartments and a bunch of his personal items have never been recovered. Even the car he crashed in quickly disappeared.
I’ve never used a footnote to reference Family Guy before.
- Bobby Hill from King of the Hill is my second favorite fictional character. You just can’t deny that kid. [↩]
- Don’t give it another try until we’re in better economic times. It will only freak you out now. [↩]
- Most simply, Cal and his brother Aron are Cain and Abel [↩]
- The music in this movie totally reminded me of the Distracting Trumpet scene from Family Guy. [↩]
- Can you imagine being the guy responsible for James Dean’s death? [↩]
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
loved the footnotes!
Hmm I shelved Grapes of Wrath around page 80. Perhaps I shall give it a try again in a few years haha.
Ooooo, I like the use of footnotes. And, though I say this a whole lto, I know that I need to read East of Eden for so many reasons. Beyond it just being a classic, that’s it’s a classic in the realm of 20th Cent. American novels (my stuff), rife with biblical allusions (I’ve done some work there as well) and being a CA book. And I absolutely loved The Grapes of Wrath, so I really need to read this book. If you ever decide to make the drive up north again, you should stop in Salinas and go to the Steinbeck Center. They have a museum there and it was pretty cool- I stopped there when I was driving up a few years ago.
And if you’re intrigued by James Dean, you should check out Neal Cassady (aka Dean Moriarty in On The Road) who was a kind of James Dean before there was James Dean. ;-)
Now I want to read East of Eden again! NorCal is practically another character in that book — it is such a beautiful place up there, you should visit! And go to the Steinbeck museum(s)!
I’ve never read Steinbeck’s work, but it looks like I’ll have to give him a try.
oh steinbeck is one of my favourite writers! east of eden is my favourite of his, and grapes of wrath is right up there. i didn’t know there was a movie though, now i’ll have to try and get my hands on it, even if it isn’t as good as the book. so sad about james dean, i love the look of that man, and i had a classic poster up of him while i was in college. great post!
Congrats on the Family Guy footnote. It’s a big time in everyone’s life when the genius of Peter Griffin can be alluded to in such a professional and collegiate manner.
I really don’t like Grapes of Wrath and had to read it at least six times in college. I don’t want to dismiss Steinbeck entirely, but I’m not sure that I’ll ever want to read any of his work again. I’ve also never seen a James Dean movie, but I don’t like older movies for exactly the reasons you listed.
I’m kind of madly in love with James Dean. I had no idea he died so tragically though. It’s so sad…
It disappoints me that you didn’t like the movie. I love that movie. And I love James Dean. I do love Steinbeck’s work, he is very descriptive but sometimes I really like that, although it can get long-winded. If you read more about James Dean, I think you’d understand him more than just taking all the things said about him that aren’t necessarily true. The lady he was engaged to was Pier Angeli and her mother was crazy. She was against her marrying James Dean even though they were madly in love with each other. James Franco plays James Dean in a movie about him, he does pretty well. Its a sad story. From your post, I take offense on how you describe his death. Please read more about it because it sounds like you are assuming he was gay or bi and a rebel that drove cars crazy. Again, just read more about it before posting. :) RIP Jimmie.
I caught the tail end of “East of Eden” on tv a few weeks ago. I’ve never read the book though. James Dean really was a talented actor. I really liked him in the movie “Giant.”
East of Eden is, by far, my favorite book of all time. Grapes of Wrath comes in second.
Something about Steinbeck truly is magical. He was an amazing writer and somehow could grasp and sum up so much about humanity and the human condition that it’s difficult not to stand in awe. And his descriptions, especially in Grapes, can be a bit much at times, especially for a teenage mind to handle when forced to read the book in high school, but they bring an entirely different component to the text. They act as characters. They serve as much more than just background or scenery. I mean, the Dust Bowl? So well done.
I’ve never been a fan of his shorter literature – such as Of Mice and Men – but when confronted with a heavier, deeper, longer text where the author has more flexibility to say whatever he chooses, Steinbeck prevails.
I love that you wrote this post.
P.S. Haven’t seen the film version, but I doubt I ever will. No movie could ever compare to the imagery I have in my head. I’m sure of it.
P.P.S. I read East of Eden in one night. I started reading it after school one day and could not put it down, so I didn’t go to sleep.
I’ve always heard of the allure of James Dean’s life; the idea of dying young while on the verge of greatness has, oddly, been referred to by a lot of people with a sense of almost-envious-curiosity. But I’ve never seen the movie you mentioned. I should fix that. That’s what Netflix is for.
I am totally going to have to check this movie out, because I read East of Eden a few years ago and LOVED it. James Dean is definitely an interesting character. I should read more about him, too.
Hmm, now I have two things I can add to my list and go do. And all from reading your blog post! Doesn’t it make you feel special to impact people’s lives like this? :)
I’ve never liked Steinbeck novels. The depressing atmosphere turns me away every time. The book is undoubtedly sitting on my sister’s bookshelf among her other classics, ones that she has never read. Maybe if I ever hunker down and decide I can take the depressing nature of the novel, I’ll attempt it again.
I haven’t thought about East of Eden in forever. I had a boyfriend once who gave it to me because it was his favorite book, and I loved it. I’ve never seen the movie, though…I think I worry it would disrupt my mental image of the book.
You’re right to keep using the word interesting to describe James Dean, because he really is an interesting and sort of mysterious character. I know we all have a tendency to glorify those that died young. I didn’t know about the conspiracy theories, but it makes sense that people would respond that way.
Also, your footnotes made me smile :)
This isn’t very insightful but boy, James Dean is a hottie. Why don’t they make movie stars like they used to anymore!?
I’ve always had a thing for James Dean. The only movie I haven’t seen of his is Giant. His acting can be over-the-top (i.e. the scene in Rebel…”You’re tearing me apaaaaarrrrrt!”), but at the same time he’s stirring.
I knew he died young, but I didn’t know it was at 24. My age! That’s deep.
Yes, Cal.
Yes, Bobby.
Yes, East of Eden!
This is a great post, even if you wrote it in ’09. :)