Welcome to Reading Revisited, a place for friends to enjoy some good old-fashioned book chat while revisiting the truth, beauty, and goodness we’ve found in our favorite books.
Loved this episode, ladies! Another of the Old Testament brotherhood connections that I hadn’t thought of until today is the Isaac/Ishmael storyline. Especially interesting to connect given that Charles and Adam have different mothers. I love your point that he throws in allusions but leaves us to connect a lot of the dots, and the fact that he gives us these biblical stories/allusions that aren’t perfect, but totally beg the connection, is SO intriguing.
1. really do want to try Steinbeck’s notebook. I hadn’t known it existed until rereading EOE with you guys
2. I love the idea of the two worlds (reality and fairytale/mythic). Reminding me of current detective fiction read and how classic detective fiction works also have that fairy tale element
3. Jenna’s reading of the Cathy/Fay dynamic was so helpful to me-when I first read this book in high school I struggled so hard with Cathy and how disturbing she was, so I really appreciated a deeper read on her.
4. Love the phrase “the curse is the cure,” absolutely will be remembering that
5. With the question of women/misogyny I also think there is an element of the more capacity a thing has for good, the worse it is when it turns to evil. In a sense, Cathy shows how powerful women can be for good/the importance of women to society because of her impact as a twisted woman-she is the evil mirror of what women can and should be
6. I am so glad to have read this book with Reading Revisited-it really was a gift to come back to something I didn’t like the first time around (though I could tell that it was an objectively good/important work of literature) and discover that there was actually so much to love about it
This is one of those books that as I finish it, I know I will read it again. What a gift it was to read together. Loved your insights at book club (on this book, and the others), Elise. So glad we're reading together!
Loved this episode, ladies! Another of the Old Testament brotherhood connections that I hadn’t thought of until today is the Isaac/Ishmael storyline. Especially interesting to connect given that Charles and Adam have different mothers. I love your point that he throws in allusions but leaves us to connect a lot of the dots, and the fact that he gives us these biblical stories/allusions that aren’t perfect, but totally beg the connection, is SO intriguing.
Okay so now we have Abraham to Jacob covered….anyone got any Noah’s ark connections?
1. really do want to try Steinbeck’s notebook. I hadn’t known it existed until rereading EOE with you guys
2. I love the idea of the two worlds (reality and fairytale/mythic). Reminding me of current detective fiction read and how classic detective fiction works also have that fairy tale element
3. Jenna’s reading of the Cathy/Fay dynamic was so helpful to me-when I first read this book in high school I struggled so hard with Cathy and how disturbing she was, so I really appreciated a deeper read on her.
4. Love the phrase “the curse is the cure,” absolutely will be remembering that
5. With the question of women/misogyny I also think there is an element of the more capacity a thing has for good, the worse it is when it turns to evil. In a sense, Cathy shows how powerful women can be for good/the importance of women to society because of her impact as a twisted woman-she is the evil mirror of what women can and should be
6. I am so glad to have read this book with Reading Revisited-it really was a gift to come back to something I didn’t like the first time around (though I could tell that it was an objectively good/important work of literature) and discover that there was actually so much to love about it
Well now I'm feeling ready to reread East of Eden again!
This is one of those books that as I finish it, I know I will read it again. What a gift it was to read together. Loved your insights at book club (on this book, and the others), Elise. So glad we're reading together!