East of Eden

Timshel, thou mayest. Two words that hand the steering wheel back.

Lee spent years translating one Hebrew word. Best hobby in American literature.

Adam kept calling Cathy by a name she'd already burned. Naming is a kind of love, and a kind of blindness.

Samuel Hamilton drilled wells and raised nine kids on air. My favorite fictional ancestor.

Cal's gift to his father caught fire. Rejected love burns whatever carries it.

Kate ran a brothel on pure arithmetic. Steinbeck's scariest character is completely logical.

The Monterey cannery scenes, Salinas valley as a character with weather for opinions.

Abra chose Aron's brother and told the truth about it. Bravest romance in the book.

Every generation is a fresh Cain story until somebody says timshel out loud.

Carried out of it: you may choose. The may is the whole inheritance.