All About Me in 30 Days: Day Four: My Favorite Book

The one book I have read many, many times, and therefore obviously my favorite, is John Steinbeck's East of Eden.

   I read it the first time as part of my summer reading prior to my sophmore year of high school.  I can't really explain exactly what I love about it, but I know I love the way Steinbeck writes.  He truly paints a picture with his words.  I love that this isn't just a story.  It covers an entire generation, and includes the stories of several families, including Steinbeck's own.  The story of the Steinbecks is really a side story, tying into the main story of Adam Trask.  The book starts telling Adam's story with the death of his mother in child birth, and follows his story through his relationship with his father, brother and step-mother.  Adam falls in love with mysterious Katherine and heads out west shortly after they marry.  Katherine gives birth to twin boys, Caleb and Aaron, and takes off, leaving Adam to raise the boys alone, telling them that their mother is in heaven.  All-American Aaron (who changes his name to Aron as a child) is the favored son, while moody Caleb strives to attain his father's love.  As a teen, Caleb discovers his mother's true identity as Kate, a madam in a neighboring town.

I'll stop there.  I don't want to give away too much.  And yes, I left out alot!!  I highly recommend reading it yourself!

Did you happen to notice the name of one of the twins was a little familiar?  Yep, I love this book so much, I pulled the name of my firstborn from its pages.  My initial plan was to name him Caleb Aaron, but his father would not go for that.  For a short time, he was to be called Caleb Dean (after James Dean, who played Caleb Trask in the big screen version of the book).  Once he was confirmed a boy, I came up with Caleb Mackenzie (daddy's name is Kent, paternal grandfather is Mack).  My point?  Yeah, I love this book!