Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters

by John Steinbeck

This collection of letters forms a fascinating day-by-day account of Steinbeck's writing of EAST OF EDEN, his longest and most ambitious novel. The letters, ranging over many subjects - textual discussion, trial flights of workmanship, family matters - provide an illuminating perspective on Steinbeck, the creative genius, and a private glimpse of Steinbeck, the man.

Genres: Nonfiction, Writing, Classics, Memoir, Biography, Books About Books, Biography Memoir

186 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 1969

About the author

John Ernst Steinbeck was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."
During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward F. Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. By the 75th anniversary of its publishing date, it had sold 14 million copies.
Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges region. His works frequently explored the themes of fate and injustice, especially as applied to downtrodden or everyman protagonists.

Reviews

[Murray ᛘᚢᛦᛦᛅᛁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important book on how a novel by Steinbeck was imagined and then created in hard letters and sentences. A wonderful and honest work on the creative process of the mind and spirit. And an enjoyable journey through Steinbeck’s headspace, as well as his daily life events, while he labored on the manuscript of one of his most important novels, month after month.

However I would read East of Eden first and then read this book second.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got halfway through this book--and then decided I would read it in concert with East of Eden. A fantastic five star experience. Steinbeck's editor sent him an oversized bound journal in which to write his next book, and what Steinbeck did was, each morning, write a 'letter' to his editor about the work he intended to do that day, the book as he was envisioning it, his thoughts about the characters' development and also details of his writing habits and personal life, the ups and downs of his depression, his surprisingly rich New York social life. All this went on the left hand pages. Then he wrote the novel on the right hand pages.

How amazing, to learn how the story of the Trasks developed, his teasing out the meaning, to see the moment he arrived at the title--which had been things like "My Valley." Amazing. His utter perplexity about the evil mother, Catherine (overtones of Cathy in Wuthering Heights?):

"Today I have a transition of the brothers and then I go to Cathy. And Cathy is a hustler, perhaps born, perhaps caused by accident but Cathy is by nature a whore. She also is by profession a whore. Why Adam Trask should have fallen in love with her is anybody's guess but I think it was because he himself was trained to operate best under a harsh master and simply transferred that to a tough mistress. She is quite a girl and I think I will have to go back and develop her at least a little so that what she does later is believable."


"She is a complex and a simple character. It is the custom nowadays in writing to tell. nothing about a character but to let him emerge gradually through the story and the dialogue. This is what you might even call the modern fashionable method. But I don't have to do this. Using my method which is neither new or old-fashioned, I can tell everything I can about a character but not only that, I can analyze and even say what I think about the character. Then, if that person also comes through in the action and dialogue, one is pretty far ahead. I am. not trying to fool my reader nor to trick him any more than I would want to fool the little boys to whom this book is ostensibly written...."

"By the way, Cathy had a curious kind of skin--very strange kind of a glow. She is a fascinating and horrible person to me. But there are plenty like her. That I know. Tomorrow I will finish my description of her and get into her terrible story. And it is a terrible story. But there are stories much more terrible and true things more terribly than any story. Now, because Cathy's story is so unusual, I met tell it with the greatest casualness as though there were nothing unusual about it. Once you know that Cathy is a monster then nothing she does can be unusual in a monster. You can't go into the mind of a monster because what happens there is completely foreign and. might be gibberish.... Cathy has great power over people because she as simplified their weaknesses and has no feeling about their strengths and goodness. Don't you know people like that?... Lord what a book--it really moves."

Alongside these revelations about the creation of the book were little fabulous details of his writing life. For instance, his pencils! Anyone fussy about their writing implements or work space, you are not alone! He had very distinct ideas about his tools. He has trouble with the callus on his writing hand--I feel my own hand ache, right where the callus is on the right middle finger, though it's been many years since I've written exclusively with a pen or pencil. Id' forgotten what a blister you'd raise there. The mood of the work and the author is expressed through the tool of the pencil:

"Pencils are a great expense to me and I hope you know it. I buy them four dozen at a time. When in my normal wiring position the metal of the pencil eraser touches my hand, I retire that pencil. Then Tom and Catbird [his kids] get them.... Then I have this kind of pencil and it is too soft. * Whenever you see a think like that, the point broke. I have fine prejudices, lazy and enjoyable ones. It occurs to me that everyone likes or wants to be an eccentric and this is my eccentricity, my pencil traveling. It isn't a very harmful one. Maybe. have others which are more. The electric pencil sharpener may seem a needless expense and yet I have never had anything that I used more and was more help to me...." In some very tender moods he needs a very soft pencil, in other moods hard and sharp. Some days the lead keeps breaking.

A portrait of an author at work, it was the absolute perfect companion as I was reading through the first draft of my own new book. But then I went back to work on the next draft, and left the Steinbeck aside, vowing to go back to the journal when time allowed, and read it in tandem with the novel itself.

A thrilling aside: I was visiting an antiquarian book fair, and one bookseller actually had a facsimile edition of the East of Eden bound journal, with the letter on the left hand pages, and the pages of East of Eden on the other. All handwritten (pencils!) What was especially fascinating--revelatory--for me was see how much of his own prose Steinbeck crossed out. Sometimes half a page of closely written fiction. I read and read and tried to understand why he felt the need to cut so much. And exactly what it was he felt had to go. But I guess East of Eden would have been two volumes otherwise. But I wished I'd had the money to buy that edition.

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Steinbeck often used letters to friends to get his writing juices flowing, and during the writing of East of Eden, wrote every day to Pascal Covici, his editor and friend. Most entries are written prior and post to the work of the day, ranging from tidbits from his life, commentary on how the novel is going and what he is trying to do, and a revealing obsession with newly sharpened pencils.

This is for people interested in the writing process or people who have enjoyed East of Eden; I'm not sure I'd pick it up otherwise!

ETA: I saved these two little quotes

“A great and beautiful storm today - such lightning and rain - and this always stimulates me like a drug. I must have great violence in me because I react to violence in nature with great joy.” (7/17/51)

“My sweet Elaine sat many hours with me last night while I put out a thundering silence.” (8/1/51)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

On every working day between 29 January and 1 November 1951, John Steinbeck wrote a letter to his close friend and editor at Viking Press, Pat Covici, before he began his work for the day on the manuscript of East of Eden. The letters were written on the left-hand pages of the large notebook in which Steinbeck wrote - by hand, in pencil - the novel which meant most to him. Steinbeck told Covici that writing the letters was his way of "getting [his] mental arm in shape to pitch a good game".

Steinbeck's daily letters to Covici touch on a range of subjects. They describe what he intended to achieve on the day in question. They refer to his personal circumstances, in particular to his love for his third wife Elaine and his concerns regarding his young sons. The letters also describe Steinbeck's other projects: the gadgets he liked to invent, his woodwork projects (in particular a carved box he was making for Covici and in which he would ultimately give Covici the manuscript of the novel). However, the most signficant aspect of the work is the light that the letters throw on the process through which East of Eden was written, on Steinbeck's passionate devotion to the writing of the novel and on his own psychological make-up. As is fitting for a writer who was skilled at describing people and their environment, Steinbeck had insight into his thought processes and emotions. He unflinchingly described his bouts of depression and self-doubt, his periods of manic activity, the days when everything went well and the days when he had difficulty motivating himself to work.

While there is some repetition in the letters - there were days which were a lot like other days - the work is also full of insights into how Steinbeck felt, not just about the book, but about writing. For example, on 3 September 1951 he wrote:

Writing is a very silly business at best. There is a certain ridiculousness about putting down a picture of life. And to add to the joke - one must withdraw from life in order to set down that picture. And third one must distort one's own way of life in order in some sense to simulate the normal in other lives. Having gone through all this nonsense, what emerges may well be the palest of reflections.... And the greatest foolishness of all lies in the fact that to do it at all, the writer must believe that what he is doing is the most important thing in the world. And he must hold to this illusion even when he knows it is not true. If he does not, the work is not worth even what it might otherwise have been.

Steinbeck was not fond of professional literary critics, but he was aware that he could not control how readers would react to East of Eden, the novel which meant more to him that anything else he had written. On 10 October 1951, three weeks before he finished the manuscript, he wrote:

In a short time [it] will be done and it will not be mine any more. Other people will take it over and own it and it will drift away from me as though I had never been a part of it. I dread that time because one can never pull back. [It's] like shouting good-bye to someone going off on a bus and no one can hear because of the roar of the motor.

I wish I had read this book around the same time as I listened to the audiobook of East of Eden last year, so that the details of the novel were clearer in my head. As I read, I occasionally re-read particular chapters of the novel in order to refresh my memory. However, I know that reading the novel and this book in conjunction with each other would have enriched my experience of both works. That said, I very much enjoyed the book. It is highly recommended for admirers of Steinbeck's writing in general and East of Eden in particular.

[Pierre Rooyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, Mr Steinbeck. I go down on my knees before you, Sir. It was you who taught me how to tell a story. You, who are so darn good, yet so vulnerable and humble.

What writer would have the guts to admit, 'Although sometimes I have felt I held fire in my hands and spread a page with shining, I have never lost the weight of clumsiness, of ignorance, of aching inability.'

And this just after he has put East of Eden together? The writer who doesn't use adjectives or adverbs, but seeks the appropriate noun and verb. Who writes tightly, but gives the appearance his work is casual.

Oh Sir, I have learnt much from you. And I pass your wisdom on to any writer who will listen. One told me she received a publisher's contract because she adopted your wisdom.

I have read Journal of a Novel twice now, Grapes of Wrath, twice. East of Eden, three times, plus Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, at least once.

Good story-telling.

[M. Sarki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great journal. I enjoyed every word. Steinbeck was certainly an interesting man. This book gives us an inside look at how he worked. Myself, not so much a plot-driven devotee, but Steinbeck clearly had a plan and he carried it out to perfection. I admire him for that and respect his process.

[Tamoghna Biswas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this one last year, but due to some severe procrastination, which sadly nowadays doesn't diminish with opening Goodreads, I chose not to log this book. Journal of a Novel will hold little to no interest for people who haven't read The East of Eden; however, the plausibility of someone liking it even after appreciating the novel seems quite rare, unless they are severely interested in understanding the psyche of Steinbeck while he was writing his proclaimed magnum opus. His writing process, however, isn't one to be mimicked; it was thoroughly rigorous and equally painstaking and rewarding. It took me a while, but I'm glad I gave it a chance.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple of nuggets of gold here that made me wonder if Steinbeck thinks as beautifully as he writes. The behind the scenes info on EOE was mostly very vague, but sometimes insightful. It was fascinating seeing how an author at his prime has plotted out his novel and executes it. I'd recommend this to hard core Steinbeck or EOE lovers, but the casual reader won't get much from it.

[Адриана К. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐

"Добрият писател винаги работи с невъзможното."

Джон Стайнбек определя „На изток от рая“ за своя върховен шедьовър – роман на идеите и вечната борба между доброто и злото. Той работи върху концепцията за него в продължение на няколко години, в които изследва Калифорния и изучава вестникарски архиви, подготвяйки се бавно и прецизно преди да започне писането.

В процеса на създаване на книгата, гениалният писател започва всеки нов ден на творческа работа с писма до най-близкия си приятел и редактор Паскал Ковичи - истинско удоволствие бе да се докосна до тях. На човек му се приисква да има в живота си някой като Стайнбек, с когото да общува - дори само чрез изписани редове.

Цитати:

„Може би най-трудното нещо при писането е да кажеш чисто и просто истината за нещата такива, каквито ги виждаш.“

„Човек е наистина твърде коварно животно, пълно с любими противоречия. Може да не си признава, но обича собствените си парадокси.“

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this alongside my third read of East of Eden, basically going back and forth between the novel and the Journal to read certain scenes and then Steinbeck's accompanying letters. (Steinbeck wrote the first draft of the novel by hand in less than a year. He wrote letters to his friend/editor as a daily "warm-up.") They are fascinating to read in concert but I would NOT recommend reading this alongside a first read of the novel. It's better to read the novel first and form your own impressions, then see what Steinbeck intended to do if you're curious. (And anyhow these letters were never intended for publication in the first place.) Maybe one nugget from the Journal that's good to know whichever read you are on is that according to Steinbeck, all the Hamilton family stories are true (minus their interactions with the Trasks, I presume).

Reading the novel alongside this Journal, my third read of East of Eden took significantly longer than my first two reads. And I think that is a good thing. When I read the novel by itself, I got swept up in feeling and the reading went very quickly. (As Steinbeck writes in the journal: "I shall want to draw the reader into the personal so that he is reading about himself." That was true for me.) The Journal helped me read the novel more objectively -- to project less of myself onto the book and see the craft, symbolism, etc. Sometimes I worried that seeing too much "behind the curtain" was a bad thing, because what if your interpretation doesn't align with the author's intent? Or what if the intent is something you find objectionable? At the same time, gleaning some intent from the Journal helped me interpret some of the more puzzling scenes/characters. The most obvious example is Cathy; learning more about Steinbeck’s personal life made me worry that he wrote Cathy as a spiteful tribute to his ex-wife. But Steinbeck’s writing in the journal suggests he intended Cathy to be a universally recognizable figure, and one that he had a piece of in himself.

So I've now read East of Eden three times in a decade. It brings to mind what Steinbeck said about long vs. short books in the Journal:

Now—we must think of a book as a wedge driven into a man’s personal life. A short book would be in and out quickly. And it is possible for such a wedge to open the mind and do its work before it is withdrawn leaving quivering nerves and cut tissue. A long book, on the other hand, drives in very slowly and if only in point of time remains for a while. Instead of cutting and leaving, it allows the mind to rearrange itself to fit around the wedge. Let’s carry the analogy a little farther. When the quick wedge is withdrawn, the tendency of the mind is quickly to heal itself exactly as it was before the attack. With the long book perhaps the healing has been warped around the shape of the wedge so that when the wedge is finally withdrawn and the book set down, the mind cannot ever be quite what it was before. ... Living with it longer has given it greater force.

Well I tore through this book on my first read and it still left a deep wedge. And the wedge keeps getting bigger, as I read the book again and again and bring more context (from reading Steinbeck’s other writings) and my own experience.

[Abbie Robinson · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

Felt often like the equivalent of reading Steinbeck’s grocery lists but truly I’d give anything to be his pen pal. It made me appreciate even more the masterpiece that is East of Eden, and the heroic effort and energy put into crafting her. I’ll love the ‘Beck forever truly truly, what a fun time to spend some time in his stream of consciousness!

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only someone of the stature of John Steinbeck, flying in the fame of his seminal, Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Grapes of Wrath, could have pulled off publishing a diary maintained through the months he wrote his longest and (in his eyes) best book, East of Eden.

The diary was written to his editor Pascal Covici and has an entry for each working day on the novel. Steinbeck followed a Mon-Fri routine and only broke it to write a short story on one weekend. The daily diary entry was a warm-up to the day’s writing, and we get a sense of his mood on that particular day. Here was a writer immersed, excited and engaged with his work, a multi-generational fictional history based on his family who lived in the Salinas Valley, California. On some days he procrastinated, on other days he was depressed, at other times he was joyous and blowing his own horn that this was the greatest book he had ever written and that everything before had been merely practice—I would disagree with that.

During the writing of East of Eden, he moves with his family from New York to Nantucket, Massachusetts for a summer vacation, working all the while, as his third wife, Elaine, organizes the family logistics, giving him the time and freedom to work uninterrupted. Covici comes by weekly to retrieve the master’s pencil-written pages to have them typed, and when the Steinbecks are in Nantucket, the handwritten pages are mailed to the publisher’s offices. Steinbeck is the quintessential craftsman, and when he is not crafting his blockbuster of a novel, he is making furniture around the house and redesigning his kitchen. And Steinbeck sharpens his pencils daily and runs through dozens of them before the book is finished.

Steinbeck comes across as a needy, manic-depressive, constantly in need of validation, given to sudden bouts of binge drinking and worrying about his equally troubled son, Tom. His health could also have been compromised due to wounds suffered when he was a correspondent during WWII. He is constantly selling the merits of the book as if he is worried that it will be rejected or severely edited. Midway through the novel his health starts to suffer, with sleepless nights, eye trouble, nervous fits, depression and an overwhelming desire to play hooky at the first opportunity. On the social side, however, he is well connected to the literati and artists of the day who drop in on him regularly.

Given that this diary is published in its entirety, there is a great deal of repetition and we feel that we are standing in one place, while the novel grows at a fast clip.

At the end of the book, Steinbeck includes a long dedication/prologue/epilogue/epitaph that is by far the most lively. In it, he features a conversation between the publisher, editor, proof-reader, reader and writer, and we see the different viewpoints held by these stakeholders that make a book priceless in its attempt to synthesize such diverse expectations.

Although this book may be considered self-absorbed and dull by the average reader, to a writer of fiction, this is a great primer on the thinking, motivation, and actions of a journeyman writer who through his “all or nothing” efforts, and a bit of luck, won the Nobel Prize for Literature, much to his own surprise and that of the prevailing literary establishment.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m not sure I’d call myself a Steinbeck fan but I loved East of Eden and decided to read this book after visiting Steinbeck’s hometown, Salinas. The book of letters sheds a great deal of light on Steinbeck’s writing process and perhaps on literary work in general. The book also made me deeply nostalgic for a time when one routinely wrote and received letters.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“And so I will tell them one of the greatest, perhaps the greatest story of all—the story of good and evil, of strength and weakness, of love and hate, of beauty and ugliness. I shall try to demonstrate to them how these doubles are inseparable—how neither can exist without the other and how out of their groupings creativeness is born.”
~ John Steinbeck in “Journal of a Novel”

Steinbeck’s sons Thom and John IV were 6 and 4 years old when he started writing “East of Eden”. They are the little presences haunting every single page of the book that has now shot up straight into my list of all-time favorite reads like a benevolent arrow.

Reading “East of Eden” in parallel with Steinbeck’s “Journal of a Novel”, the letters he addressed to his editor Pascal Covici both as a creative warm-up exercise and a confessions diary, I started to fully appreciate the genius of what was taking place here.

By interweaving his personal history through the Hamilton family (yes, our beloved Samuel Hamilton is Steinbeck’s real grandfather) and a fictional take on the mythical beast that is the Cain and Abel story through the Trask family, Steinbeck was able to choreograph a dance where the deeply intimate and the wildly imagined coexist in the green-gold Salinas Valley of his youth.

Playing with memory, allegory, archetypes and psychology, from the American Character to father and son dynamics, from the Chinese immigrants experience to the trappings of rugged individualism, Steinbeck muscled his way into my heart with his fiery exterior and gentle empathetic soul.

This book is theatrical and bold, regal and expressive, deeply intuitive and unabashedly compassionate. It wears a shiny suit of armor to protect a soft and fluid heart. It is filled with human frailties and the American Sublime, with Good and Evil and all the forking paths in between.

Thom’s and John IV’s hearts must have exploded, their brain chemistry scrambled and rewired, their sense of self reimagined, when they finally read the mercurial masterpiece that their father had written for them.

I know that mine just did.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...I want to write this one as though it were my last book." (quoted from page 8, February 12.)

From January 29-November 1, 1951 John Steinbeck documented the writing of East of Eden in notebooks, entries addressed to "Pat" (Pascal Covici, his friend and editor at Viking Press.) I took my time reading these letters every night just before going to sleep. East of Eden is one of my all time favorite books and it was such a treat to read these passages documenting the time he spent writing it. This book is a historical document, a primary source, therefore, a casual reader might find it confusing and boring to read about John Steinbeck's one-sided conversation with his editor, which contains odd details about aches and pains, nervous observations about personal health and concerns about family, carpentry projects, quirky habits having to do with sharpened pencils and notebooks, and an annoying wrinkle in the blotting paper on his desk. But for me, as a writer, I am able relate to this sort of stuff, especially with the joys and frustrations that go along with the process of writing a novel, the interruptions from writing because of life's events and the difficult, sometimes sluggish return to work after the interruptions were resolved. A writer often lives with a fear that something will happen to cause the book to be left unfinished or somehow destroyed. The entries are overflowing with the knowledge that not everyone is going to like the book at the same time that he knows there will be people who will love it...it's an emotional see-saw, at one moment he says "Oh the Hell with it", and the next, he's agonizing with self doubt.

"You know just as well as I do that this book is going to catch the same kind of hell that all the others did and for the same reasons. It will not be what anyone expects and so the expecters will not like it. And until it gets to people who don't expect anything and are just willing to go along with the story, no one is likely to like this book." (quoted from page 26, March 8, Thursday.) I couldn't have said that better myself!

Writing a book is a process that is all consuming, the line between dreams and realities becomes so fuzzy while in the thick of it, a writer can be easily lost, caught up in the tides of emotions, everything is on at full blast and wide open, it takes a special person to accomplish the writing of a book, seeing it through to the end and remaining consistent and faithful to the inspiration, at the same time letting it go its own way...and it takes a special spouse to put up with the writer while they go through the process. (Kudos to Elaine!)

It is all very strange...this is a book for the writer to read, to gain reassurance that you're not nuts, and all of this is part of the package of being a writer.

[Chris Blocker · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of East of Eden and the work of John Steinbeck in general, I loved this book. There is so much insight into what I consider the most brilliant work of fiction ever crafted. With all the cuts that were made to the final product of East of Eden, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether Steinbeck was really dabbling in Postmodernism or not. Journal of Novel makes it clear that he was. And for that, I love this man.

For the writer, there are some wonderful bits of advice in Journal, but it's probably not worth reading the entire work. Essentially, Steinbeck's philosophy could be summed up as "do what you feel is right and don't give a damn what anyone says."

For the layman, there isn't much here. After all, Journal of a Novel is a series of letters written to a friend (and editor). Steinbeck repeatedly says things like "I have to go use the toilet now." Now, for me, I care. 'Cause I want to know about every bowel movement John Steinbeck had. But you, you probably don't care.

I'd only recommend this book for those who have a passion for East of Eden. It'll add some color to an already wonderful story.

[Priscilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a specific little book. If you're an East of Eden fan, a Steinbeck fan in general, or an aspiring novelist, this book, which is actually made up of letters to Steinbeck's editor at Viking, Pascal Covici, will appeal to you. The first thirty pages or so will especially appeal to writers, as Steinbeck tries to get going with the novel. He writes, "I don't understand why some days are wide open and others closed off, some days smile and others have thin slitted eyes and still others are days which worry." Actually, considering that sentence, I realize this book may have little gems for us all.

[John Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book to read. I especially recommend reading this right after finishing East of Eden.

This book is a juxtaposition, and is arguably more impactful for the gaps in the text than for its contents. On the one hand, Journal of a Novel displays a very relatable, almost pedestrian side of Steinbeck. His "dawdlings", complaints about poor sleep and digestion, worries about politics, insecurities, and repeated promises to watch his eating and lose weight, show in rather private ways how similar he is to his readers, fans and critics alike. This relatability almost deflated him in my eyes, made an author whose works I've treasured feel too familiar, clearly flawed, and extremely human.

The mostly unremarkable content of this book is contrasted starkly by what's not written, by the gaps between the journal entries. The power of this book comes from knowing that, after writing 2 pages of complaints about a poor night of sleep, pencils that are breaking too often, or about the callouses on his writing hand, he goes on to write some of the most impactful literature I've ever encountered; Samuel threatening to "wallop" Adam over not naming the twins, drinking ng-ka-py with Lee while pondering the different verb choices across various translations of Cane and Abel, Caleb confronting his mother in the whorehouse, the Hamilton children sharing their confusion and anger after noticing how their father has aged, etc. Seeing the thought process behind the book, how he was going about living a mostly normal life while carving out time to create such an impactful work of literature, undid the sense of relatability. It made Steinbeck seem superhuman and reinforced my impression of his genius. I also journal from time to time, but there's nothing interesting to "read into" between my journal entries. My "dawdlings" foreshadow no genius.

There are a few places in this book where the content itself shines, especially for fans of EoE. He spells out that he himself treasured East of Eden and felt it to be his best work. He shares some background on how he came up with Cathy, that he doesn't view her as overly exaggerated and that he sees himself as a kind of monster. We get some more background behind the Hamilton family and get confirmation that some of the best scenes from East of Eden are based on true stories (the airplane ride specifically, but also Tom and Dessie). We see some of the intricacies of his writing process... unable to sleep while he turns crux points of the story over in his head at night, waking up early to write before the day gets in the way, contemplating how literally to spell out the themes he's trying to convey and his theory-of-mind of the book's future audience, balancing what he views as the most important work of his life with the requirements of showing up for his friends and family.

Journal of a Novel is a unique and special book, and paradoxically has left me feeling like I simultaneously know Steinbeck quite well and also like his genius is entirely incomprehensible to me.

Highly recommended for anyone who has enjoyed any of Steinbeck's books and/or would like an unique look into the craft of one of the 20th century's greatest authors.

[Joey Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you really enjoyed East of Eden you will love this book. The best way I can describe it is if you had a book club about the book with Steinbeck himself. The daily journal format means that you’re able to follow the author’s thought process as the book evolves, and you get to discover the meaning behind many of the symbols and characters in the book. A wonderful companion read, and I guarantee you will enjoy it if you’ve read EOE

[Rahel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry Mister Steinbeck for underlining all of your profound insights with mechanical, rather than a long, juicy, and, of course, freshly sharpened pencil.

[Christie Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

East of Eden is my favorite book and I think I have read it three times so far. When reading it, I sometimes have to put it down and just say wow and sit there with the words still present to ruminate and eventually digest. I last was reading it on my honeymoon in Puerto Vallarte near the pool bar.

This Journal of a Novel gives a day by day rundown of John’s thoughts and activities while writing East of Eden. It is humbling to see how much thought was put into a scene or the pace of the book or how exact he wants a character to be perceived.

One of my favorite quotes—"I believe too that if you can know a man's plans, you know more about him than you can in any other way. Plans are daydreaming and this is an absolute measure of a man."

[Treesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

aneesh went to the steinbeck museum in salinas a couples months ago and got me this book as a present. when he gave it to me, he said, "i didn't want to get you east of eden because you've already read it, so i got you this for two reasons: 1) because you love east of eden so much and i thought you'd like seeing how it was written and 2) i really want you to finish your book, and i thought this might help you do that." so yes, i did just reread east of eden for a BOY, and i sped-read this book today because said boy and i are never going to see each other again after tomorrow.

this book had some great quotes about humanity/writing/life, but i found steinbeck’s explanations of his goals while writing east of eden to be quite oblique. he kept being like, "pat, i'm trying something SUPER COOL and NEW here, and i don’t know if i can DO IT," but he never really explained what the super cool and new things were, so idrk if he did them.

in all honesty, though, im glad this book wasn't that good because if it was, then id have to miss aneesh a lot, and we wouldn't want that now would we :)

[jordanliketheriver · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Although sometimes I have felt that I held fire in my hands and spread a page with shining—I have never lost the weight of clumsiness, of ignorance, of aching inability. A book is like a man—clever and dull, brave and cowardly, beautiful and ugly. For every flowering thought there will be a page like a wet and mangy mongrel.”

I hope this book is required reading for writing courses bc god damn. Steinbeck knew how to balance a humble view of himself with the importance of his work. He found the place in writing where “After all, it is only a book and no worlds are made or destroyed by it” and “The dung beetle must be convinced of the essential quality in rolling his ball of dung…so I must be convinced that this book is a pretty rare event.”

In it you will find writing tips like having other hobbies to keep busy with when needing to “work with your hands” in some way (he was an avid carpenter and gardener), writing just to write before the actual writing, self-discipline (he worked usually M-F mornings only, with a goal of 2 pages per day, 10 pages per week). Also, having your publisher as your best friend so you can tell them to fuck right off when they’re trying to rush the ending is a pretty neat trick if you ask me.

He also talks about character development and pacing. The pacing especially is what was really interesting to me, besides his journaling about basically what today we consider mental health. On a regular basis he almost has to talk himself out of writing for the audience that wants a fast-paced, explosive novel. This is even more prevalent in today’s marketing economy. E of E is a BIG BOOK, in more ways than one. When you have a book that long how do you keep the reader invested? If you wanna find out read this fucking book I tell you.

Steinbecks dry sarcastic witty humor comes out here and there, as does the love and worry for his sons after the divorce from his 2nd wife, and the gratitude to his last wife for giving him the time to write E of E by taking care of literally everything else. There was a darkness in Steinbeck, and you get to see it clearly in these pages maybe even more than he ever allowed to come through in his novels. Also, just in case anyone missed it, he really REALLY despised short pencils.

[Scott Bielinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun and quick read. It was really interesting to read his thoughts on craft and see his commitment to it, even as he struggled to write East of Eden. In these letters, he moves from celebrating a day of hard work to exulting over newly sharpened pencils to lamenting his own propensity for depression in a matter of days or mere sentences. What struck me was Steinbeck's emotional range and honesty. He was clearly a man who struggled to understand himself, his motivations, and the place from which his creativity came. Indeed, like many writers, Steinbeck would often talk about East of Eden as if it were ushering forth from some unknown reservoir, taking shape and form without Steinbeck's guidance. And yet, he's also explicit that the story is clearly his, and he is defensive about it: "I shall welcome criticism of method or technique but this book is no more a collaboration than any of the others have been. The morals, ideas, philosophies are my own and are not offered for correction or revision" (160). Written for his sons, East of Eden was deeply personal for Steinbeck, and that comes through in significant ways in these letters. Importantly, one of the most heartwarming parts of this book is Steinbeck's clear love for his friend and editor, Pat (the recipient of these letters). It was nice to see Steinbeck endeavor to be a good friend.

This was a nice collection of letters and helped me to better understand Steinbeck, his approach to writing, and East of Eden. This book is a lot of fun if you're interested in any of those three things.

[tegan]

a piece of steinbeck’s writing will be so good and then there’s the n word. why did you have to do all that. overall interesting insight into his process writing a book which is so beloved to me (also worth noting that the only character he compares himself to in e of e is cathy … much to consider)

“how any negative or despairing approach can pretend to be literature i do not know. it is true that we are weak and sick and ugly and quarrelsome but if that is all we ever were, we would millenniums ago have disappeared from the face of the earth, and a few remnants of fossilized jaw bones, a few teeth in strata of limestone would be the only mark our species would have left on the earth. now this i must say and say right here and so sharply and so memorably that it will not be forgotten in the rather terrible and disheartening things which are to come in this book; so that although east of eden is not eden, it is not insuperably far away.” insane bars to toss in a letter which was never meant to be published

[Kathy Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the diary John Steinbeck kept while writing East of Eden. It is interesting to read what Steinbeck's concerns were while writing this novel of his home town. He interweaves family history in with the fictional Trasks to create a counterpoint in the novel, especially concerning the evilness of Cathy. This was something he worried about from a critical standpoint as no one is pure evil and he created a purely evil female. The parts of his family history also concerned him in the novel, but he let them stand as this offered contrast and slowed the story down so his readers could savor the story.

While writing the novel and keeping the diary he kept track of concerns for his sons, what his stepdaughter, Waverly, was doing and the entertainments which he and his third wife, Elaine went to. What was playing on Broadway, the Giants-Yankees World Series, and a vacation to Nantucket, MA.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating read! This is a compilation of Steinbeck’s daily journal entries written to his editor and friend throughout his ten months of writing East of Eden. Steinbeck used the journal as a way to warm up each morning to his writing work, as well as an outlet to process ideas around the book and events happening in his own life.

This journal gives such interesting insight into Steinbeck’s personality and life and writing process. It is remarkable to read about his struggles with writing and what an emotional process it was to write the novel he believed would be his best. I found myself grieving with him as he finished the book and faced the loss that came with its completion.

Since he intended that no one else would read these journal entries other than his editor friend, I wonder how he would feel about this publication? Hopefully he would be thrilled with the novel’s great success and flattered that many of us are fascinated to learn more about his extraordinary gift of writing.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinante plongée dans l’œuvre en train de se faire, de se construire, de se faire mastiquer, ruminer, étonnant soliloque tourné vers son éditeur-lecteur à retardement, où se mêlent incantations au travail, évocations de sa deuxième vie au dehors de la création et fulgurances philosophiques où l’œuvre et le processus créatif sont analysés.

Il ne manque pour donner à ce voyeurisme – la lecture d’un journal l’est toujours – un souvenir plus précis d’à l’Est d’Eden ou un plan détaillé du roman pour qu’on comprenne les tours et détours pris par Steinbeck jour après jour et la magie mise à l’œuvre par le créateur (le Créateur?).

[Caroline V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is best read after East of Eden and before East of Eden. It offers an insight into the process of writing a book that has been Steinbeck’s companion for so many years before it was started. It’s also a map of sorts to guide you back through East of Eden to find that which you didn’t know you had missed. Steinbeck’s journal paints a portrait of a man rather than a literary giant, one who is plagued by doubts but continues anyways for the love of writing and the gift he wishes to leave his boys.

[Kealan Atkinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t get much out of these letters other than the phrase, “Now it is time to get to work.”