East of Eden/The Wayward Bus

by John Steinbeck

EAST OF EDEN is a monumental novel of grassroots America, sweeping from Connecticut to California, spanning several decades in the passionate lives of two turbulent families. The towering figure of Adam Trask dominates the story--a good man whose satanic wife revealed to him the shuddering ecstasies of lustful evil

Kate came into Adam's life unannounced, and left amidst the ringing echo of gunfire. Behind her were a shattered man and a shattered world, and two infant boys doomed to play out, once again, the tragic roles of another Adam's offspring. Ahead of her was a frenzied life of depravity and perversion, wealth..and terror.

THE WAYWARD BUS traveled the back roads through lush California countryside. Its driver was a man of the land--lusty, hot-blooded, uninhibited. On the bus were a magnificent creature cursed with a heart of gold an an irresistible allure for men, a traveling salesman out strictly for laughs, a boy with the sweet sap of manhood urgent in him, a college girl pursuing a secret, passionate quest...

In one climactic day--and night--the lives of these and all the other passengers on the wayward bus were changed. And the electricity that John Steinbeck creates in their relation ships provides both power and shock.
--jacket description

Genres: Fiction, Classics

662 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

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

[Lesle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A second reading of East of Eden September 26, 2025
Is there such a thing as inherent evil? Does ones nature cause them to be forced into wickedness? Does one choose evil? Do they enjoy those quialities that are morally wrong and harmful to others. That for some reason they have this self conceit that forces them to be this way. Does one have to strive to be good and have grace in their life?

All the characters have multiple dimensions of the good and evil around them. Well almost all, Cathy is just a down right monster. She has no conscience or empathy towards her own. She is what I would say is pure evil, yes even a villian.

We all deal with some struggles within ourselves but seem to find something that lures us to ethical qualities. Lee on the other hand has just that the wisest of moral knowledge.
It does make one think really deep about the choices we make in our lives and of course the consequences that follow, but we choose to drive the right path to be a moral being.

The writing is deliberate allowing us to see some moments of both beauty in the Salinas Valley “golden foothill slopes against the strong and rocky western range” and tragedy (Aron).
I think it is a very challenging read and in the end "thou mayest"

East of Eden: March 2021
I knew the novel was long and when I opened the book...great! Small print :( on these old eyes I had to angle the light and at times put on the readers. The pages are deckled and thick. I started reading and Steinbeck's opening is detailed as like others I have read. The first ten paragraphs are broad in their description of the Valley and Mountains, but memories are instilled of the odors from the grasses, flowers and trees, making it easy for me to visualize the beauty of the area. I stopped and reread these paragraphs to let the landscape sink in.

I started reading this novel on my lunch breaks. The chapters are rather short, not few...just short.
The Novel is grand in scale covering two families lives.

The characters I found hard to relate to and a few are just down-right unlikable. Horrible traits of some really bothered me for a good portion of the book. One such character is just not good and maybe he made her that way. I dislike her so much that I cannot see the purpose.

This read turned out to be truthful in human nature and the conditions. Lee, Adam's employee is probably the purest selfless character in the entire story and I felt he gave up everything for Adam and his sons. His speech "You're growing up" is truth.

There are a great many bad things, horrible things that happen that some of the characters cannot help, but be flawed, but somehow these acts are outweighed by choice. "If there is blame, it is my blame"

Can you really inherit life's struggles from your parents? What about bad behavior or good personality? How can you not be like them? Is it my responsibility to recognize that I can make a personal choice for good. I cannot blame my parents for my bad flaws.

A thinker this one is.
Home= a place that lies just a bit east of Eden.

"A story has in it neither gain for loss. But a lie is a device for profit or escape."

The Wayward Bus pages 495-662 November 2021
A bus of unlikely people that are stuck as the bus has broken down. They are lonely, yet some are greedy, some that scheme and some that are just plain lost. The bus continues the next morning on a journey as they pass through bad weather, a detour and how everything goes awry as they travel the backroads along a river and hills.
The book is not full of action it is how each type of person interacts with others. The tension that arises between men and women. The power one has over others and the art of impression. The characters are all flawed and I disliked most of them but felt sorry for a few. It gets a bit creepy later on and there is no real answer just a parting of ways.
Steinbecks crafting of characters is what draws you to continue the read. The people are the story with their personalities, how they interact and how they handle life and what is important to them.

[Ellie Wolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

East of Eden- 5 Stars
Wayward Bus- 3 Stars

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

East of Eden by John Steinbeck, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature, author of The Grapes of Wrath http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/t..., according to The Modern Library, one of the Top Ten Best Novels in English, not all that exhilarating for this reader nonetheless

9 out of 10





This reader has been enchanted by The Grapes of Wrath – read twice, the above is a link to one note, but here is another send off, to another impression, on the same book http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/t... - and the performance of Henry Fonda in the leading role has remained somehow inscribed on the cortex (or wherever such memories can find a place) but that was on the first encounter, a second reading was not similarly overwhelming



Indeed, John Steinbeck has lost a lot of his clout, if not all, ever since I had learned that he was a communist, or at the very least he had entertained such affiliations as a young man – yes, there was a joke that went ‘who is not a communist when young has no heart, who is still a commie when old has no brains’ – and seeing that I have lived through communism (furthermore, I even took part in the 1989 Revolution http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r... that has taken Ceausescu down) I reject all such ideology and refuse to come close to those who embrace the dogma.

Paul Johnson has a marvelous book http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/i... called Intellectuals, in which he looks at the crème de la crème, Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Jacques- Rousseau…the latter has left the children at the door of the orphanage, at a time when nine out of ten died in situations like that – the conclusion is that great minds have a side that is very dark, vicious, it could even be said that in order to shine in one way, one needs to have a stigma in another…



John Steinbeck should be absolved of the sin of sympathizing with the communists, for he has given us some unequal masterpieces – another is Of Mice and Men http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/o... a compelling, emotional, brilliant account of what happens with a man with challenges, who is placed in a circumstance where he is tempted by the wife of the employer (hey, I better be careful ere, for I could get some Cancel Culture activists on my back, if only I have some traction, which I do not, so I am free, Alhamdulillah)

The gentle giant (he is generally as sweet and nice as it is possible, it is demanding situations that make him unable to see what to do, and with his super power and pressure, tragedy ensues) is not ‘tempted’ as in this is the poor victim’s fault, and those lines yet another stupid, malign, vile take of the male chauvinist pig against females, stating that they are responsible when they are attacked, and it is not the male criminal.



I just read yesterday that Johnny Depp is back on the horse, he will have the release of the film where he plays Louis XVI (or is it another one, quatorze maybe, it can be checked easily, but why bother, who cares, who gives a damn) directed by the ex-wife of Luc Besson (the latter had been investigated for severe accusations) a woman who has just told the press that she had spit on a journalist…apparently, she had also pulled his hair, in a restaurant, and she is somehow an opponent of MeToo…

Johnny Depp has signed the biggest advertising contract, worth some twenty million dollars or euros, to promote Sauvage, the Dior Fragrance, perfume, just as we had had the Horror show of the trial, where he won compensation, but my personal take is that they both came out with a lousy image…I mean, alright, it is Sauvage he is promoting and savages do wild things, but still, it is very strange for me…



Furthermore, I am not happy with the way he has acted in the last few years – yes, we have had Donnie Brasco http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/07/d... Edward Scissorhands, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape http://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/n..., Blow and a good number of other excellent motion pictures, but like with Pacino and others, a stage is reached when routine can destroy the performances, there is grandiosity and emphatic exaggeration, pompous grandstanding, instead of minimalism…Less is more in the words of Mies van der Rohe, one of the greatest architects of humanity, and a wondrous thinker

These days, the saga of the resurrection of Johnny Depp continues, for there is backlash, especially given that Jeanne du Barry will open the most important film festival in the world, Cannes, where we have this story of a courtesan trying to get power, enticing Louis XV aka Johnny Depp, in what will be a very closely watched feature, seeing the controversy and buzz surrounding the actor, but also the outré director



Maiwenn, as she calls herself now, has been the wife of another figure that had been involved in accusations of abuse, and seeing that she had been very violent recently, this has attracted attention, albeit it is not for artistic reasons that cinephiles talk about this, the innuendo and gossip will do a lot to make the public curious…who said ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’, we have had Benetton and the search for outrage

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se



As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had forgotten that I read this book and in fact I must still have it. East of Eden was made into a great movie starring James Dean back in the fifties. All I can recall about the Wayward Bus is that I liked it.

[Brandon Dickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me think. The preference of the value of the truth or the comfort of a lie, overcoming tragedy, depression despite riches and happiness despite poverty. Good vs Evil.
Multi-generational stories that send you through life’s ups and downs. The power of our choices and how they affect our future and pass down to the next generation.
At times the book does get dry, monotonous but also has its excitement.

[Cliff Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is said to be Steinbeck’s greatest work. I’m not sure about that but it is definitely the best I’ve read by him. This story draws you in and tells you the story of two families. Well worth the read.

[Joseph Jupille · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, how do I love Steinbeck? Love love love love love this book.

There were passages throughout, but especially in the last hundred pages or so, that took my breath away. Wow.

I lived in Monterey County for two years, and drove Highway 101 a fair bit for five years before that. Steinbeck takes me right back there, I can feel it and smell it. Wonderful.

I am too uncultured perhaps to take the measure of how truly obvious this is, but this is very much about men and how they make their way in the world. While Cathy/Kate obviously plays a big role, the women are much less fully drawn than the man - Steinbeck is like Lee, or, rather, of course, vice-versa. There are a lot of threads of the various families and their histories that I am not sure I have woven tightly together in my head, and I find Aron to be a little opaque. Obviously he and his mother are are opposite ends of the spectrum, and Aron's pole doesn't resonate much with me. The messy middle is what it's all about, and Steinbeck's presentation feels perceptive and "right" in some way in terms of that.

I am obviously not a lit crit, so I'll stop there. Love Steinbeck. Want to reread Cannery RowCannery Row, soon. In the meantime, thank you, John Steinbeck. Thank you, Salinas and California and the West and America. Thank you, human genius. The feel of this one will be with me for good long while, I think.

[Marlee Pinsker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a while ago and this is what sticks out in my mind:

There was a Chinese man, and he spoke broken English, like a new immigrant, until someone who looked at him and had listened to him suddenly told him to drop the act, he didn't have to pretend around him. And he was whole, and intelligent and humorous and lovely.
Steinbeck wrote, "Me talkee chinese talk,"
"Well, I guess you have your reasons, And it's not my affair I hope you'll forgive me if I don't believe it, Lee."
The conversation continues and Lee tells Samuel, "Pidgin they expect and pidgin they'll listen to. But English from me they don't listen to, and so they don't understand it." It reminds me of The City and The City and all the people who had learned to unsee each other.

There were several sets of two brothers, and the one you thought was the nicer and sweeter could surprise you. If we are East of Eden then we are somewhere near Cain and Abel and this book considers them in different ways. Look, no one's perfectly good. Or the other way, completely, either.

And the woman who is the embodiment of evil, the one who does seem completely evil, never mind my last sentence, develops a terrible arthritis in her hands that makes it impossible for her to take care of herself. There's a punishment for you.

Adam called Cathy his Eve. She was the nastiest person in the world but he couldn't see it.

[Britt.and.Lit Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. I first read this in when I was very young, and it was really the way I learned about the realities of humanity- both the good and the bad. East of Eden is aptly named in the story of Samuel’s two sons- Adam and Charles. Charles struggles with Adam’s choice of spouse in Cathy, as he may the one who sees her for who she truly is. My favorite quote that resonated from East of Eden was , “ I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads or tiny bodies. . . . And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? The face and body may be perfect, but if a twisted gene or a malformed egg can produce physical monsters, may not the same process produce a malformed soul?”.

[B. Scott Holmes]

East of Eden was one of my earliest exposures to an epic tale, ie one of multi generations. I was a member of a book club in my youth and this is about the only instance of that membership I still retain. For me to review it I would need to reread it. My ideas of the story have been vastly overridden by the film.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read