It’s a tale almost as old as time, and it’s landing on Netflix this Thursday.

John Steinbeck’s East of Eden is an epic, magisterial novel about fathers and sons, family legacies, and the question of free will. Based on the story of Cain and Abel in the book of Genesis, the substantial tome cemented Steinbeck’s legacy and contributed to his Nobel win a decade later.

The 1955 adaptation directed by Elia Kazan made James Dean a movie star, but it left a lot—like, two-thirds of the book—on the cutting room floor. The series adaptation arriving this week, directed by Kazan’s granddaughter Zoe, appears to be aimed at filling in some of those gaps.

Look for more emphasis on the monstrous madam, Cathy Ames, played by Florence Pugh, and a long overdue moment for Lee, the Trask family’s servant and resident philosopher, played by Hoon Lee. Mike Faist, Ciaránd Hinds, Christopher Abbott, Joseph Zada, Martha Plimpton, and Tracy Letts are among the big names rounding out the blockbuster cast.

Get a deep dive into East of Eden to prepare you for the show on Zero to Well-Read.

Extra Credit

Adaptation Corner

The Netflix adaptation drops Thursday, November 1st. Watch the trailer here while you wait.

Did Ya Know?

  • The title, East of Eden, is a reference to a specific bible verse: Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16:

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

  • Steinbeck wrote East of Eden in just 11 months between January and November 1951. Every day of that period, he wrote a letter to his friend and Viking Press editor Pascal Covici every day as a warm-up. Those letters have been compiled into Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters.
  • He wrote a werewolf novel called Murder at Full Moon, but it sadly never saw the light of day because he didn’t think it was good enough. As Rebecca said, ” Release the tapes!”

Literary Tourism

If you find yourself in California’s Salinas Valley, you can visit the National Steinbeck Center, one of the largest literary museums in the United States dedicated to a single author.

If you can’t make it out there, here’s a video with some highlights from the museum, including the interior of the home where John Steinbeck was born and lived into adolescence.

Say What Now?

Bringing this back because it’s my favorite: out-of-context show quotes!

  • “RIP Fast and Furious‘ Paul Walker.”
  • “I think people might be surprised to hear that this is the book of an agnostic with all the church crap in it!”
  • “I mean, first you breezed right by ‘offered to spy for the CIA.’”
  • “I don’t think there is an Amy Dunn without a Kathy Ames.”
  • “I think I’m going to just enter the dinner of revenge into my personal archive.”