Book Review: East of Eden

East of Eden: A Novel by John Steinbeck (New York: Penguin Books, 1952. 601 pp

Born in Salinas, California in 1902, John Steinbeck grew up in a fertile agricultural valley about twenty-five miles from the Pacific Coast. In 1919, he went to Stanford University, where he intermittently enrolled in literature and writing courses until he left in 1925 without taking a degree. During the next five years, he supported himself as a laborer and journalist in New York City. He published his first novel, Cup of Gold, in 1929. After a marriage and a move to Pacific Grove, California, Steinbeck continued writing novels. Popular success and financial security came with Tortilla Flat in 1935 and he became best known for his novels on the California laboring class with Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck spent the last decades of his life in New York City and Sag Harbor, New York with his third wife. Having won the Nobel Prize in 1962, he died in 1968.

Genesis 4:3-5

In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Without digging too deeply into the Genesis narrative, I find it interesting to reconsider the story of Cain and Abel. For a farmer, the offering of first fruits is symbolic and significant. Not only does the offering represent months of toil and cultivation, it also means forgoing the consumption of a long-awaited treausre. In many ways, I feel like Cain. His offering is a sacrifice; it could very well have been offered in pure heart. But it was not enough. I, too, have felt the sting of jealousy and the hollowness of unworthiness. In our broken and fractured state, humans have a tendency to do bad things to people. While I’m grossly exaggerating, I do feel that circumstance partly explains the difference between a Nazi and a saint.

Genesis 4:16

Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

John Steinbeck

In one word, brokenness defines John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Outlining the narratives of two families – the Trasks and the Hamiltons – settled in the Salinas Valley in Northern California during the late 19^th century and early 20^th century, East of Eden feels similar in scope to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez without the magical realism.

On one side, the Hamilton clan settled on hard land. With a will to work and a creative gifting, Samuel Hamilton – the patriarch – massages every last ounce of productivity from the land. On the other side, the Trask family lived on fertile ground. Blessed with a large inheritance, Adam Trask found no need to toil on his land.

Commenting on Adam Trask, Samuel Hamilton speaks through Steinbeck’s pen,

“Well, he moved around as if he was alive but he left no evidence. The Lord in his wisdom gave money to very curious people, perhaps because they’d starve without” (197).

Genesis 4:10

And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

Perhaps occupying a central seat in the pantheon of 20^th century antagonists, Cathy Ames – and as Adam’s wife, Kate Trask – is a cold, calculating, and manipulative person. 

Speaking of Kate, Steinbeck ponders,

“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; some are born with no arms, no legs, some with three arms; some with tails or mouths in odd places. They are accidents and no one’s fault, as used to be thought. Once they were considered the visible punishments for concealed sins.
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” (71)?

Experienced in prostitution and murder, Kate embraces her lot as bad person. Having birthed twins on the Trask farm, Kate leaves her husband and infants. Without the loving care of Lee, the family’s Cantonese cook, Adam and his twin boys would surely have suffered an undesirable end.

Genesis 4:13

Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

As the final half of the book unfolds, the narrative focuses on the lives of the Trask twins, Cal and Aron. Sharing the genetic makeup with the malformed soul of their mother, the boys grow up never knowing conclusively about her. Yet through the grapevine, the boys hear hints of the family’s sordid past.

"Cain Slaying Abel" by Peter Paul Rubens

Stated differently, these final passages in East of Eden wax poetically on the topic of brokenness in human nature. As the characters interact with the world, they often grimly conclude that they are bad people no matter the outcomes. And this feeling emerges in direct correlation with Steinbeck’s understanding of the story of Cain and Abel.

He writes,

“The greatest terror a child can have is that he is not loved, and rejection is the hell he fears. I think everyone in the world to a large or small extent has felt rejection. And with rejection comes anger, and with anger some kind of crime in revenge for the rejection, and with crime guilt – and there is the story of mankind” (268).

As such, Steinbeck suggests that Cain’s diabolical actions are an outcome of God rejecting him. Like a child acting out when he or she is ignored, Cain murders his brother in revenge of this rejection.

For some, the direct and clear links between East of Eden and Cain and Abel will hurt the overall evaluation of the novel. I, however, feel like the shameless connection between the stories adds to the depth and gravitas of the novel. Yes, East of Eden is long and, at times, meandering. But I find the many sections of beautiful prose and the clear biblical allusions to transform a good story into a great story.

Steinbeck is a brilliant talent and East of Eden deserves every ounce of praise it has received over the last sixty years. Please read this book.

Verdict: 5 out of 5

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Book Review: Tree of Codes

Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer (London: Visual Editions, 2010. 285 pp)

Born in Washington, D.C., Jonathan Safran Foer attended Princeton University earning a degree in philosophy. While at Princeton, Foer developed a senior thesis around the life of his Holocaust surviving grandfather. Eventually, this thesis became Foer’s first published book titled, Everything Is Illuminated. The book received critical acclaim winning the National Jewish Book Award and a Guardian First Book Award. Eventually, the novel was adapted into a film starring Elijah Wood. Foer’s second novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel garnered both praise and derision for its use of 9/11 as a narrative tool and its use of visual writing. Foer currently teaches in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at New York University. He is married to Nicole Krauss and they live with their two children in Brooklyn.

Mashup: A Musical Joke

Alone in my room on a winter evening a half decade ago or so, I first heard the music genre titled “mashup.” The band, Girl Talk, sampled multiple songs and layered them into a complex and new composition. While enjoyable, mashup never entered the realm of my favorite music. In my opinion, the genre feels too gimmicky. I am certain if I were to go “clubbing,” I would prefer the stylings of mashup to provide the rhythm to my dancing.

But I don’t dance; I don’t “club.” On the whole, then, mashup feels like a musical joke. It entertains me but it does not change me at a deeper level.

Tree of Codes: Art or Gimmick?

Similarly, Jonathan Safran Foer’s latest book, Tree of Codes, feels like a gimmick. With every word taken from The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz, Tree of Codes function more as a work of visual art than as a work of literature. More specifically, Foer takes Schulz’s work and creates a new story by deleting words and phrases in order to create new sentences.

While aesthetically stunning, the story takes a back seat to the way the story looks. Tree of Codes is a quick read because each page contains merely a sentence or two.

The newly rendered story meanders under a stream-of-consciousness style. Without character development or a defined plot, Tree of Codes feels more like poetry than a novel.

Gaze Upon Its Beauty

Ultimately, Foer’s visual writing is beautiful and well worth consuming. Yet, Tree of Codes feels gimmicky. Just like the mashup genre of music provides entertainment only to a certain level, Tree of Codes suffers from the same fate. The beauty of the book offers enough value that I recommend reading Tree of Codes, but don’t expect much from the content.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

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Musical Review: How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying directed and choreographed by Rob Ashford, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser (Playing at AlHirschfeld Theatre, 2 hours and 45 minutes)

Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway, John Larroquette, Tammy Blanchard, and Christopher J. Hanke.

On Broadway

For those unaware, my wife and I recently returned from a trip to New York. I had the opportunity to present a paper at an international business ethics conference and we spent some time afterward “vacationing.”

If I had to pick one unanimous piece of advice given by those who have traveled to New York before us, it would be “see a Broadway show.” Since tickets cost an arm and a leg, Tara and I waited in line at TKTS, a discount ticket provider, hoping to get tickets to practically anything. My first choice, The Book of Mormon, is, and will be, sold out forever. Our second choice, however, was How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. By the luck of the draw, we found tickets, front row center.

How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying

A musical comedy, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying satirically tells the story of J. Pierrepont Finch (Daniel Radcliffe), a young window cleaner from New York with loads of ambition. Guided by a DIY book with the same title as the play, Finch strolls into the World Wide Wicket Company searching for a job. With a little luck, Finch bumps into J.B. Biggley (John Larroquette), president of the company. Despite a prompt dismissal from Biggley, Finch uses Biggley’s name to sway the hiring manager and gain entry into the company through a job in the mailroom.

With a mind to climb the corporate ladder, Finch gains a confidant and eventual love interest in secretary, Rosemary Pilkington (Rose Hemingway) and an enemy in Mr. Biggley’s lazy nephew, Bud Frump (Christopher J. Hanke).

As the musical unfolds, Finch comically interacts with characters and becomes a metaphor for the laissez-faire mindset of climbing the corporate ladder.

Material Success Still Matters

Set in the 60s, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying critiques male-dominated business culture and yet at the same time functions as a happily-ever-after corporate narrative. The mailroom-to-CEO story is engrained in American culture and despite the satirical look at business, the musical remains true to the status quo.

Look, I am no expert at live theater. I haven’t a clue if How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying is a triumph of art or a lowest-common-denominator pop play. I did enjoy it, however. The musical is witty and entertaining. If you’re in New York and looking for a play on Broadway, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying serves as an excellent option.

Verdict: 3.5 of 5

Television Show Review: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Season Two created by Frank Darabont; produced by Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert, Robert Kirkman, and Charles H. Eglee (Circle of Confusion and Valhalla Motion Pictures)

Starring Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Steven Yeun, and Chandler Riggs.

A Premature Review

Partly because I’m currently engaged in some lengthy books and need to post some content, I am reviewing the current season of The Walking Dead despite the fact that it is early in its second season.

As I mentioned in my review of the show last year, I am not a fan of the zombie genre. Yet, the more I consider the subtext beneath these post-apocalyptic narratives, the more the genre fascinates me.

Zombie as Metaphor

At its core, a zombie story explores human frailty. The zombie functions as a metaphor for the inevitability of death. Like a contagion, the threat gradually rises until no hope remains for escape. In other words, the zombie genre requires the viewer to encounter his or her own death.

In movie form, zombie stories move quickly with boatloads of action before the narrative resolves in the finality of death. The Walking Dead, however, must unfold slowly due to its serialized nature. As such, a sensory assault seen in most zombie movies would drain the viewer.  With a show format, The Walking Dead needs drama in order to break up the intense zombie scenes.

I Want to Like the Characters before They Die!

And, honestly, this drama is the Achilles’ heel of the show so far. Of course, in light of a dying world, it is nearly impossible to imagine the ways in which humans would cope. But, the attempts to humanize the characters in this show sound hollow. In truth, I am not drawn to any of the characters on this show.  As these people die (and we know they will, let us not deceive ourselves), I want to like them. Stated differently, it is not dramatic if unlikable characters die.

So, despite high ratings and much promise, I find it difficult to give The Walking Dead, a perfect score. The show has promise. In the third episode, we find the kind of cliffhanger that creates real characters. If you love zombies, you need to watch The Walking Dead. As for me, I continue to watch hoping that the writers put everything together.

Verdict: 3 of 5

Album Review: The Rip Tide

The Rip Tide by Beirut (Pompeii Records, 2011. 33 minutes)

Originally the music project of New-Mexico-native Zach Condon, Beirut is an indie rock band which combines Eastern European music, Balkan folk, and Western pop music. While traveling through Europe in his youth, Condon fell in love with world music. This love prompted musical experimentation that resulted in the band. While attending the University of New Mexico, Condon recorded his first record, GulagOrkestar, in his bedroom. He shopped the record to labels and ultimately signed with Ba Da Bing! Records. Before releasing The Rip Tide, Condon founded Pompeii Records giving him full control over his music.

Evaluative Difficulty

I find it difficult to review music. Of all art forms, it is the easiest to passively consume. I can listen to the same album every day during work without learning the lyrics or grasping the artistic structures surrounding the composition.

Moreover, people appreciate music for different reasons and different ways. Some need catchy melodies; others need deep lyrics; some want emotive lyrics; and others desire technical musicianship. If an album possesses one of these facets, it is a success for some but a failure for others. In the wake of these revelations, how could anyone critically evaluate popular music?

A Good Record

Having explained my troubles, let’s move to Beirut’s new release, The Rip Tide. I enjoy this record but I find it difficult to explain why I feel this way. The album does not contain an overarching theme and its music is not overly complex; but I still interact positively with its songs. Zach Condon’s weaving melodies, clever use of horns, and pristine production make for an enjoyable record.

To the Songs

Although the album carries no large-scale theme, the songs are intriguing. First single, “Santa Fe” offers an upbeat tune with tremolo instrumentation. During the chorus, Condon wails,

“Sign me up Santa Fe / Call your son / Signe me up Santa Fe / On the Cross Santa Fe / And all I want.”

Interestingly, Santa Fe possesses dual meaning. Speaking plainly, it refers to a city in New Mexico. This interpretation emits feelings of fondness for an urban landscape. Yet, Santa Fe also means “holy faith.” Thus, the lyrics could also be interpreted as a plea of belief.

“East Harlem” is another highlight of the record. With acoustic instrumentation, beautiful horn melodies, and lyrics of longing, the song unveils impeccably when Condon croons,

“Another rose wilts in East Harlem / And uptown downtown a thousand miles between us / She’s waiting for the night to fall / Let it fall, I’ll never make it in time.”

Lastly, The Rip Tide’s closing song, “Port of Call,” bookends the album perfectly. With ukulele-driven instrumentation, Condon provides perhaps his best vocal performance. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the lyrics of the song are my favorite of the record.

“And I, I call through the air that night / My thoughts were still blurry inside / We were closer then, I’ve been alone some time / Filled your glass with gin / Filled your heart with pride / And you, you had hope for me now / I danced all around it somehow / Be fair to me, I may drift awhile.”

Also, as an aside, the title “Port of Call” is etymologically related to Portugal giving the tune a setting.

The Parts that Comprise the Whole

With intriguing parts, it is easy to conclude that the whole of the album is excellent. Of course, music offers different conclusions for different people and I have found it difficult to convey the way I feel about The Rip Tide. Bottom line, though, is that I love the album enough to recommend it. So give the record a spin!

Verdict: 4.5 of 5

Television Show Review: Doctor Who

Doctor Who created by Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, and Donald Wilson (British Broadcasting Corporation)

Currently starring Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, and Alex Kingston.

His Name Is the Doctor

Currently listed as the longest-running science fiction television show by the Guinness World Records, Doctor Who follows the adventures of a time-traveling alien named The Doctor. Traversing the universe with a time machine called the TARDIS which possesses an outward appearance of a blue police box, the Doctor typically travels with a female human companion and, together, they encounter numerous villains and work toward saving people groups, worlds, and righting injustices in the universe.

Although the series began in 1963, the current version of Doctor Who premiered in 2005. With a sharp and dry wit, the actors playing The Doctor carry the show through brilliant dialogue and colorful acting.

Connecting with the Innate Desire to Get Away

The TARDIS

While I enjoy the humorous dialogue, what intrigues me about this series is the companion figure. Each character who travels with the Doctor finds the banal reality of everyday life in London to pale in comparison with traveling with this humanoid alien. For these people, escape leads to real life.

I don’t claim to know the underlying themes that define humanity, but it certainly seems like we all share an innate sense of discovery. When my wife and I travel, we find joy in wandering the streets of a new city exploring nooks and crannies.

In Doctor Who, the viewer lives vicariously through the companion. If you were offered free travel anywhere in time and space, wouldn’t you say yes with no questions asked?

As an example, with the obviously caveat that it could be pre-ordained, I think of the times that Conan O’Brien grabs a random fan during a show and tells him or her that the show is paying him or her to travel for a week. Each time, the audience member jumps on the airplane with no questions asked.

Of course, Doctor Who is an entertaining show that combines action adventure, science fiction, and humor. Yet, I am drawn to these deeper themes beneath the surface plot. If you realize the human condition for discovery and you like science fiction with a good dose of British humor, I recommend watching Doctor Who from its current inception in 2005.

Film Review: Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino (Universal Pictures, Weinstein Company, A Band Apart, R, 153 minutes)

Starring Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent, and Christoph Waltz.

Dual Duels

Set in France during World War II, Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds tells the story of two separately planned attempts to assassinate the leaders of the Nazi party.

In one storyline, Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) – nicknamed “The Jew Hunter” for his ability to locate Jews in hiding – interrogates a dairy farmer learning that he is harboring a Jewish family under the floorboards. While Landa’s men shoot through the floor, teenage daughter Shosanna Dreyfus escapes the carnage.

Three years later, Shosanna hides in plain sight as a cinema owner in Paris under the identity, Emmanuelle Mimieux. While changing the marquee, she meets Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), a decorated German sniper and star in an upcoming German propaganda film. Smitten, Zoller convinces Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) to move the premier of the film to Shosanna’s cinema.

Understanding that this premiere will provide an occasion for all of Germany’s high ranking officers to be in the same room, Shosanna realizes that she has an opportunity for revenge.

Killing Nazis

In the second storyline, 1^st Special Service Force First Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) assembles a team of Jewish-American servicemen to go undercover in France with the sole mission of inflicting terror on the Nazis.

A sadistic killer, Raine insists that his soldiers kill Nazis and scalp them as proof. In fact, he requires each soldier to personally give him 100 scalps. Through the information provided from a double agent, the Allied Forces learn that the Nazi leaders will all attend the premier of a propaganda film in Paris. With the help of the informant, Raine and some of his men gain entry to the event with the sole intention of wreaking havoc. Of course, none of this actually happened in real life. But Inglourious Basterds is a film that ponders the “what-if”.

In the Midst of Bloody Carnage, We See Compelling Characters

At its core, Inglourious Basterds is about the characters.

Waltz, playing Colonel Landa, is brilliant and deserving of every award bestowed on him for the performance. Landa is complex; ruthless on one hand, he possesses a sinister intelligence with no loyalties on the other. In every scene, he hovers over the rest of the characters as if he knows the whole plot and is only playfully toying with the other characters.

Pitt, playing Lieutenant Raine, represents the opposite of Landa. His sense of retribution trumps all other human emotions. For Raine, if a person wears the Nazi uniform, he deserves death and/or public humiliation. Although the Allied Forces are the film’s protagonists, their actions are more violent and less forgiving.

If Everyone Dies, Who Is the Protagonist?

Ultimately, the bloodshed in the film portrays the senselessness of war on both sides. As with every Tarantino film, everyone dies. But in this instance, death shows us how retribution can be, in itself, deadly. The Nazis killed millions of Jews and Inglourious Basterds allows us to watch them suffer for their crimes once more.

Yet, our desire for retribution can create psychopaths no different than the Nazis. Inglourious Basterds reminds us to be careful what we wish for.

The film represents another signpost in the Quentin Tarantino canon. Stylistically, it is everything one comes to expect from Tarantino films. However, the acting of Christoph Waltz and the juxtaposition of Nazis and retributive psychopaths makes for an excellent movie.

Verdict:  4 of 5.