content: I recently finished reading this novel and fell in love with the characters, the story itself and the message of both good and evil, as well as the concept of "Timshel" or "Thou Mayest".John Steinbeck is without a doubt a superb storyteller. "East of Eden" has many facets and dimensions within it. Somehow or another Steinbeck is able to write a multi-dimensional story with phenomenal characters and keep the entire novel cohesive from start to finish.I had a difficult to wanting to do anything but read this novel once I started reading it. The writing is fantastic and entertaining... The characters are fabulous and there was always so much going on in this novel that you eagerly want to find out what is going to happen next!This is a must read novel. Steinbeck is such a wonderful writer that I can see why he won the Nobel Prize for Literature!