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Combatfighter t1_j6m6pyh wrote

I also recently read East of Eden. I personally didn't find any issues with pacing, though I was questioning a bit of the purpose of the POV chapters of Kathy's bouncer/bodyguard.

Otherwise, I found it really good, and absolutely see why this is considered one of the greatest american novels. I loved Samuel and Lee especially as characters, both huge wells of wisdom. I found it interesting how I initially disliked Caleb a lot, but as the boys grew I found him more and more, well, human. It might align with Aaron POVs stopping and Caleb POVs starting, my copy is back at library so I cannot make sure if this is the case. Kathy is an amazing villain/antagonist.

Only thing I was a bit weirded out was a couple spots of body descriptions of female characters, that felt more descriptive and detailed than the male counterparts.

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mikaelnguyen OP t1_j6o888g wrote

I agree with you on pretty much everything, to a T. I replied to an earlier comment about the pacing and noted that I think I went into it with pacing bias since my wife told me it was slow in parts. Again, I don’t think by any measure it was awful - just kinda similar to the slow parts in 20,000 leagues under the sea.

Completely agree about the relevance of Joe. Like he felt somewhat insignificant to me… Regarding Cal, I align with you exactly. I initially disliked him and liked aaron then completely swapped. Kathy was also excellent.

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