East of Eden: In Fannish Terms

[bimo]

Currently reading John Steinbeck's East of Eden, I can't help myself but mentally refer to the novel's Cathy/Kate plotline as "The Stephen King remix", simply because Kate, as a character, feels so much like a King character, doing King-typical things -- however written from a different perspective, by a different writer with completely different intentions, focus and strengths.

Of course I know how wrong this is, for about a hundred literary reasons. But still, the popular fannish concept of the "remixed" story seems the one best suited to describe my impression.

Comments

[selenak]

Hm, yes, I see what you mean about Cathy/Kate being a very Stephen King character, written by another author.

I actually read the novel first and hence must have been the only viewer dissappointed by the James Dean version. I kept thinking "but where's Lee?", "Where are the linguistic/philosophical discussions of timschal" and "Adam isn't like that!" and "Why did they cut out the entire Cathy, Charles and Adam backstory and just leaave the stuff with the kids", and "but THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN THAT WAY AT ALL". And so forth.

[bimo]

Oh yes, Lee! Having watched the movie first, Lee came as a major surprise for me, as well as the Hamiltons. Once I have finished the novel, I think I might actually go and rewatch the movie just to see how certain aspects of Lee have been incorporated into movie!Abra.

While I've got a certain hunch about the motives behind this transfer, I believe it's actually a shame because so many of the novel's strongest scenes are so closely related to Lee in one way or the other.

Oh, and on a note completely unrelated to Steinbeck: There will be "Captain's Table Con" in Düsseldorf organized by the FedCon team in Düsseldorf this September, featuring Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew and Patrick Stewart. As the Con hotel is just a 2o minute car drive away from our place, Cavendish and I decided not to miss out on this one and bought weekend tickets. No idea whether you are planning to attend as well, but if so, we'd be delighted if you let us know :-)

[selenak]

I believe it's actually a shame because so many of the novel's strongest scenes are so closely related to Lee in one way or the other.

Exactly. I so much missed him that I couldn't appreciate the movie in its own right until the second time I watched it.

And arrggggghh, you torture me. I can't. My September takes me to Los Angeles first, on a Feuchtwanger conference, and then on a trip through Yellowstone Park and various canyons in Utah with the APs for all our birthdays which are all in September. You'll have to write a report!