East of Eden & Grapes of Wrath

East of Eden was dubbed ""the first book"" by Nobel Laureate John Steinbeck in his journal and it does have the primal power and simplicity of myth. This expansive and often cruel novel set in the fertile farmland of California's Salinas Valley recounts the connected fates of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly repeat the fall of Adam and Eve and the toxic rivalry of Cain and Abel. Adam Trask moved to California from the East in order to cultivate and raise his family on the new fertile land. However the birth of his twins Cal and Aaron drives his wife insane leaving Adam alone to raise his boys to manhood.