From Steinbeck's Pen To Your TV, East Of Eden Comes To DVD

Need a change of a pace from watching a typical feature film on DVD? Courtesy of Acorn Media, you can give the miniseries John Steinbeck’s East of Eden a shot on March 3rd.

If this novel wasn’t on your high school reading list, here’s a crash course on life East of Eden. The story covers the time from the Civil War through World War I. It focuses on three generations of the Trask family. First, there’s the family patriarch, Cyrus (Warren Oates). Cyrus’ domineering attitude leaves his two sons, Adam (Timothy Bottoms) and Charles (Bruce Boxleitner), at odds with each other. The brothers meet a woman named Cathy (Jane Seymour) who gives birth to the members of the family’s third generation, Cal (Sam Bottoms) and Aron (Hart Bochner). Through the relationship between Cal and Aron a biblical replica of the battle between good and evil is ensued.

Perhaps it’s because high school permanently branded Steinbeck novels as “homework” in my book, but I have no desire to sit through more than six hours of East of Eden. Yes, it did win Golden Globes for both best miniseries and best actress for Jane Seymour, but I’m simply not interested. If you have an appreciation for Steinbeck and what he dubbed his quintessential writing, you can pick up the three-disc box set for $59.99. The miniseries is accompanied by a new interview with Jane Seymour as well as a biography of John Steinbeck and cast filmographies.