East of Eden (Literature)

...His masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize amid a swirl of roaring controversy and made him an international celebrity, vividly depicts the united struggle of impoverished farmers, but from within it one can hear the author's optimistic view of humanity and his praise of life, with his trust in the eternal progress of American society and of all of humanity, which continues to include them in its movements. His literary endeavors after World War II, beginning with The Moon Also Sets (1942), are generally said to have declined, but he showed fierce resistance to the negative reviews with works such as East of Eden (1952), a masterpiece that linked his own family lineage to the changes in American society from the Civil War to World War I, and attempted to tell the story of human liberation from the sense of original sin through a story from the Old Testament. The film of the same name, directed by Elia Kazan and acclaimed for featuring James Dean, was based on this fourth part, and The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), which led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962.

*Some of the terminology referenced in "East of Eden" (Literature) is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…ごうごうたる賛否両論の渦まく中でピュリッツァー賞を授与され，彼の名を国際的にも高からしめた代表作《怒りの葡萄》(1939)も，貧窮農民の共闘の様を伝える迫真的描写の底から，彼らをも包摂して動いてゆくアメリカ社会と人類全体の永遠の歩みに信頼を寄せる作者の楽天的人間観と生命賛歌が聞こえてくる。《月は沈みぬ》(1942)に始まる第2次大戦後の彼の文学的営為に対しては，その衰退を指摘するのが一般であるが，南北戦争から第1次大戦に至るアメリカ社会の変遷に自身の家系を絡め，原罪意識からの人間解放を旧約聖書の物語に託して語ろうとした大作《エデンの東》(1952。ジェームズ･ディーンの登場で評判を呼んだエリア･カザン監督の同名の映画はこの第4部に基づく)，1962年度ノーベル文学賞授与の契機となった《われらが不満の冬》(1961)など，不評に抗する意欲は熾烈であった。…

※「《エデンの東》（文学）」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

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