4.5 Stars- 
 The Biblical tale of Cain and Abel is repeated with the story of two brothers battling for the love of their father in this amazing novel. We read about two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons and through their lives we see the good and evil that everyone battles. The writing is simple, but the story complex. I thought the characters were brilliantly developed. I never knew what side I was on. I felt pride, love, hate, and outrage. There were chapters that felt dry to me and Steinbeck went off on a few philosophical tangents that bored me though. I also felt like there were too many secondary characters that he spent too much time developing. It could have been shorter, but even with the few gripes I have, I still think it's a masterpiece.