East of Eden

East of Eden
by John Steinbeck
read: circa 1995
Guardian 1000 Novels

I had to read East of Eden for summer reading before my sophomore year of high school.  This passage stuck with me:

"... A great and lasting story is about everyone or it will not last.  The strange and the foreign is not interesting - only the deeply personal and familiar."

Samuel said, "Apply that to the Cain-Abel story."

And Adam said, "I didn't kill my brother -" Suddenly he stopped and his mind went reeling back in time.

 "I think I can," Lee answered Samuel.  "I think it is the best-known story in the world because it is everybody's story.  I think it is the symbol story of the human soul."

I didn't really understand that - the idea that the Cain-Abel story is universal - at the time.  Looking back, it's a powerful statement, but I don't think it's true. Maybe if I had a brother, I might think it was true.  And the larger sentiment here - that only familiar stories resonate - I think isn't quite true, either.  I'd say only the familiar parts of stories resonate, or the parts that can touch on familiar feelings.  Ultimately, we are always piecing together a story out of our own experiences and our own feelings.