I knew it was a bad idea, but even with the sympathetic portrayal of Cathy in the Netflix depiction, East of Eden is still an atrociously misogynistic tome. Steinbeck loved men. He wanted men not to be prejudiced. He just didn't want women to be anything at all. That's not progressive; that's dangerous and wrong. Steinbeck was a sadistic womaniser. And lauding his work is just promoting his atrocities.