Netflix's East of Eden: asking questions about free will

Adapting a classic book is a high-reward, but high-risk strategy. Devotees of the original text may well flock to see your interpretation of their much-loved original. But if they don’t like what they see, their discontent may serve to promote your work – or sink it!

Emerald Fennell’s very over-the-top Wuthering Heights earlier this year was criticised for its shock factor as well as its lack of faithfulness to the original text. This Autumn in cinemas we have another Austen adaptation, of Sense and Sensibility. With stunning cinematography and costumes, and a down-to-earth/nature mise-en-scène, its choice to focus so heavily on the romantic relationships has some viewers complaining that the actual story’s heart has been lost. Turns out the 1995 Oscar-winning adaptation written by and starring Emma Thompson is awfully hard to beat, and stays far more faithful to Austen’s head-versus-heart original.

This month, Netflix has released its own adaptation of a literary classic – the 600-odd pages of East of Eden, by John Steinbeck – now a seven-episode multi-generational saga that one reviewer has accused of being “soapy”. But the themes of the original novel, and this new version, remain strikingly Biblical. en readers will undoubtedly recognise the title as being taken from Genesis 4. Taking its inspiration from the story of Cain and Abel, this is a show not lacking in gritty realism, including violence, and the occasional sex scene. There are scenes in a brothel, children shown being beaten and whipped, guns, an attempted self-abortion, and even the opening scene features a very beaten and bloodied lead character, though the language is relatively mild.