Upcoming Show Based On Nobel-Winning Author’s Book Makes 1 Crucial Change To The OG Story

Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Nobel-winning author John Steinbeck’s magnum opus book will make 1 necessary change to the original story. American author John Steinbeck is widely regarded as one of the best authors of all time. Across his career, he won the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the National Book Award for Fiction.

Most of his stories had a distinctly anti-capitalist message and focused on the working-class experience in the United States. Perhaps his best-known works of all time include The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, both of which are frequently included in high school literature curricula.

However, his most ambitious novel and his magnum opus was East of Eden. The author himself considered it his most significant work and the story he was born to write. Now, it’s being adapted for the small screen, with one change that will significantly improve the story.

Netflix Is Adapting East Of Eden By John Steinbeck

Netflix is adapting East of Eden as a seven-part miniseries. For those who haven’t read the book, the story follows three generations of two intertwined families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, living in the Salinas Valley of California. The Hamilton story is essentially an autobiography of the author’s family. Meanwhile, the Trask family is a fictional allegory for the Bible stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel.

The story was previously made into a 1955 movie directed by Elia Kazan and starring James Dean. Netflix’s miniseries will continue on the legacy of the Kazan family, with his granddaughter Zoe Kazan writing and executive producing the seven-episode miniseries. She will serve as co-showrunner alongside Jeb Stuart.

Netflix’s East Of Eden Will Focus On Cathy Ames’ Perspective

In the article announcing the limited series, Tudum included one sentence in the description that changes the source material. The book is narrated by a character called John Steinbeck, who largely shares the author’s history and family. However, this won’t be the case for the Netflix miniseries.

Instead, the article revealed that the East of Eden adaptation “follows the multi-generational Trask family saga, explored from the perspective of the standout female character Cathy Ames, played by [Florence] Pugh.” This gives us two key bits of information.

Firstly, the show will follow Cathy’s perspective instead of John’s. Secondly, the show will focus on the Trasks rather than balancing the Trask and Hamilton families. The cast list includes Ciarán Hinds as Samuel Hamilton, and it makes sense that they would keep him. Samuel has an impact early on. However, none of the rest of the Hamilton family is listed.

The Singular POV Will Help Improve An East Of Eden Book Complaint

The change in character perspective is extremely welcome because it will fix one of the biggest and most consistent complaints about John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Since the book’s publication, critics and general readers have complained that the story is tonally inconsistent.

John is a contradictory narrator who sometimes says “I” and sometimes calls himself “John.” What’s more, he shifts back and forth between an omniscient narrator who knows the internal thoughts and feelings of all the characters and a first-person narrator who’s telling the story from his own perspective.

Unfortunately, this can be distracting, especially since Steinbeck is not part of the Trask family. By nature of being a character in the story, he can’t know the thoughts and motivations of the Trask family. He can’t read minds, and he doesn’t even know them on an intimate, familial level.

On top of that, the author John Steinbeck repeatedly interrupts the story to analyze and comment on the scene we just read. It’s just a lot of peculiar choices made by Steinbeck that can distract from the interesting story of the Trasks.

It makes a lot more sense for Cathy Ames to tell the story, since she’s part of the Trask family and would have more intimate knowledge of the characters. Plus, it provides a singular point of view.

My guess is that they won’t include constant voiceover, but it’s more logical that she do the narration if they go that direction with Netflix’s East of Eden. If she interrupts to add commentary, it makes sense because it’s her family’s story. If she makes assumptions about the other characters’ thoughts or motivations, it makes sense because she knows their patterns and behaviors as a member of the family.

All around, it’s a more logical choice. Plus, then we don’t have to worry about who John Steinbeck is as a character, how accurate the author’s portrayal of himself is, how he’s connected to the trasks, why he’s the one telling the story, etc. It will help focus the story.

What Is The Status Of Netflix’s East Of Eden?

For those who are excited about the East of Eden show, the good news is you won’t have to wait very long to see it on your TV screens. The miniseries started filming in New Zealand in mid-October 2024 and wrapped in March 2025. It is now in post-production.

The episode titles (via What’s On Netflix) are as follows:

• Part 1: Genesis
• Part 2: Cathay
• Part 3: In The Valley
• Part 4: Kate
• Part 5: Departure
• Part 6: The Great Try
• Part 7: East of Eden

As of the time of writing, there is no official release date yet, but Netflix’s East of Eden miniseries is expected in early 2026.