India, Oct. 2 -- Cathy Ames is described as a monster by John Steinbeck in East of Eden, a woman who is fundamentally and inherently devoid of a conscience and moral compass. To get what she wants, she will shoot and poison and manipulate anyone, even her parents. She will burn down the forces that try to stop her. Steinbeck does not delve into her evil as much as show it, making her the embodiment of evil in the biblical allegory of his novel. 'The trouble is that since we cannot know what she wanted, we will never know whether or not she got it,' reads a line from the book.

The new adaptation on Netflix, created by Zoe Kazan, maps the vast canvas of the multigenerational novel in seven hour-long episodes. It is a rather mighty task, al...