Cannery Row

By John Steinbeck

Book Overview

Steinbeck's tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society, dependant on one another for both physical and emotional survival Unburdened by the material necessities of the more... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140177388
• Release Date: February 1993
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.6" x 0.6" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Cannery Row

Cannery Row is Steinbeck at his best. It is a great example of Steinbeck's humorous side as well as some sad commentary on the state of mankind. Freddy's fate, the drowned girl, and the chapter in which the boy makes fun of friend's father committing suicide make it clear that Steinbeck is trying to do more than just write a feel good novel for his readers recovering from WWII. Steinbeck seems to want to make clear to the reader that the tragedy that often is the reality of life is always lurking somewhere in the background. Despite some of the gloomy chapters, Steinbeck does an excellent job of creating memorable characters who move through their lives in a laid back manner that reflects the character of Cannery Row itself. In fact, the town of Cannery Row becomes as much a character in the novel as Doc. Mr. Lee, or Mac and the boys. By having the fickle moods of Cannery Row change as portrayed by the weather and scenery Steinbeck uses the living element of the town to move the reader through the story. I highly recommend this novel.

Capturing humanity in small town coastal Cali

I was pretty much blown away by this book. Unfortunately, I'm coming late to discovering Steinbeck. I read "Travels With Charley" early on and more recently "Tortilla Flat." Of his fictional works "Cannery Row" has far been my favorite to date.From "Tortilla Flat" Steinbeck has come a long way. "Cannery Row" is more cohesive of the two; it's storyline being more linear. It still reads like a series of vignettes but each leading to the next to put together the tale, and what a tale it is. It hangs on to a thread of realism and captures a greater sense of what it is to be human, the interrelatedness of a community, despair, and hope, magnifying all of humanity within a microcosm of Cannery Row. Again, there is a characteristic band of Monterey merry men, but this time there is the offset of people with jobs and responsibilities. Doc, who is based on Steinbeck's great friend Edward Ricketts, leader of the Oceanic Biological Institute, is an endearing character. Steinbeck paints a portrait of someone you would want to meet, instantly respect, and be lifelong acquaintances. There is a strong sense of familiarity here.Chapter 2 is some of the finest writing I've come across. A beautiful two-page poem. "Mack and the boys, spinning in their orbits. They are the Virtues, the Graces, the Beauties of the hurried mangled craziness of Monterey and the cosmic Monterey where men in fear and hunger destroy their stomachs in the fight to secure certain food, where men hungering for love destroy everything lovable about them."Truly elevated writing with a sense of melancholy that presents itself as part of life, hanging in the balance with the parties, grocery stores, tidal pools, whorehouses. Great book. Now on to Tom Joad.