Steinbeck’s tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society, dependant on one another for both physical and emotional survivalA Penguin Classic Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, including longtime … Monterey, California, including longtime friend Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Dora, Mack and his boys, Lee Chong, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works. In her introduction, Susan Shillinglaw shows how the novel expresses, both in style and theme, much that is essentially Steinbeck: “Scientific detachment, empathy toward the lonely and depressed . . . and, at the darkest level . . . the terror of isolation and nothingness.”
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Cannery Row is a fun read. It is set in “the Great Depression” years of the 30s. I found the descriptions of the characters, places and things interesting and funny. The book gives the reader some insight into how a small group of unique men, who are down on their luck, but managed to be friends, party and be content in living through the great depression years in the small town of Monterey California. In reading Cannery Row, Mr. Steinbeck has brought some levity to a very depressing time in our country’s history known as “the Great Depression”.
happy and poor westerners on the sunny beach
I recently re-read this book and I had forgotten how much fun it is to read a novel as I mostly read non-fiction. The story of Cannery Row is an important piece of American history and Steinbeck writes about its characters and atmosphere so clearly that you feel you know these people and their hardships. His writing is a pleasure to read and you wish there was more after reading this slim novel.
Wonderful, ageless writer!
One of my favorite books by one of my all-time favorite authors.
I grew up in a place known as Steinbeck Country. He writes about real people in real situations and in real places. I worked on Cannery Row and spent a lot of time there growing up. His story was true to life and to the people who once lived and worked there in the canneries. A must read, especially before Tortilla Flat.
Worth rereading for the perspective added years bring.
Entertaining and informative though it is, John Steinbeck’s short, fast-moving, frequently funny but also poignant CANNERY ROW is not the easiest fiction to describe, all previous adjectives notwithstanding. More a portrait of a place, time and populace—the impoverished waterfront and (obviously) cannery area of Monterey, California during the Depression era, and the denizens thereof—than a conventionally-plotted work, it could stand as an exemplar of the “episodic” novel.
As the author describes it in the opening sentence, “Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.”
The principal plot thread, such as it is, concerns the man known as Doc, who owns and operates Western Biological Laboratory, which supplies specimens of various kinds to researchers. Among the inhabitants of Cannery Row are Mack and the boys (Hazel, Eddie, Gay, Hughie, and Jones), local derelicts who have persuaded grocery/multifarious goods supplier Lee Chong to allow them to live in a local warehouse of sorts which he, Chong, has acquired. After fixing it up, “the boys moved in and the fish meal moved out. No one knows who named the house that has been known ever after as the Palace Flophouse and Grill.” And because over time Mack, the boys, and their friends conclude that Doc merits a reward of sorts, they decide a party at Western Biological is in order.
Anything said beyond that regarding the plot would be a spoiler.
Intervening chapters include historical information about the area as well as anecdotes and vignettes about many of the other inhabitants of Cannery Row, among them Dora, owner of the Bear Flag Restaurant, the whorehouse of which she is the madame, and some of the women who work for her; Henri, artist and boat-builder who is not exactly what he seems; Mr. and Mrs. Sam Malloy, pipe-renters; and a considerable number of others.
Despite my advanced (read “hoary”) years, this is only the second of Steinbeck’s novels I’ve ever read, the first having been OF MICE AND MEN a few decades or so ago. As I hinted at in the first paragraph herein, and want to point out now as superbly written, it is well worth anyone’s time.
© 2016 Barry Ergang
Wonderful writing style. Enjoyable read.
I loved reading Cannery Row. The characters were so real and likable. The story unique and enjoyable. I could see the world the author was describing so clearly. It was a lot of fun to read.
Utterly delightful cast of characters.
Classic John Steinbeck! Honest, tragic story with complex characters
Enjoyed reading this work again. But remembered that Steinbeck has better books
Great Steinbeck story.
Great Steinbeck, as always.
Loved it.
A classic every Californian, or, for that matter, American would do well to read… if if wasn’t required in YOUR High School!
Just a great book. this must be the tenth time, at least. never grows old wonderful dialog and narration
Loved all his other books. Couldn’t get into the characters
Steinbeck is such a wonderful writer! The characters are gritty and real in this detailed story of life in small town America