Cannery Row (1945 original; edició 1978)

Steinbeck tried too hard with this novel. It read more like the journal from a beginning writing course. He seems to try to pack too much into each sentence, each chapter. In Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men, he created rich characters and explored important themes. Here, he seems more interested in narrative for narrative's sake than anything else. I'm just glad I read several of his other works first. If this was my introduction to Steinbeck, there wouldn't be a second chapter. ( )

Just loved it. ( )

Mack and the boys try to throw a party for Doc. That's the gist of the plot, but this is a story that aims first to conjure a mood and atmosphere. Monterey is a quiet sleepy town where quiet sleepy people live, and there is a pleasant, quiet, sleepy happiness to be had there that Doc understands and appreciates better than anyone. I can't start reading Steinbeck without being immediately pleased by his writing, my fingers twitching to quote him. Cannery Row revisits the Monterey setting in California that I was familiar with from Tortilla Flat. It both is and is not the same place, populated by characters similar and dissimilar. Steinbeck throws in his interlude chapters, isolated segments for added flavour. The only disturbance in these calm waters are the mentions of wife beating, with the sad impression it was intended to be amusing fun-and-games background colour. Now it lends a bit of edge, a hint of illusion overlaying what I think Steinbeck meant to convey with blind sincerity. Modern fiction likes an edge and a hint of falseness so it still works, though perhaps in a different way than originally intended. ( )

I'm rather glad that I read Of Mice and Men first, because that was a better example of Steinbeck's talent. It's not that I didn't like Cannery Row - I still enjoyed the characterisation and the writing - but the intentional anecdotal nature of it isn't really my kind of thing. ( )

I genuinely enjoyed this a lot more than I was expecting! Maybe it's just cause I was in Monterey a couple of weeks ago & feel some sort of affinity for the setting... but I actually liked Steinbeck's writing style (though I can't say why I expected not to enjoy it) and the stories in here were weirdly interesting, even though I could not relate to a single character. ( )