John Steinbeck
With the knowledge that it is set in roughly the same area as Tortilla Flat, I decided to read this just after the former, and the similiarities in theme and constructino are abundant, though the setting differs somewhat and the characters are again vibrant and unique. Cannery Row is, like its predecessor, a kind of expository meditation on the value of eschewing traditional monetary systems for trade in kindness and friendship, with a bit of theft thrown in for good measure. Steinbeck treads the line between presenting an idyllic vision of comraderie and noting that his protagonists must steal just to survive, but he rarely condemns their actions, presenting them instead as a result of a carefully considered moral code. Mack, the leader of a group of nearly homeless ne'er-do-wells, is by most accounts a good and intelligent man who operates quite well inthe sometimes-underhanded business of everyday survival. He and Doc, the novel's other main character and a man operating in more mainstream circles of economics, form the basic duo whose exploits are of interest to the reader, and they are contrasted interestingly without obvious favor towards either mode of living. Indeed, both men seem to have their priorities more or less straight and each values the well-being of his fellow men above economic concerns, though they are radically different and ruminate on each other.
This book, like Tortilla Flat, is partially a novel with a connective thread and partially a series of vignettes that showcase different aspects of life and characters on Cannery Row. The form works fairly well for most of the book, although some of the extra stories unduly break up the main narrative action and introduce themes that aren't expounded upon in any interesting way later. What Steinbeck does very well, however, is provide an evocative setting. The characters that populate Cannery Row are all vibrant and each one showcases some unique aspect of life on the Row. They are a living part of the setting and the entire effect is to create a vivid recollection of a time and place; even the plot that makes up the majority of the book is singularly tied to this place and cast, all very vivid and leaving strong imprints on the memory. Steinbeck takes a place and deftly designs the characters who can populate it and live out his themes- the book is evocative of its setting and people but it hammers home time and again that the true joys in life are found in human bonding and the relationships we have with one another. Richly tied to California, the book is also inseparable from its parable of collective living and its fundamental concern with idyllic poverty; Steinbeck is not subtle but the book does not suffer for this.
Cannery Row is incredibly interesting and at times a bit redundant when read in conjunction with Tortilla Flat: both novels deal deeply in the same themes and with the same kinds of characters and sometimes twisted logic of right and wrong. Each is distinct, however, in the physical boundaries it traces and Cannery Row is superior due to the complexity of its world and its foray into realms beyond the immediate borders of Monterey. Cannery Row has a firm foot in its specific setting but manages to touch more universally on themes beyond its immediate concerns. Human kindness seems overestimated, at least by today's standards, but this perhaps speaks volumes about the world Steinbeck has managed to so successfully tap into. The characters and their situations seem real at every step, and even though their situation seems impossibly perfect, it is obvious that Mack and the boys still face challenges and chaos, often as a result of their own schemes and good intentions. This novel feels at once contrived and unabashedly true, a showcase of Steinbeck's obvious valuing of family values over money but concerned at the same time with the morality of those who must steal to survive. Best encapsulating this dichotomy is Dora's whorehouse, an esteemed and charitable institution that is nonetheless technically illegal, though it is taxed as a legitimate business. Dora's, and the rest of Cannery Row, is trapped between the world where good intentions count for all and one that operates on more capitalistic, cutthroat principles.
Grade: A-
This book, like Tortilla Flat, is partially a novel with a connective thread and partially a series of vignettes that showcase different aspects of life and characters on Cannery Row. The form works fairly well for most of the book, although some of the extra stories unduly break up the main narrative action and introduce themes that aren't expounded upon in any interesting way later. What Steinbeck does very well, however, is provide an evocative setting. The characters that populate Cannery Row are all vibrant and each one showcases some unique aspect of life on the Row. They are a living part of the setting and the entire effect is to create a vivid recollection of a time and place; even the plot that makes up the majority of the book is singularly tied to this place and cast, all very vivid and leaving strong imprints on the memory. Steinbeck takes a place and deftly designs the characters who can populate it and live out his themes- the book is evocative of its setting and people but it hammers home time and again that the true joys in life are found in human bonding and the relationships we have with one another. Richly tied to California, the book is also inseparable from its parable of collective living and its fundamental concern with idyllic poverty; Steinbeck is not subtle but the book does not suffer for this.
Cannery Row is incredibly interesting and at times a bit redundant when read in conjunction with Tortilla Flat: both novels deal deeply in the same themes and with the same kinds of characters and sometimes twisted logic of right and wrong. Each is distinct, however, in the physical boundaries it traces and Cannery Row is superior due to the complexity of its world and its foray into realms beyond the immediate borders of Monterey. Cannery Row has a firm foot in its specific setting but manages to touch more universally on themes beyond its immediate concerns. Human kindness seems overestimated, at least by today's standards, but this perhaps speaks volumes about the world Steinbeck has managed to so successfully tap into. The characters and their situations seem real at every step, and even though their situation seems impossibly perfect, it is obvious that Mack and the boys still face challenges and chaos, often as a result of their own schemes and good intentions. This novel feels at once contrived and unabashedly true, a showcase of Steinbeck's obvious valuing of family values over money but concerned at the same time with the morality of those who must steal to survive. Best encapsulating this dichotomy is Dora's whorehouse, an esteemed and charitable institution that is nonetheless technically illegal, though it is taxed as a legitimate business. Dora's, and the rest of Cannery Row, is trapped between the world where good intentions count for all and one that operates on more capitalistic, cutthroat principles.
Grade: A-
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