John Steinbeck
We return again to Monterey and to a much changed post-war Cannery Row, as well as to many of its most pivotal characters. Steinbeck has written a sequel that at once benefits immediately from familiarity with its predecessor and which doesn't owe too much of its own strength on previous events. Sweet Thursday is an excellent book that takes the wonderfully full landscape presented in Cannery Row and illuminates the lives of its characters instead. The Row is as virbrant and as colorful as ever, but this book concentrates more on the inhabitants of the area than its collective consciousness. It is also less didactic and focuses much more on a cohesive plot than Cannery Row, feeling more like a complete novel and less like a (loosely) connected short story collection. This is also a vivid depiction of a worldview and a way of life, but this novel captures its electric atmosphere through a thorough examination of the bonds of love in many different forms.
Steinbeck also wisely connects and severs this book's action from expectations imposed by readers of Cannery Row; though most of the main characters are holdovers, many pivotal people are replacements for old characters or entirely new creations; additionally, bit players from the previous book are more fully fleshed out and brought to the fore. While it is sad to see Lee Chong and Dora disappear from the Row, this transition mimics real life and their replacements are just as bombastic, fitting perfectly into the plot of Sweet Thursday while making life on the Row a little less idyllic and a little more believable than it was before. The writing is continuously excellent, with believable dialogue and just enough self-named "hooptedoodle", evocative prose sections that are insightful without being too weighty for the lighthearted nature of the book as a whole. Steinbeck writes with ease and the humor in Sweet Thursday seldom feels forced, nor is there a doubt that the actions and dialogue are genuine. Steinbeck is not only able to tap into a world he so brilliantly evoked in Cannery Row, but he is able to craft a more traditional narrative in this setting that is true to its characters and which resonates. He returns to his themes of love and compassion and creates a hilarious and captivating story around them without seeming superficial. Sweet Thursday is an excellent combination of seriously literature and fun, and is a fun and quick look into the lives of the inhabitants of Cannery Row.
Grade: A
Steinbeck also wisely connects and severs this book's action from expectations imposed by readers of Cannery Row; though most of the main characters are holdovers, many pivotal people are replacements for old characters or entirely new creations; additionally, bit players from the previous book are more fully fleshed out and brought to the fore. While it is sad to see Lee Chong and Dora disappear from the Row, this transition mimics real life and their replacements are just as bombastic, fitting perfectly into the plot of Sweet Thursday while making life on the Row a little less idyllic and a little more believable than it was before. The writing is continuously excellent, with believable dialogue and just enough self-named "hooptedoodle", evocative prose sections that are insightful without being too weighty for the lighthearted nature of the book as a whole. Steinbeck writes with ease and the humor in Sweet Thursday seldom feels forced, nor is there a doubt that the actions and dialogue are genuine. Steinbeck is not only able to tap into a world he so brilliantly evoked in Cannery Row, but he is able to craft a more traditional narrative in this setting that is true to its characters and which resonates. He returns to his themes of love and compassion and creates a hilarious and captivating story around them without seeming superficial. Sweet Thursday is an excellent combination of seriously literature and fun, and is a fun and quick look into the lives of the inhabitants of Cannery Row.
Grade: A
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