Cannery Row

Rating:
Summary: Sentimental Journey
Review: Like a lot of Steinbeck's work (or at least what I remember of it), this fictionalized tribute to the small California coastal town of Monterey is sentimental to its core. Of course, in this instance, it's understandable, since the book is a very thinly veiled portrait of his friends and town, especially the central figure of "Doc", who was based on a good friend of Steinbeck's. It's a very human book, one that is less concerned about relating a story and events, but is rather about people and community.

There's the wise biologist "Doc", who supplies animals to labs, the ... with hearts of gold and their madam Dora, the Chinese grocer Lee Chong, the wild French artist, and of course down and out Mack and the other well-meaning bums who may be broke and unemployed, but are never homeless as long as there's a vacant lot. No one is wealthy, and people aren't always happy, but one gets the sense that it's a good place to live. There's a lesser known sequel to this (which I haven't read), called Sweet Thursday.

Rating:
Summary: This book was my home away from home
Review: Few writers can weave a plot with random, seemingly unrelated events in one setting and yet something about the book still touches a part of you, no matter who you are. Steinbeck did just that in Cannery Row. In Cannery Row, bums with the hearts of angels unintenionally cause mayhem, a good-natured Doctor reflects on life as it is for all of us, for we all have had some expierence like that the Doc's. The main characters are loveable and warm people, and Steinbeck's wonderful description puts you right on the quiet streets of Cannery Row, puts you in the shoes of a Chinese clerk, in the shoes of a lonely man, in the shoes of respectable whores. There is a little piece of everyone's life in Cannery Row.

Rating:
Summary: An insider's view of those who live in the now
Review: "Financial biterness could not eat to deeply into Mack and the boys, for they were not mercantile men. They did not measure their joy in goods sold, their egos in bank balances, nor their loves in what they cost". (Page 119)

"They just know the nature of things too well to be caught in that wanting". (page 142)

I guess that for every reader there is a paragraph in which somehow the author summarizes the scope of its novel. For me is the one transcribed above. Each character have a gentelness a lightness which can be accomplished by any person at any pointy in life. Then life ceases to be a maze to be cracked and becomes in and out of itself a surprising aventure. How they get there?, well this is a novel not a self-help book so the process is not described, but a key (the same one)is offered to you in every page with amazing friendliness, elegance and style. Be kind to yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Lousy, wonderful bums.
Review: Reading this book is like a getting a shot that cures unhappiness. Whether these stories are truth or half-truth, Steinbeck's drunken adventure in a rusty town on the California Coast reads like a hobo bible.
"Treat nature and people with respect and your life will be blessed with incredible experiences."
Amen John.

Rating:
Summary: A fine novel
Review: Steinbeck's Cannery Row is, at times, a humorous look at a social microcosm and its individuals struggle to interact with, but, as per J S Mill, not interfere with, each other.
The daily lives of Doc, Mack and the boys, Lee Chong, Albert and the rest move with a slow fluidity from snapshot to snapshot as each struggles to relate to his or her neighbor, to do good by them and achieve a place within the social stratum that is firmly fixed.
Essentially, the plot is to hold a party. The self-deluding, but well-intentioned, Mack and the boys come up with a plan to gather frogs in order to hold a party for Doc. Within the social structure of the Palace Flophouse they successfully obtain all the necessary 'bits' to enact the plan, but its inherent seflishness means that they ultimately fail, wreck Doc's laboratory and end up being outcasts from their place in the social strata. Ultimately they realise that the Party needs everyone in Cannery Row's assistance and, once everyone pulls together, it is achieved spectacularly.
A humorous look, yet with a deep underlying comment on the struggle for survival, at a small geographical area, the lives of these people leaves an indelible mark on the reader and you are left with a sense of affiliation and understanding that transcends the novel.

Rating:
Summary: Cannery Row
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Not His Best
Review: I did not enjoy this one as much as I did main of his other books. I guess I did not think it grabbed me at the start like many of his works. You get the always great character work of Steinbeck and the description of the town is wonderful. You can do a lot worse then this book, but it was not his best.

Rating:
Summary: A Look Back in Time
Review: I am surprised that some reviewers think Cannery Row is lightweight Steinbeck. Nothing could be further from the truth. Steinbeck opened this novel with some of his best writing in describing the mood and the place that was Monterey and Cannery Row. He tells us up front, in marvelous prose, what this book is about and captures the mood of a place that today is nothing more than restaurants and souvenir shops.

Cannery Row is people with individuals that Steinbeck knew, most important being Doc, based on the marine biologist Ed Ricketts. Critics have complained that the book has many sentimental characters, such as Frankie who is hopelessly devoted to Doc. However, it can be argued that Frankie is a well-worked out portrait and adds to the overall portrait of Cannery Row. As in life, there are equally somber and happy episodes in this book.

It should be remembered that Cannery Row was written just after World War II when Steinbeck received requests to write something to make people forget about the war. What he came up with was something personal and nostalgic. It is well to recall that Edmund Wilson thought Cannery Row was Steinbeck's "most satisfying book because it attempts to objectify and exploit the author's own relation to his characters." The novel flows from chapter to chapter with sprightly language and carries its readers along for the ride. It is one of those books that you wish would never end.

The Grapes of Wrath may be a monument of a book to Steinbeck's working man but Cannery Row is one written for himself.

Rating:
Summary: danny's review
Review: this is my review. I though the book was well though out and was a good book for kids to read. it show you if you stick together things will go your way.

Rating:
Summary: Cannery Row Review
Review: I read the book Cannery Row in my 11th grade English class. I really enjoyed the book, it seemed to go fast and it kept you on your feet because you never know what is going to happen next. Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that you can skip a chapter or two and still completely understand what is going on. The book explains everyones view point. It isn't just told from one person's perspective.