Cannery Row

This is one of the must reads of Steinbeck. The characters of Cannery Row springs to life through Steinbeck's magical words. The desriptions, the minute daily mundane details become mesmerizing with his utter brilliance in depicting them in a flow as simple and as complex as life itself. After personally visiting Salinas and Monterey where the novel is based I would like to re read it as I...more

This is one of the must reads of Steinbeck. The characters of Cannery Row springs to life through Steinbeck's magical words. The desriptions, the minute daily mundane details become mesmerizing with his utter brilliance in depicting them in a flow as simple and as complex as life itself. After personally visiting Salinas and Monterey where the novel is based I would like to re read it as I have fallen in love with it all over again.   hide

Love it! : http://myworldbeyondstars.blogspot.com/2010/03/cannery-row.html

At one point, a character of Cannery Row says that he "loves true things." That's the way I see Steinbeck's novel. He doesn't have one lead protagonist but a cast of characters that he uses to describe a landscape and a community.

Different

The introduction to Cannery Row of this great novel begins with "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." That could possibly be the best description of what the book has in store for the reader. One of my favorite things about this book is that the chapters are short, but full of depth and...more

The introduction to Cannery Row of this great novel begins with "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." That could possibly be the best description of what the book has in store for the reader. One of my favorite things about this book is that the chapters are short, but full of depth and character that only a great American author like John Steinbeck could deliver without missing a beat. It is a great book that I would recommend everyone read.   hide

This is a fairly short, easy to read book on America in the 1920's-30's It focuses on the shabby, lower class and poigantly points out their vices and virtues. Steinbeck picks a handful of interesting characters and then develops them until their lives become increasingly intertwined. This book would be great for someone who wanted to read a early 20th century novel that wasn't too bleak....more

This is a fairly short, easy to read book on America in the 1920's-30's It focuses on the shabby, lower class and poigantly points out their vices and virtues. Steinbeck picks a handful of interesting characters and then develops them until their lives become increasingly intertwined. This book would be great for someone who wanted to read a early 20th century novel that wasn't too bleak. Steinbeck manages to find the gems in the rough and leaves the reader with a generally satsified feeling at the end of the book.   hide

I enjoyed this book. I felt like a silent observer of those in a small town and their day-to-day activities and interactions with each other. I have no real criticism, except that the reader reviews were so outstanding that my expectation was too high to be satisfied. Good book. Definitely worth the read.

This one should have been called Tortilla Flat II: Electric Cannery Buggaloo(or something) just because they are stories about blue collar, small town villagers getting drunk on whiskey 24/. This one is more of a novel with fleshed out character and Tortilla is a novella and told more as a parable, but this one just kind of bored me after a while (Full Disclosure: entertainment is really the...more

This one should have been called Tortilla Flat II: Electric Cannery Buggaloo(or something) just because they are stories about blue collar, small town villagers getting drunk on whiskey 24/. This one is more of a novel with fleshed out character and Tortilla is a novella and told more as a parable, but this one just kind of bored me after a while (Full Disclosure: entertainment is really the only thing I truly value as a critic)   hide

Steinbeck is brilliant at creating interesting characters. This was my first time reading this book, but I've read others. I think they need to be re-read though! Rediscover the classics!!