My fourth time to read a John Steinbeck's book. His The Grapes of Wrath (4 stars), read many of years ago, was an unforgettable experience. It shocked me as it made me realized that Americans also had their shares of misfortunes. Prior to that, I used to think that America was all about milk and honey. Reading is really a worthwhile hobby. It does not only entertain us but, more importantly, it also informs us of the things that we thought do not have any relevance to us so we don't take any effort to know them.

In my case, it made me thirst for more Steinbecks. After Grapes, I read the most popular one here in the Philippines, Of Mice and Men (4 stars). Then I sampled his non-fiction book, Travels with Charley: In Search of America (4 stars) and all I could say is that Steinbeck indeed deserves the 1962 Nobel Prize for Literature and the description as "a giant of American letters."

Like Grapes and Mice and even the people he met while going from one state to another in Travels, his characters in Cannery Row are also marginalized. They are the workers in the canning factories and the other people in Salinas Valley, California where Steinbeck himself lived when he was still alive. It is through these people and how they live together with other people in that seaside town where you would have a glimpse of how it was to live in America in the 1940's. It was definitely not milk and honey and it was not totally different from how most people lived here in the Philippines. However, the similarity does not stop there: it is in being poor where one can see the true purpose of life: sharing. When Doc chose to forgive Mac's group, the book speaks to us the truth that we are not our properties. There is more than life than material things. In the end, we don't bring our riches to our coffin. Our kids will make their own fortune.

My most favorite part in the novel is when Mack and the boys are slowly improving their dwelling place by cleaning and putting things, however few they are. Then they thought of making money by catching frogs that they can sell to Doc for his laboratory. I tried picturing many frogs in my mind and it brought back those days in high school when we had to go to a nearby fond to catch frogs.

This book is recommended to all Steinbeck's fans. I am definitely one of them.

Microcosmi

Il Dottore di Vicolo Cannery è un solitario e taciturno biologo che, agli occhi degli abitanti del vicolo, ha la curiosa particolarità di trascorrere la maggior parte del suo tempo a raccogliere e a catalogare le diverse specie animali che la baia lì vicino gli offre, ascoltare musica classica e bere ogni tanto una buona birra.
Rane, ottòpodi, uova di pesce, orecchie marine, topi e spesso anche gatti, vengono raccolti, classificati, catalogati, studiati e inviati alle università degli Stati che ne fanno richiesta.
Ci sono nella dedizione e nella passione che il Dottore dedica al suo lavoro, una bellezza e una purezza primordiale che solo attraverso le parole di Steinbeck è possibile cogliere nella loro interezza, perché lui, John Steinbeck, in fondo fa la stessa cosa.
Con una tenerezza e un umorismo lieve e mai derisorio osserva e cataloga, come il più appassionato degli zoologi, l'animale Uomo.
Sembra quasi che con una lente si avvicini, facendo attenzione a non fare rumore, a Vicolo Cannery, per sorprenderlo brulicante di vita e di sentimenti, e osservare Lee Chong nella sua bottega, Mr. e Mrs. Malloy nella caldaia, Dora e le sue ragazze nel Bear Flag Restaurant, o i ragazzi nella Palace Flophouse: li coglie e ce li consegna durante i loro momenti di vita più naturali e, così come il Dottore sorprende le stelle marine durante la Bassa Marea, osserva le loro imperfezioni e la loro fragile umanità, noncurante dello stato di emarginazione in cui vivono e delle loro debolezze, perché per lui, studioso dell'animo umano, il loro valore più alto è quello dell'unicità.

Cannery Row is an ode to human kindness and life on society's margins, a warm and lively story set in the small Californian town of Monterey. The main characters — local residents like the good-hearted scientist Doc and a group of bums led by Mack (unemployed hedonists) — maintain optimism and strong friendships despite their poverty. Steinbeck skillfully conveys the unique atmosphere of this small community, portraying its people with simplicity and deep humanity. He emphasizes that happiness and the value of life are found not in material wealth, but in relationships, small joys, and mutual support.

I appreciated Steinbeck’s approach to the theme of death. He presents it calmly, without tragedy or fear, as a natural part of life. When one of the characters dies, it doesn't become the climax of the story but is accepted as something people continue to live with. This philosophical outlook adds even more humanity and warmth to the novel.
Steinbeck’s vivid descriptions and straightforward yet precise language make this novel timeless.

Hmm. I enjoyed Steinbeck's writing, as always, and he creates a strong sense of place in this sardine-canning district of Monterey, California, but I find I prefer his longer family epic novels like East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

In this book, we visit brothel owner Dora Flood, Chinese grocer Lee Chong, marine biologist Doc, a bunch of unemployed rogues led by Mack, and the disabled boy Frankie who struggles to fit in anywhere, amongst others. Cannery Row's short vignette-style chapters flit between so many different characters that I didn't feel particularly invested in any of them, save maybe Frankie. This was not the case in the other two books I mentioned above.

There is a beauty in how this ragtag bunch of characters come together and forge connections. It is thematically and atmospherically strong-- the gritty setting, the poetry in the mundane --but structurally plotless, and reads like a collection of loosely connected episodes.

There is something very mournful in the Cannery Row novels ( the sequel included) , a feeling of nostalgia prevails however, a thick bittersweet mood falls and engulfs the characters described, based on mostly the real, some fictional . That quickly fades as they emerge from the shadows into the light, ugliness seen yet beauty also, people like us good and bad, nevertheless not perfect.. far from this. The readers wants to believe if we could walk down this street again, seeing , meeting the flawed ruffian gangs but lovable creatures, the Earth would probably be a little less honest, yet more amusing place to live in, the benefits will outweigh the evil . Set in Monterey, California during the late gloomy thirties, when the nearby ocean was the center of the sardine fishing industry , the local large bay provided a seemingly endless amount of fish, until it didn't but this is for later. Nicknamed Cannery Row because of the numerous fish canning factories there on Ocean View Avenue its authentic name, Doc based on Steinbeck's close friend ( Ed Ricketts ) a marine biologist without a degree but able , with a thirst for liquor and women is the character all gravitate to. Lee Chong Chinese grocer, a stern man but a heart that isn't cold, behaves differently about dollars owed. Mack leader of the fun loving bum squad , not very law - abiding five citizens, but basically almost... harmless, living in Lee Chong flop house, a dump, rent free, nobody else would reside there truth be told. Dora Flood, an orange haired madam of the local house of ill repute and in fact has a heart of gold for paying customers... her girls need money. Frankie mentally challenged boy who worships Doc, frequently visits him at his Western Biological Laboratory, a fancy moniker for a rundown place, the proprietor there sells snatched sea creatures, to make a small living. Doc's many parties that become inevitably wild, he loves, with working girls, fishermen, Mack's friends, uninvited guests and neighbors, while they stay normal, they never do, destruction does . The boy Frankie, will he commit crimes to show Doc, loyalty ? The value in the novel isn't the plot, there is hardly any but the interaction of the lowly citizens trying to survive and striving for fun before the darkness comes. They aren't a model for anyone else, still as long as its possible these denizens will amuse themselves and more important the reader.

“It is a fabulous place: when the tide is in, a wave-churned basin, creamy with foam… But when the tide goes out the little water world becomes quiet and lovely”

This is the quote that hangs on one of the banners along Cannery Row, nowadays. And it is so fitting because the novel itself is a fabulous place in which the reader can live while reading it, and later, when conjuring back its memory.

Even if the book recreates the years of the Great Depression, it is punctuated with beautiful descriptions of the shore and the sea, and of the other inhabitants in the area, such as the black eels poke their heads out of crevices and wait for prey; the snapping shrimps with their trigger claws pop loudly; the hermit crabs, that, like frantic children scamper on the bottom sand. Without forgetting my preferred creature: The creeping murderer, the octopus, steals out, slowly, softly moving like a gray mist, pretending now to be a bit of week, now a rock now a lump of decaying meat while its evil goat eyes watch coldly.

But not all of Steinbeck’s attention is centered on nature and its creatures. I was struck by his mentioning of a string of artists, such as George Grosz, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, who in 1944 when the novel was written, were all alive and aged between 50 to 60.

It is easily apparent that the novel has a vignette structure peopled by a motley of characters. A favorite description for me was that of Gay - the little mechanic of God, the St Francis of all things that turn and twist and explode, the St Francis of coils and armatures and gears. But of course, it is Doc who pulls all the limelight. While reading the novel I was under the mistaken notion that Steinbeck’s good friend, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts, on whom Doc is based (as well as other characters in other works), had died by 1944, which led me to think of Cannery Row as an Elegy. But no, Ricketts’s accident was in 1948.

Nonetheless, this novel remains an indebted tribute to a dear friend. Beautiful.

Now I hope to read soon its sequel, Sweet Thursday

I first read this many years ago. Riddled with ADD, frozen by nervousness, and thrown-off by wack-ass hormones, I had trouble reading anything at the time, and this was no exception. A parable of my formerly wasted time on earth, I read it and got nothing out of it. Hell, I didn’t even remember I had read it until I started it (again) 10 days ago.

But oh did I appreciate it this go-round. Steinbeck got me to like the kind of people that, at first judgment, I would deem ignorant, annoying, or maybe even dangerous. The kind of people with brains attuned to a totally different frequency than my own; people so different from myself, that I’d probably be pretty freaking uncomfortable if I met them. I’d maybe even feel threatened by them. This, of course, is not because Mack-and-his-motley-crew are actually bad guys. Sure they’re slick and they’ll take you for a ride if they can; but they almost always mean well, and they are not bad people.

Mack and the boys aren’t enclosed by the excesses and goal-driven constructs that trap most of the population. They live in the moment and are free from most worries. They are content, and are therefore happy. The Doctor –- a very memorable character, and a hero of sorts to the people of Cannery Row -– says it best:

"Look at them. There are your true philosophers. I think that Mack and the boys know everything that has ever happened in the world and possibly everything that will happen. I think they survive in this particular world better than other people. In a time when people tear themselves to pieces with ambition and nervousness and covetousness, they are relaxed. All of our so-called successful men are sick men, with bad stomachs, and bad souls, but Mack and the boys are healthy and curiously clean. They can do what they want. They can satisfy their appetites without calling them something else."

Cannery Row was written and ordered expertly, with each chapter short but packing a punch. And while the characters for the most part remain pretty freakin’ lovable, Steinbeck -- true to life -- hits us with dark surprises throughout. People seem to have memories and favorite scenes from this novel that they recall years later: the dead girl, Henri the “painter,” the beer milkshake, the ice skater, to name a few. My favorite and most memorable scene was a full chapter, only a few pages long, in which Steinbeck takes one of his brilliantly dark detours from the main narrative, to tell us about a gopher -– yes, a gopher. In a vacant lot on Cannery Row, the gopher finds the perfect spot for a burrow. Through strategy, hard work, and passion, the gopher makes himself his ideal home. He loads up food for his future offspring, and enjoys his nice view and rich soil: he is set for life. But as time moves on, no female appears: he remains alone. The gopher gives up on his perfect home, and decides to move where he can find a mate.......and ends up choosing a spot in a nearby garden that is full of gopher traps.

I started reading heavily a little over a year ago. Since then, I’ve had dashes of great love for humanity which have taken place more often, and have been more piercing, than those that took place before I was a hardcore bookster. Oh, I’m still secretly more of a hater than a lover, and ignorance still typically ticks me off. But thanks to reading novels like this, I understand and love my fellow human beings a little more.

And if I could keep within me, all the time, those aforementioned dashes of pure, radiating love in my heart, I think I’d be perpetually happy. But you know, life is flighty. And these moments are few and far between.

Then again, I’ll take what I can get.

Sincer, această carte nu a fost chiar pe placul meu. O poveste drăguțică, dar nu foarte tare, încât să te facă să zici wow.

În centrul poveștii se află Mack și băieții, care locuiesc într-o clădire părăsită. Iar aceștia, vor să organizeze o petrecere pentru Doc, omul care se ocupă de cercetari legate de viețuitoarele marine.

Nu am foarte multe de spus despre această carte, din păcate.

2.5/5 ⭐️

Q: How many frogs does it take to throw one hell of a birthday party?

Although it's artful and well-constructed, I never really grew comfortable with this book. Steinbeck seems to be straining, trying very hard, and the result is unlovely. There is a tipping point, though, and once I pushed past the clumsy opening, the casual racism, and the moralizing disguised as Biology lesson, that's when things got interesting. (Lit Crit Hot Take: calling this book "plotless" goes too far; the episodic structure makes for a unique and pleasantly lethargic narrative experience, but there is a clear arc of events connecting scene to scene) As the days unfolded and the characters developed I grew increasingly attached to each, which got me over my initial skepticism after a slow start.

3.5 stars out of 5. Steinbeck is a marvelous writer and I appreciate his precision and his attention to detail. But he could ease up a lot here. There are interesting turns of phrase and some nourishing food for thought, but from the get-go I found it too pushy and heavy-handed.

Another marvellous work by John Steinbeck!
This was my first time reading it in English.
It’s so much better than the one translated into Portuguese (“A Rua das Ilusões Perdidas” or “Bairro da Lata”).
The description is so vivid and the characters are so believable.
The start is slow but soon you feel engaged with the storyline and eager to interact with the characters, who had great dynamics between them.
The writing and the storytelling are marvellous!
Now, as with any classic book, we have to keep in mind the time the book was written, especially when it comes to racism, sexism or misogyny.

A volte mi chiedo perchè ci neghiamo piaceri così semplici e a buon mercato come rileggere i libri che più ci sono piaciuti.
Forse è ingordigia, c'è sempre un libro nuovo da leggere e sembra che rileggere sia uno spreco di tempo e poi, per un GdL, capita di rileggere Cannery Row, ed è godimento puro, come la prima volta!
E' una malìa, perchè è talmente bello che non si riesce a mollarlo fino a quando non è finito, e mi è piaciuto oggi come 20 anni fa, nonostante tutto quello che ho letto nel mezzo, tutta l'esperienza da lettrice.
Esperienza che di fronte ai libri mediocri appanna la lettura, e porta all'esasperazione (soprattutto per le foreste abbattute per stampare quintalate di blablabla) ma di fronte ai capolavori si entusiasma come i ragazzi di Vicolo Cannery di fronte ad una festa!
Vicolo Cannery è fantasticamente con me, non è attuale e non è universale (dubito che i "ragazzi" del Vicolo siano stati così attraenti nella realtà!), ma è "vicino!", Steinbeck scrive e dà vita ad un mondo di cui si ha voglia di leggere.
E' magia. E' come l'amore. Puoi dire cosa ti piace di una persona, ma non puoi definire cosa ti abbia fatto innamorare.
Io amo Steinbeck!

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem (probably more of a song, as someone walks around playing their music out loud), an aroma (popcorn, I believe), a honking noise, a camera flash as the same photograph is taken for the millionth time. You know, the photographer standing in the middle of the street, CANNERY ROW COMPANY, and farther down MONTEREY CANNING CO. Cannery Row is a tourist trap, where there's always a ton of people, and not a parking spot to be found, the same keychains and bottle openers sold in every damn shop. Been there, done that, and what a variety of overpriced t-shirts to choose from. A nostalgia, a dream (Oh John, if only you could see it now). A nightmare.