Book 24 - Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

If you read my book reviews, you know that I usually start off with a preamble of sorts. My preamble for this entry was about cutting funding for public libraries. I apparently had a lot to say. It quickly wound up being twice as long as the review, and it still wasn't finished. I wanted to post this and move on, so I decided to cut it out completely. I may publish it as a separate entry when I get a chance to edit it. Until then, I will spare you and get on with the review.

Book 24 - Cannery Row - John Steinbeck

Cannery Row is John Steinbeck's picture of life in the cannery district of Monterey, California, during the years of the Great Depression. Mack and the boys are a group of largely out of work men, who live together in the Palace Flophouse, a property they are "looking after" for Lee Chong, the neighborhood grocer. Mack and the Boys want to do something nice for Doc. Why? Because everybody wants to do something nice for Doc. And who is Doc? Doc runs a biological specimen supply house, and is looked up to as being the wisest and most learned man of the community.

Mack and the boys get the idea of throwing a party for Doc. They manage to raise some money (by doing some work for Doc), and while Doc is away on a job, they start the party (in Doc's lab, of course), in anticipation of Doc's return. Doc is late getting back, and by the time he does, the party is over and his lab is trashed. This causes some bad feeling between Doc and Mac's boys for some time, but after Doc helps them with their dog, things become right again, and the boys throw another party, which unlike the last one is a roaring success.

That's really the gist of the story. You might think that's a rather thin premise for a novel, but it's really not. Cannery Row may be light on plot, but it paints a vivid picture of Depression Era California through a series of slice-of-life vignettes and a great set of characters, which Steinbeck uses again in the same setting in his novel Sweet Thursday. There is life and death and happiness and sadness and beauty and ugliness. But above all there is generosity. Doc is generous with his time and knowledge. Dora, the local madam, helps families pay for groceries. Even Lee Chong, a fairly shrewd businessman, is generous with his credit - up to a point. Almost everybody seems to do what they can to keep those around them from falling prey to the hardship that surrounds them.

This is the fourth Steinbeck book that I have read, and I must say I enjoyed it. Earlier this year I reviewed The Pearl, and many years ago I read Of Mice and Men, and The Winter of Our Discontent, all of which I really liked, too. If you want to jump into his work, this isn't as short as The Pearl, but it is not too long either, and I think it is a worthwhile read.