Cannery Row by John Steinbeck Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cannery Row
Book Review: ...It does have a worthy point, on the contrary
Summary: 5 Stars
I was reading the other reviews and most peoples complaint was that there were no main characters and no plot. However, I disagree, I think the book was a more of a philosophical one. All the chapters that dont seem to make any sense at first have very deep meanings, which I will not go into but if you would like to email me, go ahead.Book Review: A "Must-Read"
Summary: 4 Stars
While there isn't much in the way of a "plot" in this book, I still consider this a must-read. Steinbeck has an uncanny ability to put a sentence together in the most perfect way possible.
The "story" is not a traditional story per-se, but rather, it is the story of the area at the time... a "slice of life" look at an interesting place at interesting point in time. It's a loosely related collection of short stories. The book accomplishes what it sets out to do, which is to give the reader a sense of the lives of the people who lived in Cannery Row during the Depression.
The characters are colorful but still human and as I noted before, the writing is superb.
Book Review: A Great American Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
I picked up this book after a visit to Monterey, and, boy, was I glad I did. Steinbeck could flat-out write: he was no tinkerer, or pretentious aesthete, or unreadable critics' darling. Cannery Row is a true classic of American literature, and one of the gentler works to inflict upon high-schoolers.Book Review: A Great Change
Summary: 4 Stars
I chose to read this book for an English class not knowing a thing about it. I enjoyed this book. It was a great change from the boring materials that we usually read in school. The characters were great and occasionally I found myself laughing out-loud from the boys' antics. This is definately a great book to read on your lunch-break.Book Review: A Steinbeck classic
Summary: 5 Stars
The only other Steinbeck book I have read was "Of Mice And Men." Although I liked it, I much preferred the much less well-known "Cannery Row." One thing I like about Steinbeck is that his novels are straightforward. There is none of the stream-of-consciousness experiments or literary time warps & wormholes that you will find in so many other 20th century writers (such as William Faulkner and Hermann Broch). While he is perhaps not in the same league as Earnest Hemingway in writing this style, he is none-theless a very talented author.
"Cannery Row" is about a blue-collar community of people who lead simple lives. However, as Dr. Keating says in "Dead Poets Society," simple does not and need not necessarily = oridinary. I found myself falling in love with many of the characters, with their aww-shucks mentality & sleepy-eyed approach to life.
One thing which differentiates this novels from most other 20th century works is that it is actually, for the most part, an upbeat story. It lacks the morose undertones of the majority of novels written in the past 100-150 years. It is a book about the risks of trying to fulfill one's dreams...and the heartaches and pleasures that this crazy life has to offer. A wonderful book.