I enjoyed this book after reading it again for a second time about a year ago. I was much younger on the first read but I can really identify with the characters now and see how their loneliness, weaknesses and strengths combine to show in full detail how they make up any part of a community, the ability for leadership, perseverance, and humanity. I like to read about the characters as much as the story line. I like complex characters. ( )

My memories of John Steinbeck have been heretofore limited to high school, which I understand in advance doesn't make me all that objective. I was largely underwhelmed by The Pearl, and found Of Mice and Men to be about as memorable as everyone else does. Cannery Row falls for me somewhere in the middle of these two: it is a pleasant enough read, populated with interesting characters, but just didn't wow me like I was hoping.

The novel has a plot, but it's really more about the characters the populate its Monterey, CA, setting. Mack and his motley crew of bums spend their days in a storage facility rented out to them by Lee Chong, the local grocer. As other characters, including the local bordello owner and her prostitutes, wander in and out of the various settings, most of the characters focus on Doc, the marine biologist who lives in Cannery Row for reasons no one can quite decipher. But when Mack and the boys decide to throw Doc a party to show their appreciation for how nice he is, things don't quite go as planned.

The novel's tone is perhaps its most interesting facet, for Steinbeck clearly wants to show a certain amount of affection for the area while maintaining a certain amount of gritty realism. Though most of the action of the novel is performed by people who are generally good-hearted, Steinbeck punctuates the novel with moments of vivid violence, reminding us that the best of intentions are far from good enough. But while there is a strong us-against-the-world thread underlying the tale, Steinbeck is careful not to let it cross the line into sadness or dissatisfaction. He wants to tell a positive story, even if it can't necessarily be uplifting, and he nails that aspect of it very well.

Where the novel suffers, though, is in its plot, which is relatively simplistic. The early chapters read less like contributions to a larger narrative than as short, independent vignettes meant to give a sense of the personalities in the area. The upshot is that the story is populated with characters that feel real, with fates that we as readers genuinely feel we care about; the downside, however, is that the lack of cohesion prevents the later parts of the novel from feeling like there's much at stake. It could be an extension of the fact that such simple characters in such a depressed area just don't have that much at stake, which is fair, but it takes away from the novel's impact as a result.

Perhaps the most perplexing thing about Cannery Row is how its strength can also simultaneously be its biggest lack. It's impressive how quickly Steinbeck can get us to relate to his characters with such an economy of language, but the impact simply doesn't last too long beyond the closing of the book cover. It could be that time has diluted the work: in our present day, even in the current economic moment, it's hard to relate to Depression-era cannery folk. As such, Cannery Row probably works best nowadays If we hold it as emblematic of a particular moment, albeit one that has clearly passed.

Funny as hell. ( )

Evocative story of people who had worked their way to the edge of the continent, Monterey, in search of themselves and a personal absolution. Funny, warm, ironic. An excellent read. ( )

I liked it and thought it was well written, but I didn't love reading it. ( )