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Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
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Cannery Row (original 1945; edition 1993)

by John Steinbeck

Series: Cannery Row (1)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
9,840187758 (4.05)1 / 756
Vividly depicts the colorful, sometimes disreputable, inhabitants of a run-down area in Monterey, California.
Member:autumnesf
Title:Cannery Row
Authors:John Steinbeck
Info:Penguin Books (1993), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 208 pages
Collections:Your library, Read, 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Rating:***
Tags:None

Work Information

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (1945)

  1. 71
    Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck (Booksloth)
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    Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck (HollyMS)
  3. 20
    All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy (mabith)
    mabith: McCarthy's border trilogy reminded me so heavily of Steinbeck. I think if you enjoy one author you'll enjoy the other as well.
  4. 32
    Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (lyzadanger)
    lyzadanger: Similar pastoral view of the West.
  5. 00
    A Foreign Woman by Sergei Dovlatov (Anonymous user)
  6. 01
    Underworld by Don DeLillo (xtien)
  7. 12
    The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck (chrisharpe)
  8. 01
    The Killer Next Door by Alex Marwood (SomeGuyInVirginia)
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» See also 756 mentions

English (177)  Spanish (3)  Greek (1)  German (1)  Italian (1)  Dutch (1)  Lithuanian (1)  Hebrew (1)  All languages (186)
Showing 1-5 of 177 (next | show all)
Every now and then I need to pick up a classic by a formidable writer and hold it up to the novels written today. ( )
  ben_r47 | Feb 22, 2024 |
What a change of pace from East of Eden and the Grapes of Wrath! Cannery Row is a small distillation of what I'm beginning to recognise as Steinbeck's trademark style, the heartfelt descriptions, the humourous yet poignant characterisations, the matter-of-fact narrative. It feels different here though, when the stakes are so much lower. I think I can only feel like the characters of Cannery Row are cute, rather than emotionally taxing in the same way that the other two books are. I particularly liked the briefer anecdotes rather than some of the more extended ones, since I felt like they had just enough flavour without wanting to do more and not having the words for doing so. The Malloys moving into the boiler, Henri and his boat, the soldiers and Dora's girls, Mary Talbot and her parties, the bachelor gopher. I get that I wouldn't enjoy a novella with solely 3 page vignettes, but I think without them Cannery Row would suffer a great deal. The more "philosophical" moments fall a little flatter, like Doc opining about capitalism and how Mack and the boys have actually figured it out. The quips get me more; I loved describing boring parties as "not parties at all but acts and demonstrations, about as spontaneous as peristalsis and as interesting as its end product" (p168). Good, tight read. ( )
  Zedseayou | Jan 30, 2024 |
Oh dear. A book I should like but don't really. In my defence, I have enjoyed other Steinbeck books, but this one just didn't have any compelling plot or depth of characters or sustained insight to hold my attention. It's a slight work, somewhat chaotic or sad small-town lives mixed with local atmosphere from Monterey and a few witty lines. But there's a sort of pointlessness to it. Maybe that was the point. ( )
  breathslow | Jan 27, 2024 |
Story: 5.5 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 7.5
Prose: 7.5 ( )
  MXMLLN | Jan 12, 2024 |
meh. I wish I enjoyed this more than I did but to be honest, the vignettes of folk in this story was sort of dull. Steinbeck has some occasional prose that is fantastic though. ( )
  ryantlaferney87 | Dec 8, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 177 (next | show all)

» Add other authors (33 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Steinbeck, Johnprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Brugmans-Martens, L.I.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dyankov, KrastanTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Farden, JerryNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Frank, RudolfTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Shillinglaw, SusanIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Stahl, BenCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Waechter, PhilipCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For
ED RICKETTS
who knows why or should
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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.
Quotations
"It has always seemed strange to me," said Doc. "The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the comcomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second."
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Vividly depicts the colorful, sometimes disreputable, inhabitants of a run-down area in Monterey, California.

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Penguin Australia

3 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0141185082, 0141045396, 024195245X

Recorded Books

An edition of this book was published by Recorded Books.

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