Reviews

There's too much to say; this was just as incredible if not more so than Cannery Row. The characters, the plot lines, the setting and specifically a few chapters made this an absolute, shimmering delight. It starts in a sad, depressive place right after WWII, but is slowly restored to a happy wholeness by the end.

inwit's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

heyimaghost's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

katrinlea's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

svo fallega skrifuð
“You've seen the sun flatten and take strange shapes just before it sinks in the ocean. Do you have to tell yourself every time that it's an illusion caused by atmospheric dust and light distorted by the sea, or do you simply enjoy the beauty of it?” goddamn

arf88's review against another edition

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2.0

I hate to say it, but this was a little bit boring. It was as beautifully written as you'd expect from Steinbeck, but honestly that was just about the only thing going for it. Characters who were gripping in Cannery Row were dull in this, and the new characters weren't anything to write home about either. In fact Suzy, the main female character, was downright irritating for most of the book. Which leads to the next problem - the plot. Cannery Row didn't have much of a plot, but it managed to a page turner anyway. Steinbeck gives Sweet Thursday a romance plot between the affable Doc and the half-hearted prostitute Suzy. And I just did not care at all. It was more fun reading about frogs in the first book.

fmcculley's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

dyno8426's review against another edition

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5.0

Doc is a marine biologist who is the only intellectual and an integral member of Cannery Row. He spends his working hours sampling wild aquatic creatures from the ocean and cataloguing them scientifically. Interestingly, Steinbeck also has created a similar ecosystem of characters in Cannery Row which is equally fertile and rich with the flavour and spectrum of life. Doc is the binding agent in the story that connects the lives of all this miscellaneous, weird and humbling wonders of human specimen. Doc's knowledge and almost hermit-like existence evokes reverence in people around him - while his warmth and humility endears and attracts people to him. Although Doc himself is stuck in an intellectual block which his humble position does not help with - he aspires to be more impactful like everyone else. He disregards his own state and his loneliness - his constant, latent malady - in the routine of his pursuits for knowledge and his one-way openness to humour the people around him. As a result, the folks in Cannery Row have to think about him more than he does about himself.

Steinbeck is best at giving us the best of humanity in its most stripped, humble form - it could be either the act of sharing a meal, or conversations about their future, or pulling each other up when someone falls down. These specimens of Cannery Row reveal the boundless kindness and goodness that mankind is capable of. Even in the most meagre of states, his characters exude goodness that thaws the bleakness of the sky like a ray of sunshine. His idyllic characters find pleasure in the most humbling of occupations and peace in the expansive idleness that their life offers. His stories create that appealing possibility of harmony in our societies if we offer each other the support to lean on and the vulnerability to share parts of ourselves. This is the vitality and wholesomeness that Steinbeck brings using a mellifluous prose - like a strong spirit that is harsh and bitter on the palate at first, but spreads out a smooth warmth all inside the heart later and leaves you elevated in its afterglow. It's hard to resist smiling with humour and hope for the people in Cannery Row when you close the pages on this one.

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