A review by andrew_russell
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
3.0
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck is very much a work that is reflective of the economic climate in the US at the time of publication (1945). It's themes are elusive to the casual reader and yet more than anything else, it is a study of the characters described on it's pages.
Steinbeck has a knack for making a joyful reading event out of the seemingly banal. The descriptive prose used to illustrate the attempts of Mack and his crew to capture some seven hundred frogs, is an example of exactly this. Further to this, the atmosphere of social isolation and the individual insecurities and sense of 'otherness' that each character possesses, as well as the sense of community within Cannery Row are the main themes, the overarching 'take aways' from this work.
Coming in at just shy of a hundred and fifty pages, this novel doesn't have the breadth or depth of the likes of The Grapes of Wrath and yet, given the constrictions of it's length, Cannery Row performs admirably in creating reasonably well fleshed-out characterisations and the intriguing trials and tribulations that such characters are forced to face.
Steinbeck has a knack for making a joyful reading event out of the seemingly banal. The descriptive prose used to illustrate the attempts of Mack and his crew to capture some seven hundred frogs, is an example of exactly this. Further to this, the atmosphere of social isolation and the individual insecurities and sense of 'otherness' that each character possesses, as well as the sense of community within Cannery Row are the main themes, the overarching 'take aways' from this work.
Coming in at just shy of a hundred and fifty pages, this novel doesn't have the breadth or depth of the likes of The Grapes of Wrath and yet, given the constrictions of it's length, Cannery Row performs admirably in creating reasonably well fleshed-out characterisations and the intriguing trials and tribulations that such characters are forced to face.