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A review by kari_f
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
slow-paced
4.0
Steinbeck has a way of making a place seem idyllic and wistful, even when tragic events take place there. His use of sensory language and imagery paint vivid pictures of his settings, and when that setting is coastal California, the reader can’t help but fall in love with the area. This makes sense, given that Steinbeck wrote the book as a nostalgic and amusing set of tales for soldiers who didn’t want to read another war story.
More character-driven than plot-driven, the reader gets to experience life in this humble place, getting to know a variety of the people who live and/or work there. There is beauty in the mundane, and the reader bears witness to the quiet dignity, the everyday hilarity, and the lonely melancholy each character experiences. In a metaphorical way, the book examines the richness of life in an environment of poverty. There are themes of loneliness and loyalty, resourcefulness and looking to nature and others to meet needs, poverty and opportunity. It’s a sad, beautiful, wistful, and funny little story about a sad, beautiful, wistful, and funny little town.
More character-driven than plot-driven, the reader gets to experience life in this humble place, getting to know a variety of the people who live and/or work there. There is beauty in the mundane, and the reader bears witness to the quiet dignity, the everyday hilarity, and the lonely melancholy each character experiences. In a metaphorical way, the book examines the richness of life in an environment of poverty. There are themes of loneliness and loyalty, resourcefulness and looking to nature and others to meet needs, poverty and opportunity. It’s a sad, beautiful, wistful, and funny little story about a sad, beautiful, wistful, and funny little town.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide