MobileRead Book Club April 2015 Discussion: Cannery Row (spoilers)

[WT Sharpe]

The time has come to discuss the April 2015 MobileRead Book Club selection, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. What did you think?

[kennyc]

I say Can it!

[treadlightly]

From the title, I had thought the story would be about the canning industry or set in a cannery, so I was wrong on that account. It turned out that the characters included a mercenary scientist, a pack of bums and a houseful of prostitutes! Silly me. There wasn't a very strong storyline or any evil characters. I had wondered if the banning of The Grapes of Wrath with its (negative) portrayal of Californian citizens had influenced Steinbeck in any way to showcase goodwill among a local population that would not normally be associated with warm and fuzzy feelings. I felt the book was well-written but not overly entertaining or thought-provoking. My favourite character was Lee Chong the grocer, who was good for a few chuckles.

[HomeInMyShoes]

No, the evil and the hope in the book is the nature of man itself. I absolutely loved this book and still do. I've read a few more short Steinbeck novels, but this one is my favourite or the bunch so far (The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, and Tortilla Flat were the others). I can see Steinbeck's writing not faring well with many in a longer story like The Grapes of Wrath. He is prone to over-description. But that is what I love about this book. His descriptions of place and people just hit me and in a short book like Cannery Row it doesn't get a chance to wear on one. I reread bits and pieces as I had already read this one recently and I'm still struck by his descriptions.

Originally Posted by CanneryRow

"Oh!" said Hazel and he cast frantically about for a peg to hang a new question on. He hated to have a conversation die out like this. He wasn't quick enough. While he was looking for a question Doc asked one. Hazel hated that, it meant casting about in his mind for an answer and casting about in Hazel's mind was like wandering alone in a deserted museum. Hazel's mind was choked with uncatalogued exhibits. He never forgot anything, but he never bothered to arrange his memories. Everything was thrown together like fishing-tackle in the bottom of a rowboat, hooks and sinkers and lines and lures and gaffs all snared up."

[kennyc]

I love this book and love it every time I re-read it (and the novels I re-read can be easily counted on one hand).

I want someone to explain chapter 4 to me though....the old Chinaman and the 'crossing' of him?

[issybird]

Steinbeck has wonderful descriptive powers and the book is worth reading if only for his beautiful imagery. Cannery Row would be terrific without its people.

But, oy, those people! Stock characters, whores with hearts of gold, inscrutable Chinese, feckless drunks, in a tale told with a tone both twee and patronizing. Ugh.

[kennyc]

I love those characters!

[WT Sharpe]

I suspect the ghost of Mark Twain was hovering over Steinbeck's shoulder when he wrote it. The characters seemed like modern northern cousins of Tom and Huck.

[kennyc]

Here's what I said on Goodreads:

4 stars - Loved it! Just the right amount of humor for me and very real people in a bit of an unreal situation. I particularly love the way Steinbeck throws in chapters that are not part of the story itself but build or reflect the story. The penultimate chapter of this one was perfect!

[issybird]

I last read this as a young 'un, on my father's recommendation; it was one of his favorites. I can appreciate the language and writing now as I couldn't then, but I'm still meh on the story. I suppose I'm supposed to take away some message about the resilience of the human spirit and the kindness of those at the bottom, but it didn't seem real to me, and as a fable, it failed to enchant. The most real person in it was the poor fellow who lost his legs on the railroad track.

Another thing I didn't care for is the whiff of misogyny. Other than the aformentioned whores with hearts of gold, the women were loons. Curtains in a boiler! Tea parties with cats! At least the men in the book lived for themselves; the virtuous women (including the ones who tried to shut down the Bear Flag) seemed only to live through their menfolk.

Admittedly, it's not much of a sample, but so far in this thread we've got two yay votes from men and two nay votes from women. I wonder if this trend will hold?

[ccowie]

I gave it a real try. As mentioned prior to its selection I really didn't feel like reading another Steinbeck having not liked East of Eden and really detesting Grapes of Wrath. This was the best of them, but I really didn't like it.

I find all of his writing just feels very self-indulgent. The elaborate descriptions are fine for a while, but just get to be too much for me. This also felt like a book of short stories, which would have been preferable because the connective tissue that tried to make it a novel was thin.

I haven't seen the movie, but as I imagined the place, the characters and the actions I couldn't help but picture the story animated Pixar style.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by issybird

....

Admittedly, it's not much of a sample, but so far in this thread we've got two yay votes from men and two nay votes from women. I wonder if this trend will hold?

OMFG!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by ccowie

I gave it a real try. As mentioned prior to its selection I really didn't feel like reading another Steinbeck having not liked East of Eden and really detesting Grapes of Wrath. This was the best of them, but I really didn't like it.

I find all of his writing just feels very self-indulgent. The elaborate descriptions are fine for a while, but just get to be too much for me. This also felt like a book of short stories, which would have been preferable because the connective tissue that tried to make it a novel was thin.

I haven't seen the movie, but as I imagined the place, the characters and the actions I couldn't help but picture the story animated Pixar style.

It would be sad and boring if we all had the same tastes in art and literature.

[CRussel]

Well, issybird, I liked it, and liked it a lot. Yes, the characters are a bit of a caricature, but all drawn from very real characters of the time. Certainly, there were different roles for men and women of the time and I don't try to impose my current standards on that.

What I got out of this book was Steinbeck's love of the people and the place. All of the characters of Cannery Row are essentially good. The employees of the Bear Flag Restaurant (Dora's bordello), are just that - employees doing a job for which they are treated well by a reasonable boss. They provide a service, and like everyone else in the small community, they are a part of that community. Lee Chong is hardly inscrutable, and even the nighttime wandering "Chinaman" is treated with respect by Steinbeck, if not always by local youths. Doc is, of course, the main character and in many ways the denizens of Cannery Row are filtered through his eyes even though it's not told as his story.

Cannery Row, and all the many other places like it across the world, live a hard-scrabble existence. When the boats were in and the fishing had been good, there was some money to be passed around. But when the fishing was bad, there was the darn little to support the community but each other. And a person like Doc who had an actual source of income external to the vagaries of the community was a resource of some value even without his abilities with sick puppies.

This is a book about love. And basic humanity. I'm really glad it was chosen this month, I'd likely not have read it.

[HomeInMyShoes]

I've worked with people that are the stock characters of the book. I think those experiences and my time living in Newfoundland and visiting outports where fish processing is the only way of life makes me like this book all the more.