Cannery Row by John Steinbeck - PP
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John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962. He is known for such masterpieces as East of Eden, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath. I’ve seen multiple productions of Of Mice and Men and have read The Grapes of Wrath and absolutely loved both.
John Steinbeck is not well known for writing comedy. Nor should he be.
The setting for this book is a small neighborhood near Cannery Row in Monterery, California. Unlike President Trump, I do not have all the best words, so my ill-informed impression was that this Row had something to do with birds. But as I’m sure the rest of the world knows, a cannery is one of them factories where they process fish etc. and put them into aluminum cans.
But that’s really neither here nor there. The focus of this book is a funky neighborhood by the canneries that’s home to an array of offbeat characters. There’s Lee Chong, a Chinese man who runs a grocery store that sells everything under the sun; Dora, a flamboyant woman who runs a stately whorehouse; Mack, a well-intentioned wino who leads a pack of contentment-seeking hobos; and Doc, a complex man who runs a kind of laboratory that sells sea creatures.
There are 32 chapters in this 208-page book that seem to alternate between the main characters above and 28 other side characters, plus a plethora of animals, that generally only appear in that chapter.
The book started off nicely with a pleasant, humorous, well-written introduction of the community and characters including a couple bits that are sure to produce a chuckle (the second of which would certainly be deemed racist today), but the second chapter turned gloomy and from then on the tone seemed to shift randomly.
The main story, if there is one, centers on Mack and the boys as they endeavor to throw Doc a surprise party. This is where their good intentions pave a cringe-worthy road to hell. The party is a slow trainwreck that’s not only not funny, but is painful to witness. I guess if you like awkward humor though, you’ll like this book. I do not. Cringing and feeling awkward are not high on my list of desired emotions. I’m kind of a dick that way. It’s why I despised the tv show, The Office. Except for Dwight. Dwight was fucking hilarious.
Anyhoo, the side stories were at best curious and/or enigmatic. Most of the time, I had no idea what Steinbeck was trying to convey and finished the chapter shaking my head. But I guess if you like shaking-your-head-in-consternation humor, you’ll love at least half of these chapters. There is the very real possibility, however, that you will pick up whatever Steinbeck was laying down and get a good hearty laugh out of it. I’d bet my hymen that most people won’t though, and I don’t think it’s worth the effort. Even at just 208 pages. Which took me about as long to get through as War and Peace did.
Having said that, Steinbeck of course displays his gift for pointed descriptions. I loved this one about Doc: He can kill anything for need but he could not even hurt a feeling for pleasure. I even liked some of the flowery prose. But there was a significant amount that was just too poetic. Especially the poetry at the end.
One line that I have to give Steinbeck props for is this: He wore a beret long after other people abandoned them. Nice! Steinbeck was craping on berets back in 1945. Plus 1 point for that! But minus 1 point for not shitting on fedoras. I’m still pissed at anyone who had anything to do with those douchebag advertisements coming into popularity. Greatest generation my ass.
To sum up, while Steinbeck is a great literary writer, most of the gags he included here fall flat, most of the stories were pointless and/or irritating, most of the material was depressing, and I had to fight off sleep for at least the latter half of this book. Further, I didn’t get the ending at all, and I didn’t really care. Without a plot building to something, it’s hard for an ending to be satisfying. Plus, did I mention it’s not really funny? 2 pearls.
Bonus Quote for those of you who have read my review of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy: And Western Biological sells bugs and snails and spiders, and rattlesnakes, and rats, and honey bees and gila monsters.
That’s seven ‘and’s in one sentence. What the fuck and shit and piss, and crap and pooh, and poop, Steinbeck?!
Bonus Quote #2, cause I gotta include one of the few bits that made me giggle: That fellow Gay is moving in with us I guess. His wife hits him pretty bad. He don’t mind that when he’s awake but she waits ’til he gets to sleep and then hits him. He hates that. He has to wake up and beat her[.]
p.s. I think this review might be longer than the book. Hopefully, it didn’t take you three months to read, though.
