Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

“When you collect marine animals there are certain flat worms so delicate that they are almost impossible to catch whole for they will break and tatter under the touch. You must let them ooze and crawl of their own will onto a knife blade and lift them gently into your bottle of sea water. And perhaps that might be the way to write this book-to open the page and let the stories crawl in by themselves.”

One of the Back to the Classics challenge prompts this year was to read a classic from the Americas. I figured that this was a good time to read another John Steinbeck novel, since when it comes to North America, and specifically the Western U.S.,  there are few authors who capture the spirit of the place as well as he does. Cannery Row is one of the novels I put on my Classics Club list as well, so I decided to give that one a shot. I went into my reading knowing nothing about the plot, but hoping to find another Steinbeck favorite.

Cannery Row is a series of loosely connected stories centered around a group of people living on a street named Cannery Row in Monterey, California. Cannery Row is home to a series of sardine canning factories, but the novel doesn't concern itself too much with the business in the area. Most of the stories feature characters who work outside of the factories, or who don't work at all. Each new story moves between different people, but without a set pattern or structure. It merely is. Cannery Row is a calm, thoughtful look at the lives of generally goodhearted people in a small town.

One of the first people we meet is Lee Chong, the owner of a small grocery store on Cannery Row. Most of the inhabitants of the area do their shopping with him, so his store features in many of the stories. He is shown to be a peaceful and laid back businessman with a good head on his shoulders, but he seems to come out behind in a lot of his dealings. From there, we meet Mack and his boys, a group of unemployed men living together in an old, disused storage building. They've turned the place into a home and spend most of their time lying around outside and drinking, when they can scrape together the money for it. The group is (mostly) harmless and free-spirited. Their hapless antics form the heart of the novel.

Another character that appears in several of the stories is Doc, a kindly marine biologist that works in a lab on the street. He studies aquatic species in Monterey Bay, preserves them, and sends them off to labs, museums, and universities around the world. He is a fatherly figure in the town, providing minor medical help when needed and paying various residents for collecting specimens for him. He is universally loved on Cannery Row.

Other, more minor characters move in and out of the stories as well, including Dora, a brothel owner, Henri, a local artist, Sam, who lives in an abandoned boiler with his wife, and at one point, a groundhog. Together, the stories combine to form a detailed and charming portrait of an American street. Steinbeck's writing shows us what is interesting in the ordinary and brings a colorful cast of characters to life.

I really enjoyed Cannery Row. It's a quiet kind of novel, one that focuses on character sketches and "slice of life" style episodes. There isn't an overall plot to tie the chapters together or a general theme that everything hangs around. However, the novel doesn't feel scattered. Every piece feels necessary and is very engaging to read. I was surprised by how quickly I fell into these stories. I finished it in just two days and was completely charmed

My favorite bits of the collection were definitely the ones centering around a surprise party Mack tries to throw for Doc. His first attempt at doing this does not go well. Things get out of hand rather quickly and the whole event is a failure. His second attempt goes much better, with the whole street getting involved. This event forms the closest thing the novel has to an ongoing narrative and it is truly heartwarming.

Cannery Row is the seventh Steinbeck novel I have read. It's not my favorite out of all the ones I have tried, but it was still a fantastic and worthwhile read. Steinbeck's writing is masterful and truly captures the spirit of his simple characters. This is a humorous, hopeful, and touching collection of stories and my literary life feels richer after reading them. This ended up being a great choice for my classic from the Americas category. Like many of Steinbeck's works, it feels quintessentially American.

Challenge Tally
Classics Club (#87 on my list): 43/100 
Back to the Classics 2019 (Classic from the Americas) 5/12 Books Read

Total Books Read in 2019:20