Cannery Row

Moodle Entry:

May 20, 2012

Pages 1-192- Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

For my last independent reading, I chose a short story “Cannery Row” by John Steinbeck.  The book setting is in Monterey California.  The plot of the story is the unfortunate luck of several groups within a community- “row” that are faced with violence, poor living conditions and harsh conditions in the world.  The main characters are Mack and his friends, Doc and Lee Chong. 

Although fictional, this story does have realistic parts that are happening in today’s world.  We take for grant it the easy lives we live.   I somewhat enjoyed the story but would not list this as one of my favorite books I have read.  The author would write about things occurring that did not have a direct correlation to the main plot, so sometimes it was hard as a reader to understand the writers direction. 

This is my third John Steinbeck book that I have read.  All three (Mice to Men- my favoirte, The Grapes  of Wrath and Cannary Row).  All stories take place in a setting in California.  I googled Mr. Steinbeck to understand his history.  He was born in California and was exposed to migrant workers, lived through the great depression and had struggles in his own life.  I believe that the novels that I have read so far try to have us appreciate how good we have it and what the real world is like.