It isn't Grapes Of Wrath, but it is still a fine work by an author who knows how to build characters that are irresistible. If you like Steinbeck this short book will not disappoint. The narrator does a nice job of giving voice to people who we can only try to imagine from the words on the page as they share their story of respect, loneliness and community. Steinbeck takes us through the slow motion disaster of a party and builds tension as we wait for Doc to return home to the destruction Mack and the Boys created. They want to express gratitude for Doc and make a mess of things. Mack and the Boys are everywhere and add spice to the community on Cannery Row. Yet he is empty in places that Steinbeck is able to reveal and describe. Doc is the main character, a man with a solid education, job and place in the world of marine biology. They are not people like me, yet they are every part of my life experience. The story is about respect and how people on Cannery Row have lives devoid of meaning apart from place and time. Steinbeck builds characters that you fall in love with and then struggle to support as they drift into trouble usually of their own making.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |