![]() ![]() And it’s so sad that fate turned it’s back from him that much.īeing the first John Steinbeck that I read, the novel left me with good impression as to how John Steinbeck writes and left me wanting to read more of his novels. He just wants security for his family’s future. The novel got me thinking as to what I’ll do if I were on Kino’s shoes. The novel also discussed how our wants and desires could easily have their back against us. And it poses the question as to how we can equate fair and just with being bad or evil. It discussed what causes people to be evil at times and that being evil is already in the nature of humans. The study of evilness among us which is one of the realities of life. The novel’s primary premise is the study of evilness. ![]() How Kino protected the pearl equated to Kino protecting the future of his family. And from there the luck that they thought they have was overturned. But by sheer “luck” on that same day, having no choice but to go to the sea to search for pearls for them to sell and which the money will be used for the treatment of his son, Kino found a big pearl, the size of a goose egg, the Pearl of the World as what the townfolks call it. Having no money, the only town doctor refused to help them. The turn of events started when Coyotito was bitten by a scorpion. The community where they live has a defining line between the rich and the poor. The family is poor stricken and lives by fishing. For readability during lunch breaks and on hot, summer evenings after work and for its timeless portrayal of humanity, I give it four stars on Goodreads.The novel is about Kino and his wife Juan and their little boy Coyotito. Some people might consider Cannery Row a bit of a snoozer, but it has its share of moments that are still comical almost a century after it was written, and most of us can say that we know or have known people who were as flawed as some of the characters in this book but who were still more-or-less likeable as human beings. It’s pretty light reading for Steinbeck – I dreaded that there would be a grisly death, but none was forthcoming and it has a basically happy ending – and the heavier moments did not want for comic relief. ![]() It’s more of a story about a place and time. I’m inclined to think that the authors of Better Homes and Husbands and Let the Great World Spin (see my Week 19 post) were inspired by this book, since all three involve a static static cast of characters, each with his or her own “story,” in a microcosm of society in which things happen, the backdrop seems to take on a life of its own and nothing changes in the grand scheme of things. Although most of the chapters feature characters introduced at the beginning and a story does eventually come together, most chapters read more like stand-alone stories. Well, as indicated by the synopsis on Goodreads (link above), Cannery Row is heavy on narrative but offers very little in the way of a plot. I’m actually kind amazed that we’re almost halfway through the year and, for the first time ever, I’m still sticking with a New Year’s Resolution. As mentioned in last week’s post, I found and downloaded it in part because I had forgotten until recently how much I enjoy reading Steinbeck and partly because I knew that its relative brevity (less than 200 pages) would help me get back on track with my book-a-week goal. ![]() This past week’s reading selection was Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. ![]()
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