Cannery Row – John Steinbeck – 1945
Reviewed by: Pete C. Date: 20 June 2003
A light, but a very moving book. Steinbeck does a great job in taking an inquisitive look at the way different people choose to live their lives. On one end, there are those who are constantly working hard to “improve” themselves; at the other end there are those who live for the day–they refuse to “play the game.” By “playing the game” I mean living life the way our society expects each person to (not being content unless you are actively trying to increase your superficial wealth). Reading this book causes you to evaluate your own way of living life.
Here’s one of my favorite passages:
“I think they survive this particular world better than other people. In a time when people tear themselves to pieces with ambition and nervousness and covetousness, they are relaxed. All of our so-called successful men are sick men, with bad stomachs, and bad souls, but Mack and the boys are healthy and curiously clean.”