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Sunday, December 2, 2012

Finished: Cannery Row (Steinbeck). Quite different from what I expected, and quite a good book! :-) In my mind, I always thought of Cannery Row as that Nick Nolte and Debra Winger movie in the 80's. I never saw that movie because it was not critically well-received back in the day, and from the previews, I just wasn't interested. Don't get me wrong...I adored Nick Nolte, who, together with Peter Strauss, pretty much epitomized how a television miniseries should be done in Rich Man, Poor Man. And, I adored Debra Winger...fresh off her turn as Sissy in Urban Cowboy, and soon to do one of my favorite roles ever, in one of my favorite movies of all time...Emma, in Terms of Endearment. So, you would have thought that I'd be interested in seeing them together in Cannery Row...but I just wasn't. :-)

So...the years go by and I begin this reading thing I'm doing and we travel to Salinas, California to Steinbeck's home and to Monterrey, California to the real life Cannery Row...and I am compelled to buy the book. I began reading just thinking, well...I'll picture the main characters as a young Nick Nolte and Debra Winger and go from there. Oh how I was wrong about the story! Debra Winger's character from the movie (Susie) isn't even IN the book Cannery Row! The character is apparently in another of Steinbeck's books, Sweet Thursday. I was reading along, quite enjoying the book, and realized I only had thirty pages to go and there had been no sign of Susie...no love interest for Doc at all for that matter. I googled Cannery Row, the movie, and found this neat little article warning high school students that if you are supposed to be reading Cannery Row for your high school reading, that you'd better not just rent the movie and make your report from that or you'll be making a very bad grade because half the characters in the movie aren't in the book, and vice versa!

What I did find in the book was simply delightful. A book about a town full of characters, true characters. The town isn't rich. It's a working class, cannery town full of working class people. Of course, the main character, Doc, the good-hearted, friend to everyone, marine biologist is there; and Mack and Hazel and all the gang of misfit men who get into and cause all kinds of shenanigans are there; and the "girls" of madame Dora's are there; and everyone's favorite, shrewd, yet reliable grocer, Lee Chong is there. And, Cannery Row is just a book about their every day lives that become these adventures as they try to accomplish what they need to get done. The lengths that Mack and the gang go to to throw a party for Doc that he doesn't know about and doesn't even make it home for are extreme, but heartwarming and funny to boot. Was I a bit squeamish at the depiction of the great frog hunt? Yes! Still shuddering at that one...especially after they all escaped. But, do I find it so cool that I walked along the very streets and ocean side that the book took place in? Yep!

Anyway....even though most of the characters were barely squeaking by making a living, the story itself wasn't dragged down by their circumstances. It was more lighthearted than others I've read lately...especially Steinbeck's. I appreciated the breath of fresh air, both in Monterrey and in the book. :-)

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