'The Great Frog Escapade' (Cannery Row - John Steinbeck)

Member Name: nickyturnill

Product:	Cannery Row - John Steinbeck
Date:	04/07/07 (118 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unique and original characters, exceptionally well written, more humor than Steinbeck's other novels

Disadvantages: None

John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902. Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold was published in 1929 but he did not achieve literary success until 1935 following the publication of his book Tortilla Flat. He went on to become one of the best-known and most widely read American writers of the 20th century and he was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. John Steinbeck died on December 20, 1968 but his spirit remains in the exceptional books that he has left behind him for others to enjoy.

Cannery Row was John Steinbeck’s 15th novel and it was first published in 1945. Cannery Row is the third of Steinbeck’s novel’s that I have had the pleasure to read, the others being The Grapes of Wrath (1939), which won him the Pulitzer Prize, and Of Mice and Men (1937), which are probably the most famous of his novels. I thought that both of these novels were exceptional and thankfully on the back of these I was pleased to find that Cannery Row lived up to my expectations.

Cannery Row is set in a small sea bound strip of land near Monterey, California, a location typical of Steinbeck’s books. The book revolves around the small community of people living in this area during the Great Depression.

The main characters are:

~~ Lee Chong: A shrewd china-man who runs a mix-match local store, just across from Dora’s brothel ‘The Bear Flag Restaurant’. Here you can buy everything except female companionship; valentines cards and Halloween decorations are available year round and there has never been a sale.

~~Doc: A gentle and intelligent man who was based on Steinbeck's friend Ed Ricketts and to whom Steinbeck dedicated this novel. Doc works as a marine biologist and runs the Western Biological Laboratory where he keeps all sorts of odd and interesting specimens.

~~Mack and the Boys: Mack is the main character of a group of men or ‘bums’ who include Hazel and Eddie. The men live rent free in a disused fish meal shack christened ‘The Palace Flophouse and Grill’ and which is owned by Lee Chong. These men are described simply as ‘having no ambition in life except food, drink and contentment’ but they have kind hearts and they wish they could do better.


The story is loosely based around the aim of Mack and the Boys to throw a surprise party for the Doc since he is such a nice guy. The Doc drives North to collect baby octopii for a client and leaves Mack and the boys an assignment to gather frogs for which he will pay a dime a piece. Successful in this mission they swop the frogs for goods and ‘Old Tennis Shoes’ at Lee Chongs store and throw the party. But then sadly, alcohol infused, things start to go horribly wrong….

One of my favorite parts of Cannery Row is the scenes around and including the frog capturing and the use of the frogs as currency in the local store, which really did make me chuckle! These pockets of humor are more prominent in this book than in both Of Mice and Men and The Grapes Of Wrath which obviously makes for a much lighter read and which is a definite advantage of Cannery Row.

In addition to the main storyline, I liked the way that Steinbeck introduces the odd chapter in which he side tracks and talks just for a few pages about other Monterey characters who may only be mentioned, subsequently or previously, in passing. An example of this is the painter Henri, who isn’t called Henri and who doesn’t paint anymore. Henri is building a boat. He’s been working on it for ten years but he’ll never finish it because he is afraid of the sea. Henri lives in his boat and has had many lovers because eventually they all get sick of living in a boat and leave. Steinbeck’s ability to conjure up interesting characters is further demonstrated in these extracts and they also help to describe further the area and the period in which the book is set.

I really enjoyed Cannery Row, it’s just a lovely book and I can’t think of anything negative to say about it. Steinbeck’s writing is simply wonderful, he holds the reader’s attention on every page and his characters are dynamic and unique. I also highly recommend this book for the fact that it is slightly more humorous than Steinbeck’s more famous works. But in fact I highly recommend Steinbeck in general and I intend to read my way through as much of his work as possible. He is simply a master of American literature.

Cannery Row is a small book of only around 150 pages, divided into small, manageable chapters. The book can currently be bought from Amazon.co.uk from $5.99 new and from just £3 secondhand. Steinbeck also revisited these characters and this setting in his novel Sweet Thursday (1954) which given my enjoyment of Cannery Row I would love to read in the future. Finally, as with many of Steinbeck’s books a film of Cannery Row was released in 1982 but I can’t make any further comment as I have not seen it.

Summary: A must read classic tale. Steinbeck is a genius.