#58: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (Katarina)

During this challenge, Steinbeck has become one of my new favorite writers. However, Cannery Row (1945) is not a book I enjoyed reading. Maybe it is simply because I cannot really say that i understood the point of it. Once more, Steinbeck writes about his native California during the Great Depression. The setting is the Cannery Row in Monterey and features different members of society. There is the store owner who finds it hard to get his customers to pay, the marine biolgist “Doc”, who studies sea creatures, and then there is Mack, the leader of a group of vagabonds who move into an old abandoned factory together with a dog they spoil rotten.

The characters are colorful and the book depicts an interesting way of life. But as i have already mentioned, when i reached the end, I could not undestand what the point of the book was. Maybe that good intentions do not always have good outcomes, based on the party mack and his friends throw for Doc. Their intentions are honorable, but the party gets out of hand before Doc even comes home and leads to the destruction of his laboratory and home. And when they try to make up for it, that does not go as planned either.

Steinbeck was a phenomenal writer, but this is not a book I will be revisiting.

#35: East of Eden by John Steinbeck (Katarina)

By now, it’s been made very clear that I love the works of John Steinbeck. East of Eden (1952) is no exception. The book tells the tale of two families, the Hamiltons and the Trasks, who both come to live in the Salinas Valley, California. The Hamilton’s are said to be based on the real family of Samuel Hamilton, Steinbeck’s grandfather. The writer himself also appears briefly in the story, which makes it feel even more like the truth ( at least to some extent). Samuel Hamilton struggles to make a living on an infertile piece of land and he is known to be an inventor with a good heart. Adam Trask on the other hand, grew up in a military home on the east coast and came to the Valley a rich man. He is head over heals in love with his beautiful wife Cathy, but she is full of secrets and runs away from him after giving birth to twin sons.

The book offers an intricate weave of colorful characters and some fo them you would love to have as your best friends, while others appear to be the devil’s offspring. The book is also closely related to the Bible and the story from Genesis about Cain and Abel. Salinas Valley also plays a vital part in the book and is so well described by Steinbeck that it feels like I have visited the place in person.

In the short, the book is beautifully written and I truly recommend it. If Steinbeck is still a writer for you to discover, I envy you, and if he is already someone you love, I understand you fully. If you on the other hand don’t like his books, well, that is fine too, but maybe you should give him another try?

#33: The Pearl by John Steinbeck (Katarina)

My love for John Steinbeck deepens further after reading The Pearl (1947). Based on a Mexican folk tale, we meet a young couple who live in hut with their infant son. The man, Kino, is a pearl diver, and very poor. When the story opens, the young family lives a very content life, but that is all about to change. One morning, the baby Coyotito is stung by a scorpion and needs medical treatment. However, the doctor doesn’t want to help a poor man since there’s nothing in it for him. It’s the beginning of desperate times.

Shortly thereafter, Kino finds an enormous pearl that is nicknamed “the Pearl of the World”, and no one has ever seen anything like it. Kino first believes that his luck has turned in his favor, but only the first night, people try to steal it from him. The next day, he is further disappointed when the corrupt pearl buyers try to play him and rob him of what the pearl is really worth by saying it has no value.

Instead, Kino decides to take the pearl the long way to the capital to sell it, but his wife Juana sees the evil it has brought and sneaks out at night to throw it back in the ocean. But Kino figures it out, attacks her and then gets attacked himself. Eventually they begin the dangerous journey and are chased by trackers.

The story, although quite short, shows how greed can lead to the downfall of man. Steinbeck paints a beautifully painful story with an end that leaves you heartbroken. It also offers a lot to discuss and even now, weeks after i finished it, I still hate the people who let their own greed cause so much pain in a young family who really didn’t care about money but that which is important – the people you hold near and dear.

 

#10: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Katarina)

I remember watching the movie adaption of Of Mice and Men (1937) when I was younger, and I can still picture the horrible end. It is all I remember and when reading the book, I knew what it was going to lead up to from the start. It made me feel even more for both George and Lennie.

The book in itself is short, but in its roughly 140 pages, it still manages to get the reader to invest feelings into the story. And that is what I love about Steinbeck. I have already praised his Grapes of Wrath (1939) and Of Mice and Men deserves it too. It is a heart-breaking book and we can probably discuss whether George did the right thing or not in the end, and do so for a long time. Is he really a true friend of Lennie´s? I believe he is. Maybe you don’t.

At the end of the day, I do not think that George wants to hurt Lennie, but would rather end his life on their terms. It is sad that they do not actually end up getting the farm they have dreamed about, but by telling Lennie about it once more at the end, it kind of feels as if he is given a happy ending, if there ever was one.

George is a good man who is forced to do something terrible. He takes care of Lennie and treats him relatively well, and he is also the one person who understands his flaws better than anyone else. Imagine the pain he will have to live, having killed the one person he can count as family. And at the same time, imagine the pain of watching him being beaten to a pulp by an angry mob, or even worse, being taken away from the only person who ever was his friend – George.

Of Mice and Men is a powerful book in a small package, written by a true master. And even if you have seen the movie, the book is worth your time, if only for Steinbeck’s words.

 

#8: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (Katarina)

With the current financial crisis, Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath (1939) really strikes a chord. This is the story of how the 1930’s economical crisis forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their land when they could not pay their mortgages. In hopes of a better life they travelled to California – the Promised Land. However, the dream turned to dust.

 We follow the Joad family and their struggles as they do whatever they can to survive. They pack whatever they can on the back of a truck and leave their home hoping to find work in California. There is a naivety in the way they perceive the world in the beginning, but slowly the harsh reality catches up with them.

 As I read this book, I became more and more upset, creating an emotional bond with the Joad family. And knowing that there is truth behind the words made it all worse. At one point I was eating popcorn while I read and I felt guilty because the Joad’s (and everyone else) had nothing to eat.

 In this day and age when a new economical crisis has struck, forcing people to leave their homes and cities have gone bankrupt (!), there is something to learn from Grapes of Wrath. And that is to show kindness and be helpful. We cannot be egoistical. Even when they had it tough, the Joad’s helped others and it made them feel better. It also became easier for them to accept help from others. Treat others the way you want to be treated makes sense, because who knows, maybe tomorrow you will be the one who needs a helping hand.

The hundreds of thousands of people who travelled to California all wanted the same thing – a better life. They did not ask to be rich, only to get a piece of land to support their family. And who can blame them? But to make things worse, they became redundant. They were the people who knew the land and how to work it, but they had no land. Instead big corporations swept in and took over, their only goal being to make as much money as possible out of the land. The Grapes of Paradise turned into the Grapes of Wrath.

 It is a book about depression, and yet it holds so much hope. We should learn from history and Grapes of Wrath is a powerful teacher.