Cannery Row

I first read this novel at university for a various-genres literature course. I didn't quite understand it then, although the analytic lens I acquired during the class definitely helped me understand it now, and appreciate it even better. This is the epitome, for me, of a slice-of-life novel; Steinbeck, as I wrote in the margins of one paragraph, “continues to be ingenious,” and that stands for me. The switching of different perspectives ( of different slices of life ) in-between the chapters wasn't boring, and there was nothing that rambled on that didn't come back around full circle. Each character, no matter how minor or major, had a distinct personality and a distinct purpose in the place of Cannery Row as a whole. Reading about this kind of place for me was the definition of relatable, even some near-one-hundred-odd years later. And it's because of this ability that Steinbeck has, to continue to be found and relatable, that makes me apt to give it five stars. I recommend Cannery Row for anybody who is older, and has had life happen to them, and needs to see it written down somewhere.