ŷ������

“For there are two possible reactions to social ostracism--either a man emerges determined to be better, purer, and kindlier or he goes bad, challenges the world and does even worse things. This last is by far the commonest reaction to stigma.��


“Monterey is a city with a long and brilliant literary tradition,�� Steinbeck writes, which sounds so funny to our ears now coming from him, its most revered resident, and with a whole chunk of central California from the coast of Monterey to the Salinas Valley known as Steinbeck country.

I love Steinbeck. His writing has a cadence that works for me. It’s kind of slow, allowing you to absorb things. I never feel like I have to make a note about a character so I don’t forget. He makes me remember them.

It seems I love him more with each book. This one is written like a group of individual snapshots, sort of like a travelogue, but instead of a travelogue of places, it’s of characters, and their intertwined stories hold it all together. What it lacks in plot it makes up for many times over in depth.

You come to know all of these Cannery Row misfits, from Doc, the biologist who runs a laboratory and cares for life of all kinds, to Lee who owns the grocery and everything else under the sun store, to Dora the kindly madam, to Mack, who just wants to throw Doc a party to let him know how much his friends appreciate him.

Gosh. Just look at this picture of Ed Ricketts, the Steinbeck friend who inspired the character of Doc.

If you’ve read the book, you’re probably saying, yep, that’s how I pictured him, with so much behind those humbly cast-down eyes.

What Steinbeck keeps showing me, over and over in different ways, is sometimes, when you love people, it’s so damn painful. But worth it all the same.