So begins John Steinbeck in Cannery Row. Steinbeck always has a way with words and description in his opening pages which fascinated me. He was one of my earliest inspirations in writing, sitting in my High School English History Class with my teacher, Mister Simon, I can recall reading The Grapes of Wrath.
I see myself there, almost on the edge of my seat, hanging off of each word of a man who transformed life into ink. In Steinbeck, there is always that quality that does not parse or color things more rosey than the reality. He is frank, and he captures a reality of places and people who very truely existed.
I see myself there, almost on the edge of my seat, hanging off of each word of a man who transformed life into ink. In Steinbeck, there is always that quality that does not parse or color things more rosey than the reality. He is frank, and he captures a reality of places and people who very truely existed.
Not many people know the truth of Cannery Row in Monterey in California. Back then it was called Oceanview Avenue and it was the waterfront industrial wherein the Sardine factories that fed a nation were located. Steinbeck captures that place and time in that semiannually Steinbeckian (yes that is a word now) manner. Reading through the pages you find both charming and conniving characters, mysteries and fantasies, a reality of a place and time over fifty years ago that is long gone today.
John Steinbeck would not recognize the Cannery Row of today, though he bears part of the credit that inspired its transformation and popularization. The other resident local that bears that distinction is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which stands within the block radius of what Steinbeck WOULD recognize.
John is one of my heroes when it comes to descriptive writing, along with Ray Bradbury and Herman Melville. When I was in high school I tried to practice both their ways of writing, and with Bradbury I had some success. Steinbeck remained elusive, but he continued to inspire so much so that when it was time to go to college, I chose to attend university at Cal State Monterey Bay. There were other reasons going there of course, but being in proximity to Steinbeck country was one of the biggest ones.
I got to see a transformation of Cannery Row in my years there. I have fond memories of the way it used to be, though even that way is not familiar to the Steinbeck description. The largest transformation happened when I was long gone, graduated and moved back home. I didn't see the change coming.
Recently I came back once more, on a busy summer Monday, to retrace my steps and the steps of Steinbeck on Cannery Row. I hope to share these experiences, along with pictures in a few future blog posts. My hope is to enlighten others and share a passion for a place and time long gone. My own retrospective on Cannery Row, that poem and stink, the grating noise and quality of light, the habit and tone, the nostalgia ... and the dream.
John Steinbeck would not recognize the Cannery Row of today, though he bears part of the credit that inspired its transformation and popularization. The other resident local that bears that distinction is the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which stands within the block radius of what Steinbeck WOULD recognize.
John is one of my heroes when it comes to descriptive writing, along with Ray Bradbury and Herman Melville. When I was in high school I tried to practice both their ways of writing, and with Bradbury I had some success. Steinbeck remained elusive, but he continued to inspire so much so that when it was time to go to college, I chose to attend university at Cal State Monterey Bay. There were other reasons going there of course, but being in proximity to Steinbeck country was one of the biggest ones.
I got to see a transformation of Cannery Row in my years there. I have fond memories of the way it used to be, though even that way is not familiar to the Steinbeck description. The largest transformation happened when I was long gone, graduated and moved back home. I didn't see the change coming.
Recently I came back once more, on a busy summer Monday, to retrace my steps and the steps of Steinbeck on Cannery Row. I hope to share these experiences, along with pictures in a few future blog posts. My hope is to enlighten others and share a passion for a place and time long gone. My own retrospective on Cannery Row, that poem and stink, the grating noise and quality of light, the habit and tone, the nostalgia ... and the dream.
