[Merischino]

I just finished. I remember, vaguely, having read the Grapes of Wrath and The Pearl and Of Mice and Men but to be honest I don't remember whether I liked them much or not.

spoilers ahead

Spoiler:

I did enjoy Cannery Row from start to finish although like others I thought it lacked a plotline. My favorite bit is how Eddie collects the undrunk alcohol in a jug with a funnel... yuck and yet how ingenious.

I thought the legless man towards the end was gratuitous ... I would have wanted to know more about him before the misfortune, or if not at least some mention of his transition after. I disagree with some of the other comments about the book being too "happy". I think that people at the low to nonexistent end of the income scale have memorable moments of friendship and contentment, too and the sort of gentle slow movement from one vignette to another I thought worked well.

I particularly liked the frog economy though I felt bad for Lee Chong having fully lost out on his investment. I wanted to know how the skater ate and drank -- who was at his service bringing meals and/or timing the potty breaks so as not to invalidate his eligibility for the record if he made it that far. I wanted to know why cod liver oil helped reinvigorate the puppy and how anyone could find a long succession of girls who would be willing to live toilet-free in a boat for months at a time. I felt bad for Gay and his change in plans after leaving the greatly modified "model T" truck.

I spent a lot of time looking up words... mostly various forms of marine life that, without a picture in the dictionary or wikipedia, I was only able to further identify into categories like "fish" or "marine life not a fish but attaches to something " or "marine life not a fish swimming freely" or no description. I was quite grossed out by Doc's chicken salad consisting not of chicken but sea cucumber... but not having ever seen or et a sea cucumber perhaps I shouldn't assume that would be gross.

All in all it was an enjoyable book to read and I'm glad the book club chose it because otherwise I likely never would have.

Originally Posted by sun surfer

...<snip> and I also liked this excerpt:

I thought about posting that very same excerpt as I read it. I'm glad you did.