“Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.” So begins the greatest modern-age answer to the Idylls of Theocritus, John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. Cannery Row is a warm-hearted panegyric of a real place close to Steinbeck’s heart, and that warmth seeps through this book at every page. The plot revolves around an interwoven tapestry of grocers, gangsters, prostitutes, and various others in the poverty-stricken town of Cannery Row, and it is for this collection of societal “low-lifes” that Steinbeck creates a heartfelt, loving, and realistic ode. There is no book in existence I could more aptly compare to the Hellenistic poet Theocritus and his Idylls, simply because of how Steinbeck balances coziness and realism in his plot. The pastoral farmers of Theocritus are not always painless and merry. There are several poems within the Idylls showing broken relationships, anger, and struggle. Yet the tone of love—love for all aspects of the human experience—is never lost, and in a way, this unconditional love adds a layer of depth that makes this story far superior. 

     In the exact same way, Cannery Row follows primarily a gang of men led by Mack. Mack is stated to have a potential for violence and thuggery, although that side of him is never shown, and the plot reads nothing like a “crime thriller.” The meat of Cannery Row’s plot revolves around Mack and his boys trying to throw a surprise birthday party for a leading marine biologist, Doc, and their wacky, Pickwickian adventures as well as their trials, struggles, and defeats. Along the way, we meet many other characters such as the Chinese grocer Lee Chong, the whorehouse owner Dora, and the aspiring artist Henri. Steinbeck opened Cannery Row trying to explain the town with several contrasting words, but I think I can summarize the book with just a few: Cannery Row is an ode to the various shades of the human experience. It is as cozy as The Pickwick Papers with the characters and setting of On the Road—what more could you want from a modern day bucolic?