Classic Books Store
Sweet Thursday (Twentieth-Century Classics)
RRP: $14.00
Our Price: $11.20
You Save: $ 2.80 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $11.20
You Save: $ 2.80 ( 20% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order Sweet Thursday (Twentieth-Century Classics) from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Sweet Thursday (Twentieth-Century Classics) Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780140187502
ISBN: 0140187502
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 272
Publication Date: 1996-04-01
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN: 9780140187502
ISBN: 0140187502
Label: Penguin Classics
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 272
Publication Date: 1996-04-01
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Studio: Penguin Classics
Editorial Review of Sweet Thursday (Twentieth-Century Classics)
Customer Reviews of Sweet Thursday (Twentieth-Century Classics)
Customer Rating: 
Review Summary: A Slice of Life, Small Town feel in every chapter
Review: Sweet Thursday, Steinbeck's second part to Cannery Row, is in many ways an equal and worthy sequel and a pleasure to read. There is simplicity to many of the story's characters, but there is also a deep, symbolic, spirited prose in Steinbeck's writing, making even the simplest idea of life seem grandiose and thought-provoking. It's as if each statement takes on a larger meaning or is a microcosm for life.
Many of the same cast from Cannery Row returns to Sweet Thursday, including Doc, Mack, Hazel and the boys, and then the most relevant new character is Suzy. Suzy comes to town looking for work, and you can tell despite her denials that she carries some baggage with her. Eventually she takes up some work with Fauna and her girls in her brothel, but you can tell this just doesn't suit her. As much as the town takes an interest in Doc, Fauna takes an interest in Suzy, and she gets the urge to try to play matchmaker with Doc and Suzy. While much of the first half of the book deals with Doc speculating on life, Mack and the boys coming over to socialize, or Suzy's orientation into Fauna's business, the novel takes off a little more in the second half, when the town ties to figure out what is wrong with Doc (because even he doesn't know). The second half also focuses on Fauna trying to be matchmaker for Doc and Suzy.
Doc is really the character who drives the story, and many of Cannery Row feel indebted to him: "Doc was more than first citizen on Cannery Row. He was healer of the wounded soul and the cut finger...When trouble came to Doc it was everybody's trouble..." While everyone tries to decipher exactly what has Doc obsessing over writing the paper, and his frustration with it, Hazel, an unlikely hero, decides to try to take some matters into his own hands. While some of the story might be a little predictable by the novel's end, the mean by which Steinbeck is able to arrive there really is the talent in this novel.
Steinbeck has a way with prose, and seems to inject a symbolic nature in even the minutest moments. For instance, the very brief two scenes with the man who is called the Seer are important to the fate of both Doc and Hazel's later actions. There are also many beautiful descriptions of Northern California--Salinas, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Cannery Row. Steinbeck makes setting as significant as its characters. There is a small town feel to the novel, and whether Doc is lamenting over life with Mack with a drink of Old Tennis Shoes, or taking a walk over to his lab, there is a slice of everyday life in every chapter of Sweet Thursday.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Favorite
Review: Of all the books I've read of Steinbeck this one is my favorite. I think the case is that this one express life in the fullest. It gives a true reflection of the ups and downs while at the same time conveys a sense of joy even in the hardest things and struggles in life. Highly recommended, but read 'Cannery Row' first for sure.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: How Sweet it is
Review: A nice follow up to the infamous Cannery Row. The characters are not quite as vivid as in Cannery row but still a nice easy read and it is good to see how some of the characters progressed.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: No canning on cannery row
Review: Well, folks, a sequel is a sequel. By definition, it is less original, creative, surprising than the first instalment. Granted.
Apart from that it is more of the same enjoyable ramble through different levels of life. Of course mainly the lower ones. Can't see Steinbeck writing a society novel.
During WWII, excessive fishing has depleted the seas around Monterey, so now in this post war period, there is no fish to be canned in cannery row. The story is set around the survivors from part I, mainly Doc and Mack etc. Add Fauna and Suzy as delightful new characters, not to forget the Patron, Joseph and Mary. What a name.
I loved it. Steinbeck had a great sense of humour. His fun stories are so much better than the mythical ones, like e.g. East of Eden or Burning Bright. Yes, he dropped a bit in productivity and creativity in his last 2 decades.
Not quite surprisingly then, part of the 'plot' of 'CRII' is a writer's block of the main hero, Doc. (Whose real life model had by then died in a car accident, by the way!)
I would agree that the story drops off speed a bit in the last quarter, since the pedictable outcome takes a little long in coming together.
One more thought: is there any other Murakami fan (like me) around here? Don't you agree that the seer in the chapter about the hole in reality could have walked straight into a Murakami story 40 years later? (Maybe it is time to relate Murakami more to Steinbeck than to Kafka!!)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: not a worthy sequel to cannery row.
Review: this is not a worthy sequel to cannery row, which is about as wonderful a book as any american has produced. sweet thursday itself rises not much above the level of a tv sitcom. prostitution here is treated like a warm, light-hearted profession, pure television sitcom hooey. i wish mr steinbeck had let cannery row stand on its own; for, while sweet thurday is an okay light read, it adds nothing to, and can only diminish the pleasures stored in one's memory of the classic original story. don't miss out on cannery row, or tortilla flat (another classic in the same vein), but feel free to skip sweet thurday, which is pure fluff compared to those two wonderful works. this book was a steinbeck mistake. i guess we all make them.
Review Summary: A Slice of Life, Small Town feel in every chapter
Review: Sweet Thursday, Steinbeck's second part to Cannery Row, is in many ways an equal and worthy sequel and a pleasure to read. There is simplicity to many of the story's characters, but there is also a deep, symbolic, spirited prose in Steinbeck's writing, making even the simplest idea of life seem grandiose and thought-provoking. It's as if each statement takes on a larger meaning or is a microcosm for life.
Many of the same cast from Cannery Row returns to Sweet Thursday, including Doc, Mack, Hazel and the boys, and then the most relevant new character is Suzy. Suzy comes to town looking for work, and you can tell despite her denials that she carries some baggage with her. Eventually she takes up some work with Fauna and her girls in her brothel, but you can tell this just doesn't suit her. As much as the town takes an interest in Doc, Fauna takes an interest in Suzy, and she gets the urge to try to play matchmaker with Doc and Suzy. While much of the first half of the book deals with Doc speculating on life, Mack and the boys coming over to socialize, or Suzy's orientation into Fauna's business, the novel takes off a little more in the second half, when the town ties to figure out what is wrong with Doc (because even he doesn't know). The second half also focuses on Fauna trying to be matchmaker for Doc and Suzy.
Doc is really the character who drives the story, and many of Cannery Row feel indebted to him: "Doc was more than first citizen on Cannery Row. He was healer of the wounded soul and the cut finger...When trouble came to Doc it was everybody's trouble..." While everyone tries to decipher exactly what has Doc obsessing over writing the paper, and his frustration with it, Hazel, an unlikely hero, decides to try to take some matters into his own hands. While some of the story might be a little predictable by the novel's end, the mean by which Steinbeck is able to arrive there really is the talent in this novel.
Steinbeck has a way with prose, and seems to inject a symbolic nature in even the minutest moments. For instance, the very brief two scenes with the man who is called the Seer are important to the fate of both Doc and Hazel's later actions. There are also many beautiful descriptions of Northern California--Salinas, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Cannery Row. Steinbeck makes setting as significant as its characters. There is a small town feel to the novel, and whether Doc is lamenting over life with Mack with a drink of Old Tennis Shoes, or taking a walk over to his lab, there is a slice of everyday life in every chapter of Sweet Thursday.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Favorite
Review: Of all the books I've read of Steinbeck this one is my favorite. I think the case is that this one express life in the fullest. It gives a true reflection of the ups and downs while at the same time conveys a sense of joy even in the hardest things and struggles in life. Highly recommended, but read 'Cannery Row' first for sure.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: How Sweet it is
Review: A nice follow up to the infamous Cannery Row. The characters are not quite as vivid as in Cannery row but still a nice easy read and it is good to see how some of the characters progressed.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: No canning on cannery row
Review: Well, folks, a sequel is a sequel. By definition, it is less original, creative, surprising than the first instalment. Granted.
Apart from that it is more of the same enjoyable ramble through different levels of life. Of course mainly the lower ones. Can't see Steinbeck writing a society novel.
During WWII, excessive fishing has depleted the seas around Monterey, so now in this post war period, there is no fish to be canned in cannery row. The story is set around the survivors from part I, mainly Doc and Mack etc. Add Fauna and Suzy as delightful new characters, not to forget the Patron, Joseph and Mary. What a name.
I loved it. Steinbeck had a great sense of humour. His fun stories are so much better than the mythical ones, like e.g. East of Eden or Burning Bright. Yes, he dropped a bit in productivity and creativity in his last 2 decades.
Not quite surprisingly then, part of the 'plot' of 'CRII' is a writer's block of the main hero, Doc. (Whose real life model had by then died in a car accident, by the way!)
I would agree that the story drops off speed a bit in the last quarter, since the pedictable outcome takes a little long in coming together.
One more thought: is there any other Murakami fan (like me) around here? Don't you agree that the seer in the chapter about the hole in reality could have walked straight into a Murakami story 40 years later? (Maybe it is time to relate Murakami more to Steinbeck than to Kafka!!)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: not a worthy sequel to cannery row.
Review: this is not a worthy sequel to cannery row, which is about as wonderful a book as any american has produced. sweet thursday itself rises not much above the level of a tv sitcom. prostitution here is treated like a warm, light-hearted profession, pure television sitcom hooey. i wish mr steinbeck had let cannery row stand on its own; for, while sweet thurday is an okay light read, it adds nothing to, and can only diminish the pleasures stored in one's memory of the classic original story. don't miss out on cannery row, or tortilla flat (another classic in the same vein), but feel free to skip sweet thurday, which is pure fluff compared to those two wonderful works. this book was a steinbeck mistake. i guess we all make them.