Paperback, 107 pages
English language
Published Aug. 6, 1994 by Penguin Books.
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States. Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager in the 1910s (before the arrival of the Okies that he would describe in The Grapes of Wrath). The title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which reads: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley". (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.) While it is a book taught in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity, and what some consider offensive and …
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States. Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager in the 1910s (before the arrival of the Okies that he would describe in The Grapes of Wrath). The title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which reads: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley". (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.) While it is a book taught in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity, and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century.
Beautifully written, I appreciate how much Steinbeck does with this slim volume. It's not a fun read, but a compelling one, I keep thinking about it, and that's my true test of a great work.
Honestly a perfect book. There's nothing I could say about it that hasn't already been said. Just a masterpiece of twentieth century fiction from one of the greatest to do it. I'm so glad I was never assigned this book in school because I'm sure I would not have been able to relate to it. As an adult with real life experiences, I can say this is one of the most heartbreaking books I've ever read.
I often wonder why complicated stories like this are suggested as required reading in high school. When I read this as a teenager, I really didn't care for it. It seemed boring to me because I couldn't relate.
Now, 25 years on, I can appreciate it more. I think it's impossible for a teenager to imagine the hardships you might experience in life and what it can mean to cling desperately to a hope for happiness and have that dream torn away from you through something that is no fault of your own.
What really stood out to me this time through were:
1. The portrayal of Crooks as a person with depth and not just a two-dimensional stereotype, given the original publish date.
2. The clever foreshadowing with Candy's dog. The mention of Lennie's previous problems and his issues with small animals was, I guess, foreshadowing, but it was …
I often wonder why complicated stories like this are suggested as required reading in high school. When I read this as a teenager, I really didn't care for it. It seemed boring to me because I couldn't relate.
Now, 25 years on, I can appreciate it more. I think it's impossible for a teenager to imagine the hardships you might experience in life and what it can mean to cling desperately to a hope for happiness and have that dream torn away from you through something that is no fault of your own.
What really stood out to me this time through were:
1. The portrayal of Crooks as a person with depth and not just a two-dimensional stereotype, given the original publish date.
2. The clever foreshadowing with Candy's dog. The mention of Lennie's previous problems and his issues with small animals was, I guess, foreshadowing, but it was heavy-handed. You really shouldn't have gotten past the first 50 pages without knowing how this book was going to end.
3. I wondered how many people wound up as itinerant laborers like George, Lennie, Candy, and the rest of the bunch. The story was written during the 1930s Great Depression years. I really should read more about that period.
Okay, so this book was a two-sided coin:
First, I thought that it had some of the best writing I've seen. Really excellent characterization, foreshadowing, and plot development. It's also pretty short; I read it in 1-2 hours.
On the other hand, it's got one of the saddest endings I've ever seen. Read at your own risk.
Overall, I thought it was very worth the read.
This book remains amazing and awful. There are brief moments of beauty amidst a general slide into depression and the sense that life can never contain more than fleeting moments of joy amidst a deluge of piercing sorrows.
A awesome, heartbreaking, and terrible book. The structure is brilliant, showing the hopelessness of the common labourer in rural America in the first half of the 20th century. The characters of George and Lennie are iconic, and the tragedy at the end of the novel genuinely made my heart ache for these characters and the loss of their dreams.
At the same time the novel is also a candid depiction of the horrific sexism that was the core of Steinbeck's world - and arguably his worldview. The sole female character is also the only character not given a name, and is described positively only once - after she is dead. What is worse, in my opinion, is that throughout the book she is called a tramp and a tart, and the few nice things said about her are also dragged through the mud eventually, as her killing is what finally …
A awesome, heartbreaking, and terrible book. The structure is brilliant, showing the hopelessness of the common labourer in rural America in the first half of the 20th century. The characters of George and Lennie are iconic, and the tragedy at the end of the novel genuinely made my heart ache for these characters and the loss of their dreams.
At the same time the novel is also a candid depiction of the horrific sexism that was the core of Steinbeck's world - and arguably his worldview. The sole female character is also the only character not given a name, and is described positively only once - after she is dead. What is worse, in my opinion, is that throughout the book she is called a tramp and a tart, and the few nice things said about her are also dragged through the mud eventually, as her killing is what finally destroys the dreams and illusions of the losers working on the ranch, and Candy curses her dead body for destroying them all.
4.5 stars
