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.