Powerful and affecting

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	• Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition) John Steinbeck Penguin, 2002 - 112 pages average customer review:based on 1098 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

9th grader

Look, I know people love this book. "It brilliantly captures the working man's life during the great depression....vivid pictures of the surroundings...one of the best things you will ever read..." and so forth.

I didn't hate this book. It does tell a good story, and the overall feeling fo the novel is one I enjoy. I like some of the characters, Crooks is a particular favorite.

I just don't find Steinbeck to be a very good writer. Obviously he can weave a good tale, and he sets the mood well, but his descriptions are bland and unnecessary. He does exactly what one is not supposed to do when writing: he tells, he does not shoe. I don't need to know that the tar bucket hanging from the wall has a wrinkled old rag dangling out of it. The amount of flies buzzing through the air has no bearing on anything, and serves only to fill the otherwise descriptionless pages.

Each chapter follows the same style. There is that needless and boring description, followed by an introduction to a character. Usually these characters are doing something iconic or performing an act that defines them. Whether it be solitaire, reading or petting mice until they die, there is an overly symbolic paragraph about each character.

Then comes the dialogue. There is much of it, and it pretty much fills all those 108(?) pages. The novel is written more like a play, with each character taking turns to speak and then listening patiently and apparantly thoughtlessly. You never get to see inside these characters heads. They simply speak and sit around. There are only faint allusions to the actual work that they do.

But hey, this book is a classic, and all the intelligent people love it. Maybe it is cool to praise it beyond its merits, because look, it says Steinbeck on the cover. I want to fit in. I want to be considered educated. Let me try to slurp Steinbeck a little:

This book creates a breathtaking backdrop of loneliness and hopefulness. The painstakingly detailed bunkhouse serves as metaphor for the isolation that these poor working men faced. As the characters fight to survive in a world of hardship and hard labor, they learn that friends are more important then money, and that dreams make life worth living. One of the top 3 books I have ever read.

That was difficult. Now I am simply a mindless drone, a sheep following the crowd. At least I fit in with the intelligent people. Maybe I should go reread THE SUN ALSO RISES. Another timeless classic, right

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Excellent!!!

This book is one of the best books that I have ever read. It had plenty of humor and plenty of good lessons that one can use for the rest of their life. Steinbeck did an excellent job. I recommend this to anyone that wants to enjoy a good book.

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GREAT BOOK!!

The story "Of Mice And Men" was an awsome book because it was very funny and interesting. One of the funniest parts of the book was when lennie asked for catchup with his beans. I thought the ending was not very good but other than that it was great.

I loved this book.

I read it in the 9th grade which was about two or three years ago. I loved it. I thought it very well written. I love George and Lennie. I love George's hate/love relationship with Lennie, and how he takes care of him and look out for him even though Lennie gets him into a lot of trouble. I loved the ending and how Lennie was thinking of the farm that George and him have dreamed about. I cried at the end of the story it was so amazing yet terribly sad. You really connect with how the characters feel at or by the end of the novel.

thank you for your time,
Loran

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Powerful and affecting

I'm not a big fan of sentimental moments and happy endings, which is one of the reasons I like 'Of Mice and Men' so much. It's a tragedy, a bleak one at that, but it's also a deeply affecting novel that will stay with you long after you've read it.

This is a short but powerful novel about lonely people, desperately clinging to their dreams, even if they know deep down that they will never come true. Without dreams, they have nothing. The novel speaks to the emptiness that people feel in the absence of genuine friendship and how people will settle for whatever human companionship they find in order to fill the void.

In 'Of Mice and Men' Steinbeck has given us some of the most memorable characters in modern literature. The novel is deeply affecting without being overwrought or overly sentimental. Virtually all of the characters are lonely and desperate for companionship, but even so, given the opportunity they will seek out those who are lonelier or weaker than themselves and torment them as much as possible.

The foreshadowing that Steinbeck uses is very efective in the novel. The difficult decision that George must make at the end of the novel is similar to a choice that Candy is unable to make earlier, a decision the old man later regrets.

'Of Mice and Men' may not be the "feel good novel of the year" (of any year) but it is an extraordinary piece of fiction and one of the best novels of the 20th century. I highly recommend this novel (unless you're a sucker for happy endings).

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