'Of Mice and Men' a.k.a. anatomy of the chasms between the human soul and the human dream

books:


	• Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition) John Steinbeck Penguin, 2002 - 112 pages average customer review:based on 1092 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The hobo Philosopher

This book is another Steinbeck classic. I suppose to people who don't have experience with hard work and difficult times this book makes no sense. But it made a lot of sense to me. It is good dramatic history. I suppose some would consider Lenny a bit much - but I have personally met a million Lennys in my life, he presents no problem with me.
A good story on many levels - friendship, compassion, the real world, selfishness and greed, making a living in a tough world and society. I'm sure it will ring a bell with all the poor and struggling - but not to the fat, always had it easy crowd. Good book - buy it.

for more information click here

Create Your Own Review

Luke T. review of Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, March 17, 2008. This is a story about two completely different men who are as close as brothers. George is a small, wiry man who travels around from state to state working on different ranches, earning up some money. Once the work is done at one ranch, he moves onto another. Most of this story takes place on a ranch just a few miles south of Soledad, California. Lennie is the mentally challenged gentle giant who George looks after. George is a caring man, and promised Lennie's Aunt Clara that he would look after Lennie; so Lennie tags along with George and works very hard. While the two are working at this ranch near Soledad, disaster strikes. One day, Lennie was sitting in the barn playing with a new puppy he got, when the boss's son's wife came into the barn and started talking to Lennie. Lennie was in love with soft things, and when this girl mentioned how soft her hair was Lennie wanted to grab it, and he did. This sent the girl into a panic, and when she jerked away she broke her neck. Lennie got scared and ran away, but the girl's husband went after him. Lennie was killed because of his mistake. This book has a tragic ending, but it is a great story that shows how important friendship really is.

for more information click here

John Steinbeck May Be The Best Author Ever

Despite the length of this novel, it contains a powerful plot that will leave any reader heart-broken. The author describes the settings in such detail you can almost smell the alfalfa. As far as the plot goes, he leaves room for your imagination to fill in the blanks and gives the plot life through drama and issues that any worker would face during the early 1900s. Of mice and men, it is a must-read for any reading level.
The setting is based in the early 1900s, where Lennie and George, the two main characters, work for a new employer on a swamp. The author creates great detail not only through words, but also through the actions of other characters. For example, the author never once mentions Lennie's mental disability. Instead, he uses actions and dialogue to show that he is. John Steinbeck is a magnificent author, and he has my regards.

for more information click here

'Of Mice and Men' a.k.a. anatomy of the chasms between the human soul and the human dream

This may be the most rambly review here, but what I can say that I enjoyed this story. The title is borrowed from Robert Burns' most famous poem "To A Mouse", and has been alluded to so often in modern culture that it has completely become its own cliche. However, the novel uses this title for a good reason as it tells a story of two people, Lennie and George, who like the poem find that their hopes and dreams will never be realized due to their unforeseen but inevitable future reality. It is very much ahead of its time in depicting laborers at the absolute end of their rope, basically blowing through jobs so much so that they are stuck forever in neutral. If you think about it each character has his own crutch that stunts any growth and which makes each day feel the same, reminding me of Brick's literal crutch later depicted in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". For example George's crutch is Lenny, a man he so understands and yet so abhors that he goes into each job knowing Lenny's Tourette's like tics and tendencies to clutch things too hard will likely lead to early termination or worse, yet still knows that having Lenny around definitely beats being a nomad alone. Old Man Candy's crutch is old age, as he is someone whom is so disfigured and far gone that even the ownership of his dog is relinquished from him. After you think long and hard about each character, you understand why Steinbeck makes frequent references to animals, because symbolically that IS what all the main characters are to a large extent.

The depth of the characters are all fantastic for such a short story, which is amazing when you consider that there are only six chapters and six jumps of scenery/time. In many ways I think that is why a short story like this is more marketable as a book to teach in school than "Grapes of Wrath" which tells a more sweeping epic about a famous epoch in history. "Of Mice and Men" is easy to imagine, easy to understand contextually, and most importantly deep enough to require speculation about the true underpinnings of the dialogue and the behavior displayed. The dream that Lennie and George had of living of the land was to them almost like a daily vitamin that would get them through it. It would help Lenny believe in a better life, and it would help George feel better about himself for at least offering Lenny moments of peace dreaming about rabbits. I guess I'm different in that I feel that George made up this story and never believes in it ever, ever, EVER coming to fruition until old Candy eavesdrops and offers monetary backing to the dream. George almost uses the story to manipulate Lennie to stay with him and trust him, and in that way I see more ambivalence in his character than most.

Of course it is a tragedy, as Lennie relapses thrice (Curley's hand, Slim's pup, and Curley's wife) into what I can only describe as aggressive acts of non-malice. It seems that things that he likes he cares dearly for, he clutches too hard and in order to quiet down their pain from George he increases his vice grips to disfigure what he touches. After his last fatal encounter with Curly's sad wife, Lennie knows he did something wrong again and hides in the spot George tells him to, and has hallucinatory dreams condemning himself for negligence. Luckily he finds George and they both have a deja vu type moment of blissful ignorance before George does what is expected of him, which is to kill him for killing Curley's wife.

I guess Steinbeck's main point is to tell us to loook closer before making judgments on a person's character. If given a more isolated point of view, Lennie's character is vulgar and reprehensible. However, his behavior is a result not of personality but of psychological and mental retardation. Much like Candy's dog, who is innocently shot, Lennie is innocently shot because during the time period was a lot less acceptability to the mentally unstable. There simply wasn't enough of an objective back in the '30s to look deeper the inner thinkings of the retarded and regard acts of aggression as more than simple malice. George understands this, which is partly why he is morose all the time in defending Lennie. I also believe that Steinbeck makes sure to give George and Lennie a backstory to prove that George's intentions were mainly good, and that at the end George was giving Lennie as much mercy as possible without turning himself in as a murderer's accomplice. Very interesting for as little pages as it was.

for more information click here

Short, but (bitter)sweet

This was required school reading. It was probably the shortest book we had to read, but it was also my most favorite. The plot is simple, but the message is profound. It always somewhat depresses me just thinking about it. A must read for young and old alike.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

for more information click here

hot