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reviewsmayvary's review
4.0
This is one of the saddest books schools make kids read. And for what!? I don't even remember the point of the lessons. I've read it a few times on my own. Still sad.
kellyhager's review
4.0
I'm probably the last person who hasn't read this, right? But in case you haven't read it either...
George and Lennie are...well, not best friends, exactly, but they've known each other forever. Lennie's a lot slower than most people (mentally) and he's also a lot bigger than most people. Add the two and it's sort of a bad situation waiting to happen. Lennie kills small animals all the time. Not on purpose, really, but he pets them and then they die. And because he likes to touch soft, pretty things he also tends to get in trouble because he will pet ladies and they don't like it very much. At all. So George and Lennie move from town to town pretty frequently. They're working their last job to save up so they can buy a place of their own (where Lennie can tend the rabbits) and...well, it goes about as well as you'd expect.
I'd never read this before, as I said, but after reading Gae Polisner's outstanding novel The Pull of Gravity, I knew I had to. Of Mice and Men is all over that novel, and now I want to re-read it so I can fully appreciate it.
This book is sweet and heartbreakingly sad. You know the whole way through that things won't go well for poor, sweet, dumb Lennie and I already knew the ending, but even so, I was hoping that things would go better. (Obviously, they did not.)
It also makes me so angry because everyone is so mean to Lennie because the general assumption is that because he's slow, he has no feelings. So, for example, a coworker of theirs will try to freak Lennie out ("You know George isn't coming back, right? He's totally going to ditch you. You know that, right?") because it's fun.
But mostly, just really sad. And the ending? Absolutely devastating.
George and Lennie are...well, not best friends, exactly, but they've known each other forever. Lennie's a lot slower than most people (mentally) and he's also a lot bigger than most people. Add the two and it's sort of a bad situation waiting to happen. Lennie kills small animals all the time. Not on purpose, really, but he pets them and then they die. And because he likes to touch soft, pretty things he also tends to get in trouble because he will pet ladies and they don't like it very much. At all. So George and Lennie move from town to town pretty frequently. They're working their last job to save up so they can buy a place of their own (where Lennie can tend the rabbits) and...well, it goes about as well as you'd expect.
I'd never read this before, as I said, but after reading Gae Polisner's outstanding novel The Pull of Gravity, I knew I had to. Of Mice and Men is all over that novel, and now I want to re-read it so I can fully appreciate it.
This book is sweet and heartbreakingly sad. You know the whole way through that things won't go well for poor, sweet, dumb Lennie and I already knew the ending, but even so, I was hoping that things would go better. (Obviously, they did not.)
It also makes me so angry because everyone is so mean to Lennie because the general assumption is that because he's slow, he has no feelings. So, for example, a coworker of theirs will try to freak Lennie out ("You know George isn't coming back, right? He's totally going to ditch you. You know that, right?") because it's fun.
But mostly, just really sad. And the ending? Absolutely devastating.
e_bibliophile's review
2.0
John Steinbeck
This is my first experience with [a:John Steinbeck|585|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1182118389p2/585.jpg] and it won't be the last. I heard his other books are better compared to [b:Of Mice and Men|899|Of Mice and Men|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347561180s/899.jpg|40283], like [b:East of Eden|13451667|East of Eden|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330959433s/13451667.jpg|2574991] for example. I'm not giving up on him yet.
It was a short read, could've finished it in a few hours if I wanted to. The writing style is so engaging so you'll find yourself easily absorbed in it. The story is very depressing so don't look for sunshine here. It's about two buddies who travelled south of Soledad, California; George and Lennie. They wander together looking for jobs in ranches, carrying their dreams of having their own place someday. I neither liked how predictable the story was nor how it ended.
The main female figure was portrayed in such a degrading manner. She's the source of all evilness. She's seductive and manipulative. She's so despicable that she'd frame men for rape if they tried to cross her. She's the villain even when she's a victim. She doesn't even have a name among all other male characters except for Curley's wife, tart, or tramp.
• George: A small guy. He's somehow responsible for Lennie. He (sort of) covers up Lennie's ass when the latter screws up which happens too often.
• Lennie: A large simpleton. He's a troublemaker by nature without even realizing what the hell is going on. He's obsessed with pets and petting.
Of Dogs and Men
Yes, dogs. Mice didn't get enough attention to have a spot in the title of this book. On the other hand, dogs kinda had.Even Lennie got the fate of Candy's old dog eventually .
The striking line is when Candy told George:
Consequently,Lennie was just a useless dog that needed to be put down in George's eyes, and for the sake of togetherness, he ought to put him down himself out of responsibility instead of the strangers in the ranch as if that would make a difference .. Such a hypocrite!
This is my first experience with [a:John Steinbeck|585|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1182118389p2/585.jpg] and it won't be the last. I heard his other books are better compared to [b:Of Mice and Men|899|Of Mice and Men|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347561180s/899.jpg|40283], like [b:East of Eden|13451667|East of Eden|John Steinbeck|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1330959433s/13451667.jpg|2574991] for example. I'm not giving up on him yet.
It was a short read, could've finished it in a few hours if I wanted to. The writing style is so engaging so you'll find yourself easily absorbed in it. The story is very depressing so don't look for sunshine here. It's about two buddies who travelled south of Soledad, California; George and Lennie. They wander together looking for jobs in ranches, carrying their dreams of having their own place someday. I neither liked how predictable the story was nor how it ended.
The main female figure was portrayed in such a degrading manner. She's the source of all evilness. She's seductive and manipulative. She's so despicable that she'd frame men for rape if they tried to cross her. She's the villain even when she's a victim. She doesn't even have a name among all other male characters except for Curley's wife, tart, or tramp.
• George: A small guy. He's somehow responsible for Lennie. He (sort of) covers up Lennie's ass when the latter screws up which happens too often.
• Lennie: A large simpleton. He's a troublemaker by nature without even realizing what the hell is going on. He's obsessed with pets and petting.
Of Dogs and Men
Yes, dogs. Mice didn't get enough attention to have a spot in the title of this book. On the other hand, dogs kinda had.
The striking line is when Candy told George:
“I shouldn’t ought to of let no stranger shoot my dog.”
Consequently,
lucyb's review
3.0
This has laconic, lyrical grace, and all the terrible inevitability of Greek tragedy. Poignant to me is that you can see the alternatives of hope and human grace as clearly as the approaching doom.
lavidaenquotes's review
4.0
“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.”
George and Lennie, our two protagonists, travel together wherever there's work to be had. Carrying only the clothes on their backs, they dream of someday owning their own piece of land. They guard their own American Dream in secret and with care, and thinking of it helps them get on moving forward and take the blows life deals them at every turn.
"Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world."
While George and Lennie have their dream and each other, the other workers in the ranch are less fortunate, and most of them seem to have given up on their own dreams long ago - if they ever dared to have some.
As much as George and Lennie try to keep theirs alive, they're forced to give it up and come to terms with the fact that some people aren't meant to see their dreams come true.
“I can still tend the rabbits, George? I didn't mean no harm, George.”
For such a short and seemingly simple story, Of Mice and Men covers quite a few themes in an efficient and powerful way. It has layers of meaning and I’m sure that, should I reread it in the future, I’d discover more. And that’s what impresses me the most, how much was said or left to interpret in such few pages.
emmaliiiiine's review
5.0
Wow. Great book. I listened to the audio, which was fabulous. I'd like to get a paper copy so I can read it through again. Got really choked up at the end.
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