Review by joxnerd - Of Mice and Men

joxnerd 's review for:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

4.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

While this book is - just like many classics - a product of its time, I found myself able to put that aside and still enjoy it greatly for what it was. Not only is it one of the best classics I’ve ever read, not only is it one of the only classics I would genuinely reread, it is also the ONLY classic that has made me cry. And I mean, like, I almost started bawling.

I don’t even know what else to say. While George certainly doesn’t treat Lennie the best, I found their friendship sweet,

and him having to kill Lennie at the end was tragic. Even though there was foreshadowing to it, it still took me by surprise and I had to keep reading until the deed was done. I feel like the last couple of lines could have been stronger, but I still think this was such a painful and fitting ending.

I always find it so fascinating how people can have such differerent viewpoints when it comes to something they’ve read. For many, this was probably just a boring old classic filled with typical racism and misogyny. But for me, for whatever reason, it was like Steinbeck had personally ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it.

“The Pearl” was another classic from him that I liked a fair amount, so it seems like there’s something about Steinbeck’s writing that really clicks with me. Another classic I really enjoyed was “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” but it seems that it has now been usurped from it’s number one spot, solely because of the emotional response that “Of Mice and Men” gave me.

Gorgeous, gorgeous book. I recognize that “Of Mice and Men” might not hit for everybody, and for many it was probably just a book they were required to read for their high school english class, but the concepts and ideas tackled within the novel, such as the American Dream, really resonated with me. I feel that there are ideas contained within this novel that are still applicable to modern day.

I probably read this novel in a little over an hour, expecting to just view it as a quick classic I was able to force my way through that I really didn’t care for, but OH MAN is this novel going to stick with me for a long time.

A long, long time.

And if I’m being honest, it might be higher than 4 stars.

Content Warnings