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A review by aritacb
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Surprisingly, this wasn’t boring like I assumed it would be. I can’t lie and say that I didn’t like the story but for this to be such a small book, a huge chunk of it contained racist, abeist, and sexist language. This is book to be taken with a grain of salt because the setting and time it was written obviously had a huge influence on the book.
Steinbeck’s storytelling and use of imagery really drew me in but I hated how the characters who were minorities (autistic man, crippled black man, woman, disabled elderly man) who were in some way dehumanized by the other characters - all of whom were physically capable, neurotypical white men. There were moments that Steinbeck brought humanity to the dehumanized characters but to me it just wasn’t fleshed out enough. The main themes of the book could have hit home more if the story had been longer - maybe more indepth backstories to the different characters, how they are viewed by others and more insight to their individual struggles. Those things were touched on but felt so brief for it to have made more of an impact. The humanization of those characters wasn’t emphasized enough, so the derogatory remarks seem more prevalent. Thus, people who hate this book see it as purely discriminatory.
I get why this won a prize; the storytelling was engaging and the plot was poignant but I’m
not crazy on how American literature like this one slings around slurs or depicts specific people groups. I do feel like this book could have been more subversive for it’s time though if Steinbeck had approached the characters differently. Without the rampant use of discriminatory language or the way he conveyed some of the characters (especially Lennie), they could have been understood instead of viewed as inferior.
This is good if you’re trying to read more classics and don’t want anything daunting in verbiage or length. To say this is enjoyable is subjective though because of the controversial content.
Steinbeck’s storytelling and use of imagery really drew me in but I hated how the characters who were minorities (autistic man, crippled black man, woman, disabled elderly man) who were in some way dehumanized by the other characters - all of whom were physically capable, neurotypical white men. There were moments that Steinbeck brought humanity to the dehumanized characters but to me it just wasn’t fleshed out enough. The main themes of the book could have hit home more if the story had been longer - maybe more indepth backstories to the different characters, how they are viewed by others and more insight to their individual struggles. Those things were touched on but felt so brief for it to have made more of an impact. The humanization of those characters wasn’t emphasized enough, so the derogatory remarks seem more prevalent. Thus, people who hate this book see it as purely discriminatory.
I get why this won a prize; the storytelling was engaging and the plot was poignant but I’m
not crazy on how American literature like this one slings around slurs or depicts specific people groups. I do feel like this book could have been more subversive for it’s time though if Steinbeck had approached the characters differently. Without the rampant use of discriminatory language or the way he conveyed some of the characters (especially Lennie), they could have been understood instead of viewed as inferior.
This is good if you’re trying to read more classics and don’t want anything daunting in verbiage or length. To say this is enjoyable is subjective though because of the controversial content.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Animal death, and Violence