Of Mice and Men

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Book
Review: John Steinbeck has long been among my favorite American authors. I have read "The Grapes of Wrath" and "In Dubious Battle," not to mention of course the book above, "Of Mice and Men." This last book, quite a short work, explores a brief period in the lives of two vagrant workers, looking for jobs in California. As the readers soon find, their home, the "land of the free," is not a paradise of simple people seeking even a decent wage to live by. "Of Mice and Men" illuminates the fundamentally brutal nature of American society during the despression, and the effects of this society on every day people, rich or poor. All of my friends in high school, even those who rarely read, loved this book. Anyone who reads this book is a different person afterwards, and I urge you to read it yourself.

Rating:
Summary: Of Mice and Men Book Review
Review: Of Mice and Men is a book that draws you into a world many people have yet to experience. This book takes place in the 1930's in southern California on a ranch where migrant workers
travel to in order to harvest wheat and then move on. George and Lennie are two of these workers and travel to ranches as a team. George takes care of Lennie and looks after him because Lennie suffers from mental disorders. They become best friends even though George believes life would be easier without Lennie. Tough choices have to be made in order to keep everyone safe and George has to decide what a true friend would do in circumstances no one would want to face. The story talks of unreachable dreams and aspirations, something we can all relate to. The ending of the story has a surprise twist to it that will make you think and cause you to reevaluate what a
true friend is.

Rating:
Summary: An Easy Classic
Review: Aside from its stature as a classic of American literature and a masterwork of one of the 20th century's most significant writers, there is a reason why OF MICE AND MEN is an ubiquitous part of high school literature courses. This novella follows the structure of Fiction Writing 101 perfectly: Characters are introduced in broad strokes and allowed to fill in their personalities on their own. There a completeness of scene, so much so that the story reads almost more like a play, with no action in any of the chapters taking place outside of the setting where the chapter began. (In one instance, the characters run off set, but the narrator leaves the reader's "camera" on an unpopulated stage while he describes voices and shouting outside.) Most of all, the story follows the perfect three-act structure so neatly that, in a 100-page copy, the characters are all introduced by about page 33, and the turning point happens almost precisely on page sixty-seven.

But if the mechanics of Steinbeck's storytelling make this perfect for eighth grade teachers looking to fill out a lesson plan, it's his story that has put it high on the list of Books Everyone Should Read. All of the characters are given a fair chance to be sympathetic. (Only one, the violent, jealous, bullying Curley fails to accomplish that, but he fails on his own terms, not because the author needs a cardboard heavy.) The most memorable, however, is Lennie, the hulking, gentle-natured behemoth with the mind of a child, a victim swept along towards his tragic end by ironic twists of fate he could never possibly hope to understand.

With characters this richly layered and one of the easiest storytelling styles Steinbeck would ever have, particularly in comparison to such later, more impressionistic masterpieces as THE GRAPES OF WRATH and EAST OF EDEN, it's not hard to see why OF MICE AND MEN is one of the rare examples of a novel written very much about its time that has nonetheless proven to be timeless.

Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly good!
Review: I HATED The Grapes of Wrath, so I thought that Of Mice and Men would just be another boring, overdescriptive Steinbeck book, but it wasn't! The plot was intruiging and the characters really drew me in and it wasn't over descriptive to the point of annoyance the The Grapes of Wrath. I thought that I hated John Steinbeck's writing style, but I guess it's just the style he used for The Grapes of Wrath because Of Mice and Men is not at all the same. It is 100 times better!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The book that made me an avid reader
Review: 602 reviews of this book have been written to day, with an average rating of 4.5 stars! What more needs to be said?

The story and popularity of this book are of course well known, so I will briefly tell you my Of Mice and Men story:

I was in grade eleven (but taking grade ten English), hated school, had loser "friends" who I studdornly refused to disassociate with despite the fact that I knew deep down they would ruin me, when we had to do a reading assignment for English class. Not wanting to be bothered by it all, I chose the shortest one that I could find: Of Mice and Men. My teacher tried to get me to read a longer book--why then was Of Mice and Men on the list then???--but I refused. Well, I read the book and loved it, loved it so much that I have been an avid reader ever since.

Rating:
Summary: Steinbeck on the Dream
Review: When you are feeling bad, Steinbeck is NOT the author to read. It really is a shame that most people don't read anything more of his than Grapes of Wrath (which is a great novel, don't get me wrong). This is an incredibly short read, hardly more then a short story, barely a novella, and yet it packs an emotional punch that only Steinbeck can manage. It's the story of George and Lennie, two down troden men in the California of the 30's. Like so many others, they dream of having a parcel of land for themselves. They're simple dream is really a desire to end the economic inequalities and maladies that plague their society. But when it comes down to it, Of Mice and Men is a a story of humanity, simple beautiful, brutal humanity. Lennie and George are shown the best and worst of man. They take part, in their morally ambigous way, in the good and ill of society. They are painfully sympathetic and you feel more emotional connected to them at the end of a short 120 pages then you would have thought possible. I implore everyone who reads to set aside an hour or two to read this powerful little book that will caused you to question all your previously held beliefs in regard to morality and humanity.

Rating:
Summary: OF MICE AND MEN
Review: An outstanding book. This book is a decent look at humanity. It is a simple explanation of human nature. All of these are descriptions of a novel I recently read by the name, "Of Mice and Men" by a well-known author John Steinbeck. I would rate this book 8 on a scale of 10 because I learned so much about the way we treat others and their reactions, told through a man who has had much experience with the subject. Lennie, a big dumb, jock, was born slow, mentaly incapable of reacting to daily life. After George, a caring yet riggid man befriends him early in child hood, the two become traveling partners and best buddies. George becomes weary of Lennie's childish ways and misachievous antics, which continually causes the pair trouble and forces them to skip around the country.
"That ranch we're goin' to is right down there about a quarter mile. We're gonna go in an' see the boss. Now, look-- I'll give him the work tickets, but you ain't gonna say a word. You jus' stand there and son't say nothing. If he finds out what a crazy ... you are, we won't get no job, but if he sees ya work before he hears ya talk we're set. Ya got that?"
This story is special because all aspects of diction, from all characters are described in simple English. The story had no useless vocabulary or pointless explaining, just a plain dexcription of the people. The story also uses vivid imagery when George tells Lennie about how they were going to own a ranch and Lennie can raise rabbits. Steinbeck reveals the simle truth about racism, dgradation, and jelousy. People in the book are struggling to overcome an obstacle that holds them back. At their final stop, they meet all types of people, which teach them about diversity and how to deal with it. The story's resolution reveals how humans deal with the sorrow of our society. The outcome may shock us, yet it seems just in it's own irony. I sincerely suggest this book to those looking to explore humanity and to those who would like to know what friendship and loyalty is and if you liked "To Kill a Mocking Bird" or "The Catcher in the Rye", you will like this book because I, Jamil Faruque a student of Falls Church HS, have read both of these books which shows similarities with "Of Mice and Men"

Rating:
Summary: Of mice and men
Review: Of mice and men is a good insight to life in america during the period when the 'americn dream' was still a major part of the average americans mind set. this story portrays two men, one of them a clever and responsible man george, the other is a mentally challenged but extremely powerful man, lennie. moving from farm to farm job to job because of lennie's uncontrollable actions, the only thing that keeps them going is their 'dream'. this book is quite a touching story of companionship and hope. it aslo brings in the many different types of people and how they cope living in the same confined space. but most of all the book showed me the responsibilities and actionsyou have to take to forfill these responsibilities. read it

Rating:
Summary: Of Mice Men
Review: The book, Of Mice and Men, is a book that had an involved story once you got involved with it. The style of writing was the hardest part to understand. It was told from the third person, but the speaking parts had very poor English, so it was hard to understand.
Lennie and George are the main characters of the book. Lennie is an extremely large man, but he is not to smart. George is a small man, but he is smart, so he watches out for Lennie.
The two man men are drifters. They travel around to different ranches. They work on them. The reason they keep moving is that trouble follows them wherever they go.
Over all, I think this book was a good story, a little hard to understand, but a good story. The only rough spot was the way the book was written. The language was very poor. It made the characters seem like they were really there and they lived at the time. So I have to recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: My Opinion of, Of Mice and Men
Review: "I seen hunderds [sp] of men come by on the road an' on the ranches, with their bindles on their back an' that same damn thing in their heads. They come, an' they quit an' go on; an' every damn one of 'em's got a little piece of land in his head. An' never a God damn one of 'em ever gets it. They're all the time talkin' about it, but it's jus' in their head."

Lennie and George are two laborers who work along the Californian ranches. They live their lives traveling to find work whenever and where they can. Lennie is a rather large man with enough strength to do hard work. Unfortunately, Lennie has a mental disability, denying him the privilege of having a higher intelligence than that of a child. George is Lennie's caretaker and best friend. George's characteristics are opposite of Lennie. He is intelligent and small. Like many laborers during that time, Lennie and George dream of owning their own piece of land. They plan to live life without a boss and make their own decisions. Lennie and George know this dream can come true, but a set of unfortunate events, characters, and Lennie's attraction to trouble begin to alter their dreams and future plans.
Throughout the novel, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck is able to depict many themes. The themes that are found include understanding disabilities, racism, loneliness, and segregation. Characters that are encountered in Of Mice and Men are creatively used as symbols to describe the themes.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys novels that provide good meaning and insight. I was highly entertained by the novel. Of Mice and Men is a remarkable and extraordinary book that allows you to look into different perspectives. Its story line is emotional and filled with suspense.