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Summary: It's a book that really makes you value what you have.
Review: I think the views' that Mr. Steinbeck does show in this book are very much thought provoking and intrigueing. It really makes you value what you do have in life. It is a wonderful book and should be read by everyone.
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Summary: A great book.
Review: This book was the definite favorite of all the required reading books at our school. Most of our class liked it better than Jurassic Park. (That's really saying something when it's 9th graders reading it!)The story was one of the most touching plots I've ever read. Lennie can just break your heart. This book made me and everyone else think more than a freshman class normally would. How John Steinbeck could tell such a splendid and sad story in so few words (it's a small book; quick read) is beyond my abilities.The end makes you wonder: Could I do what George did? The questions of friendship and loyalty are important ones for everyone to answer at sometime, although many of us would prefer not to have to answer them the way George does. I recommend
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Summary: Of Mice and Men Review
Review: Of Mice and Men is a story about a man named George and his mentally disabled friend Lennie. Lennie gets into trouble because he loves to pet soft things, but he doesn't know his own strength, and George has to bail him out all the time. Lennie causes harm but he honestly and truly doesn't mean to harm anything, but in the end it costs him a lot.
I can relate to George in a way. I have had to resume responsibility for a family member. She was younger than me, and we were close, so I felt like I had a responsibility to act in her best interest. This is the same way George feels about Lennie. He feels responsible for Lennie's actions.
What I like most about this book is how there are different types of conflicts. For instance, Crooks had conflicts with the other men because he was black; meanwhile, George has conflicts with himself; he was faced with different problems that only he can solve. For instance, he has to decide for himself how to deal with Lennie. No one can help George with Lennie because they don't know how to handle Lennie. They don't understand him like George. If I could change something about this book I would add more details when major things are happening. For example, I would add more details to the incident that happened with Curley's wife. The author says "she struggled violently under his hands. I would have used a metaphor like, "she struggled like a mouse trying to escape the grasp of a lion" to make the piece more colorful and exciting. I would have used more similes and metaphors to make it more visual and powerful.
I recommend people read this book. It has a lot of good conflicts, foreshadowing, and morals. If you are a person who likes stories about friendships, dilemmas, and morals, you will like Of Mice and Men.
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Summary: Read It Again and Again
Review: We all read this one in high school, but it is one of those gems that you simply must read again and again. Great story and a great story teller.
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Summary: A compelling parable of the poor and deprived
Review: George and Lennie, poor wretches traveling the country in search of work, dream of owning their own piece of land, their own piece of liberty. Never having to depend on someone else, never having to listen to what their bosses tell them to do, seems to be their ultimate goal. It all seems unachievable when they start to beg for work on yet another ranch in California. But then suddenly it all seems like a miracle is about to happen. In the face of their final redemption, they cannot help but start to plan their new life. But if they do not watch out, they might get in trouble again. Serious trouble.
Like his other works John Steinbeck gives in Of Mice and Men voice to the lonely and deprived people struggling to survive in the American society at the time of the Great Depression. Although the setting of the story is quite sober and the characters do not have a lot of room to develop within the few pages this novella counts, the message is all the more convincing. The strong friendship between two men, linked together by fate, is heart-warming and honest, which contrasts even more with the violence of their surroundings. The controversial conclusion of the book reads almost as an invitation to reflect upon the true values of life.
Is this book a historical illustration of the past (Great Depression) or a prophetical vision of the future? Many different opinions can be voiced, but isn't the American Dream still floating through our lives? Maybe our modern world is full of people like George and Lennie?
The kind of critique voiced by Steinbeck is not always well received in the land of the Brave and the Free. It is quite sad that even today this book is banned from some schools and public libraries in America.
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Summary: Steinbeck is a national treasure--treasure this book
Review: Steinbeck was known for writing thick books, however, Of Mice and Men was one of the thinnest of his great works and one of the best. An unlikely friendship between two men, a small, intelligent man and a powerfully built mentally handicapped man sets the scene for a drama that includes several conflicts: man against man, especially as the two friends find themselves unaccepted by the society they live in from day to day & man against himself. The story is fast paced and filled with physical and emotional details that allow you to see why the story ended so dramatically. I think the ending is one of the most poignant parts of the book. Also recommended: Grapes of Wrath and The Children's Corner by Jackson McCrae.
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Summary: A Short But Great American Masterpiece
Review:
The story starts with George and Lennie running away from their previous town of occupation, where Lennie, in his childlike manner, wants to touch a girl's red dress but doesn't let go, resulting in shouts of rape, mass chaos, and the pair of them getting chased out of town (you don't learn all this immediately, though.) They find work at a nearby ranch, which is where most of the story takes place.
One of the things that immediately stuck out to me about this book is Steinbeck's writing style. Heavily focused on dialogue, the overall terseness and efficient use of words is only interrupted occasionally when Steinbeck describes a new scene, where he goes into great detail. Otherwise, all you see on paper is exactly what you need to understand the story; this prevents it from dragging too much, and it allows the story to progress more quickly without spending forever on the same topic. This results in a natural flow of events that won't leave you reading the same thing re-stated 10 times; as a result, you'll want to read more because you know good things are always around the turn of the page. To almost put it in a blatantly simple manner, this reads like a very complex bedtime story.
Probably the thing that sticks out most to me is the incredibly well portrayed characters. Steinbeck takes a very Hemingway-like approach in both quantity and quality of characters; he keeps the book very condensed in terms of plots, sub-plots, complex characters, etc ...(it's barely 100 pages), which means you won't be scratching your head after every chapter going, "What on earth just happened?" It's a testament to his writing style that each character is so individually portrayed in a span of barely 100 pages, yet I didn't feel like anything was missing; I could visualize every one of the characters in real life. He does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters simply through what they say, not having to rely on superfluous dialogue or extraneous details to get their personalities across.
Finally, the ending of Of Mice and Men is very powerful. It illustrates a theme that must have been particularly prevalent in them minds of most people during the Great Depression: "When do we draw the line on tolerance and do what has to be done?" Although the entire book is impressive in its lucidity, the ending is particularly impressive because it brings extreme tragedy to the novel without a change in style; it's perfectly believable, yet not something you really want to believe. Part of it is due to the memorable characters (I assure you you won't forget Lennie after the ending of the book), part of it is just Steinbeck's genius. Pick up a copy of this classic book! Another novel I need to recommend -- completely unrelated to Steinbeck, but very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
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Summary: Only the strong survive
Review: Much of John Steinbeck's fiction is set in the region where he was born and grew up, Salinas. Published in 1937, "Of Mice and Men" was the previous work before his Pulitzer Winner "The Grapes of Wrath". Set in Salinas, the novella is set against the backdrop of Depression-era America. The main characters, Lennie and George, are workers victimized by social and economical conditions of the period.
Steinbeck's works always received mixed reviews. He was hailed and the best writer of the 30s and 40s and received a Nobel Prize in 1962, but his critics say that his writings were superficial, sentimental, and overly moralistic. When it comes to "Of Mice and Men", many say that the narrative suffers from one-dimensional characters besides the extremely deterministic plot - that in the end its lesson turns out to be more important than the characters. Despite all these drawbacks, "Of Mice and Men" is still a minor masterpiece from one of the best North-American writers.
The predatory human nature is what feeds the pages of this book. Existentialism is the subtext when the all the characters struggle to survive in a inhospitable environment. Almost every characters admit at one point having had a profound sense of isolation and loneliness .By stating this, the writer proves that being powerful in eventual and dependable. Some characters are stronger than others most of the time, and the strength depends on to whom it is aimed. "Of mice and men" suggests that the most powerful kind of strength comes from the other's weakness.
Another strong point raised by Steinbeck is the impossibility of the American Dream. Every character in the book dreams of a different life. They want the freedom to follow their own desires. The two main characters dream of owning a farm, that would enable them to sustain themselves and would protect them from the inhospitable world.
To prove his point, the writer uses many symbols, most of them related to animals, like the mice that Lennie insists to keep. But the animals are always weaker than men. The puppies, for instance, represents the idea that only the stronger survives - in this case men.
But in the end, dreams have fallen apart. The characters are different and are supposed to have realized that dreams only exist in another sphere. In the real world there is no place for them. This is the same thematic that Steinbeck would bring in many of his novels, like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "East of Eden". "Of Mice and Men" is a short book and a relatively easy reading, but very rewarding.
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Summary: Compelling
Review: Of Mice and men is one of the most beautiful stories about friendship. The story is about two Americans. The thoughts and actions of the two southern are made open for the reader to enjoy and judge.The favorite character in the book is Lenny. He came out in the story as and was innocent person with a mental defect. It reminded me somehow of Dostoyevsky's THE IDIOT. The amazing thing about this book is that not a lot of books are based on such unique characters. Another attractive aspect of Lenny is his physical strength and hardworking nature. Yet, despite his meek nature, he was dangerous in the sense that he even killed a woman out of fear. Steinbeck successfully created a philosophical twist to life through this story by bringing to life strong but vulnerable characters that we all can relate to. Also recommended is DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE
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Summary: Of Mice and Men Review
Review: Of Mice and Men was a really good novel. The author did a great job. I think the author's purpose for writing this book was to point out that even though you love someone so much, when they do something wrong it is still wrong. You just have to make the decision. I agree with this message because it can pertain to anyone. From friends, to family and relationships, this message is understandable and in people's lives more than you know it. I think the literary elements the author handles best are the characterization, and the conflict of man vs. man. The characters in the novel are so real and dramatic. The authorhas a great point-of-view, which is in 3rd person. By using a narrator, you can see everyone's thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on the situation throughout the novel. The genre chosen for this novel, to me, was drama. it is a very good genre because you want to know what is going to happen next. this book was like i said, really good, but it wasn't perfect. There were too many curse words and so much criticism that it was just kind of mean. Lenny and George are the main characters but I think the author should've explained the relationship between them better. He should have also pointed out George's point-of-view on the "sticky" situation a little more. Overall, this novel is great and everyone should get the chance to read it. For those reasons I give it 4 stars. Hey, it's a book to read and not forget, but too much reality for perfection.
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