Of Mice and Men (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression
"A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." —The New York Times
John Steinbeck's classic novella follows an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet together they have formed a family, clinging to each other in the face of loneliness, and alienation, and hardship.
Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
"A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick." —The New York Times
John Steinbeck's classic novella follows an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet together they have formed a family, clinging to each other in the face of loneliness, and alienation, and hardship.
Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
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Readers say *Of Mice and Men* remains a powerful, well-written classic with vivid characters and engaging storytelling. Many admire its exploration of...
Of Mice and Men haunts me more than almost everything else I have ever read (and I have read a lot). Perhaps it was relating to the characters as outsiders, perhaps it was the way that Steinbeck just tore out my heart by somehow drawing out every ounce of empathy in my being. The straight-forward narrative was, at times, brutal. It was for this reason that I gave it four stars, rather than five, because it occasionally distracted me from the story because I had to sit back and recover. Nonetheless, I would heartily recommend this as a fine piece of literature that captures a place and time, and certainly a difficult situation. Recommended!
This was a reread as I read this in high school. This was one of my favorite books in high school and this reread proved that nothing changed. George did his best to take care of Lennie, up until the very end. Lennie couldn’t control his impulses and she didn’t give him a chance.
In my opinion, she brought this on herself. I don’t think Lennie should take any blame as he asked her to leave him alone several times and she refused. She pushed him to touch her. Yes, she had the right to change her mind and the right to say no whenever she chose, but he also had the right to say no, and he did, but she didn’t listen. She opened Pandora’s box and couldn’t close it back.
George did the right thing. He allowed Lennie to go in peace and by someone he loved and trusted. Someone who had his best interest at heart.
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