Of Mice and Men

Pro's: (1) inexpensive; (2) very clear, beautifully framed writing; (3) centered on Alienation and the death of the American Dream.Con's: (1) Uses the n-word several times, hence may not be "usable" in a high school curriculum; (2) part of alienation story is alienation from women, which some readers may find unacceptable in today's culture. This alienation is one of the central themes of the story, however.Consider modern American political alienation against this quote (p. 71): "The thing is, they're talking, or the settin' still and not talkin'. It don't make no difference, no difference."

I just had to have this book. Read it in high school about 45 years ago. Enjoyed it just as much now.

As someone well into their senior years I have been a voracious reader all my life and I decided to reread some of the old classics I had read in high school and college. One of these books includes “Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck” that I purchased on Amazon for a bargain price.Besides reading this 107-page paperback edition I also recall the movie made from this novel many years ago. This is, as many of John Steinbeck’s novels seem to be, is both tragic and depressing; however, this is about a novel about life, which has happiness, joy, and hope, but also sorrow, tragedy, and sadness.The is a story about two men, who are so opposite in many ways but find a strange kind of bond together. They work together as labors on California’s vegetable farms, hoping to someday have their own farm property. There are conflicts and issues as the story moves along. Unfortunately, without revealing too much of the story, things in the end do not end well.I never like to give away too much information when reviewing any novel because it spoils it for the reader, but if you are a fan of the many classic works of John Steinbeck you should check out this novel.Rating: 4 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Season of the warrior: A poetic tribute to warriors).

This review is a work in progress. I have the 1953 book with an introduction by Joseph Henry Jackson. I found the introduction by Mr. Jackson to be very instructive and enjoyable. However it may be for more a student than the casual reader.My book is from The Viking Press. It contains six short novels. They are mostly chronological in the order that John Steinbeck published them. The one exception is that the first short novel in the book is "Tortilla Flat". The second is "The Red Pony". These were composed, I think, in the opposite order. Mr. Jackson explains this. These are followed by "Of Mice and Men", "The Moon Is Down", "Cannery Row", and "The Pearl".I read "The Red Pony First". There is a lot in "The Red Pony" which reminds me "Of Mice and Men". It is episodic. The first episode is "The Gift", which is about a child Jody, and his pony. It is beautiful, poignant, and ultimately painful. The second episode is "The Great Mountains". It actually is about a visitor to the same ranch that is the setting for first story. Jody and his family are in this story, along with an elderly visitor. The next episode is "The Promise" which is, more or less, a sequel to the first story. It is somewhat painful. The last episode is "The Leader of The People" which is a bittersweet story about a senior citizen member of the same family at the ranch. It is my personal favorite episode.I completely enjoyed this novella "Of Mice And Men". It is a relatively short work. It was written in 1937, before The Grapes of Wrath. I had previously read The Grapes of Wrath. I enjoyed this book more. I have very little formal education in regard to literature. So my opinion may be very faulty. Anyway, I felt this work was a more artistic work than The Grapes of Wrath.This work reminded me more of Ermest Hemingway. I was very impressed. As is common with many shorter works, the author leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The reader is left to speculate why certain issues develope and are resolved in certain manners. I felt all the aspects of the relationship between George and Lenny were slightly unclear. The book ended with me wishing I knew more about George. My guess is that is intentional on the part of Mr. Steinbeck.I would like to note that I purchased this "Of Mice and Men" on Kindle and at the same time purchased the audiobook narrated by Gary Sinise. I felt Mr. Sinise was really excellent and I highly recommend the audiobook version as read by Mr. Sinise. Mr. Sinise really added to the pleasure of the reading experience with his very professional performance.

I’ve read this book several times and just love it. This time I bought it for my nephew and will discuss it with him.

My son in 9th has to read this book. A true classic