Of Mice and Men

Rating:
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.


Rating:
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.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best book I have read.
Review: Overall, John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is really a good book. Even though it's rather short, it
delivers its message quite well. The book opens with George and Lennie near the Salinas River
south of Soledad, California. Lennie is a big, loveable guy who isn't very smart, but is easily
pleased. Lennie loves to stroke soft things, and has a mouse in his hands that he accidentally
killed by petting it too hard. Lennie's portrayal is extremely sympathetic and sentimental, but I

couldn't help but like him, regardless of his flaws. George is the little man behind Lennie; he acts
as the big man's brain in guiding him and keeping him out of trouble. We all has someone like
George to keep us out trouble from time to time. The two travel and work together and have a
friendship unlike anything most other characters in the novel have ever experienced. The book
really got me to feel like I knew the characters, especially Lennie, and you begin to feel like your
in the story with the characters. The underlying theme of man's innate loneliness and his need for
companionship is a bit dark and pessimistic for my taste, but is delivered tactfully with the
repeated story of George and Lennie's farm where Lennie will be able to tend rabbits while the
two live off the fatta the lan' offers hope so the book can be easily stomached by someone with a
more optimistic worldview. I do have to say this is one of the best book I have read. All things
considered, I would definitely recommend this book for everyone to read; the ideas behind it
should be considered by all.

Rating:
Summary: Of Mice and Men
Review: A perfect example of John Steinbeck's skills as a writer. In only a little over hundred pages, John Steinbeck quickly sets up a storyline and relantionship that comes to a heart-cutting conclusion that gets you far deepr and sharper then most novels that'd need hundreds of pages just to delude its characters that'd you'd feel as much for as Lennie and George, this novel's two main protagonists.

In a short summary George and Lennie are simply two rootless drifters-for-sale who go around and pretty much take up any job available. george is "small and quick and dark of face" while Lennie is a disturbingly large and powerful giant with a mentally stunted child's mind. Lennie and George are very much outcasts from society, but when it comes to George, such a rootless life is of his emotional chaining to the Lennie whom he knows that he cannot leave behind. George stresses to Lennie that, if it wasn't for him, he could live an easy, comfortable lif, complete with a woman. But he knows however, that he cannot leave Lennie behind, this great man-child.

this relationship, based on both George's disdain and regret for having to pur down his chances for an easy life to help guide and protect Lennie and his own love for this great giant, not to mention their dreams of someday having their land, a place to call their own, is central and integral to story. Not much needs to be said here, but I'll just leave it at that thi book's ending could quite possibly end up being the most emotionally quick, sharp, andpuncturing ending in all fo the history of literature. And only a great writer like John Steinbeck could possibly ascend to the demands of such a great task.

Anyhow, it comes down to this simple message; buy, read, and watch your eyes get teary.

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: Jarred
Review: Before i read this book my teacher told me that this book was on the great depression. Steinbeck described how hard it was to work then and find money,but if anyone picked up this book and read it. they would think it had nothing to do with the great depression.
I thought that the charicters were so realistic. I say that because the relationship between george and lennie was so strong.
It is a good book to read because it tells a story of the two boys trying to find work.

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Summary: Nathan The real book review
Review: Book Review

Join stein beck did a very good job on recreating the conditions that migrant workers went through. I believe that because the characters had to live in a little shack with bunks to live in. They were also really poor. They also had really bad clothing and they did not have any money. They also did not have any manners.

Stein beck characters were believable because they talked a lot like there wasn't any law. They were also poor like in the old days because there wasn't a lot of money and most people had to work. But they did not work at all. People like curly felt like they own every thing and every body. And that they owned lots of land. There were people like George who looked after people and who cared. He also liked to work and also to get lots of money. He also wanted to be rich someday.

Of Mice and Men is a good book for younger people because it teaches them the right thing about life and the way other people do things. It also tells how people were not as mannered as there were in the 1930's but knows. Some people are mannered. This story is racism because crook is black and none of the other guys will let him play because he is black. This social issues that it speaks for is racism because there are black people and the white people treat them different. Candy won't let crook play cards with them or he won't let him play horseshoes either. It also teaches that people don't treat other people with respect. They are just mean to people and don't think about other people's feeling.
believable because they talked a lot like there wasn't any law. They were also poor like in the old peopele.

Rating:
Summary: Of Mice and Men
Review: Companionship is a bond between two people who share the same interests and help each other through struggles. In the book Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck talks about the friendship between two migrant workers, George and Lennie. George is a small, wiry man that cared a lot about Lennie. He is usually the one to make the decisions and plans for their future. In contrast, Lennie is large in size, lumbering, and he has a childlike mind. Lennie¡¦s mental disabilities allow him to completely depend upon George for guidance and protection.

Both George and Lennie shared a common dream. Their dream is to earn money to buy a farm of their own where no one ever reaches. To make this a reality, they found a job at a ranch. At the ranch, George and Lennie encounter many challenges, and they also undergo many struggles to attain their idealistic dream. The author concludes this novel with a very shocking and unexpected ending.

This is a great novel to read. It is a short and entertaining novel that captures the reader's interest. It moves in a fast pace with many excellent descriptions in every scene. The novel was so well written that I was immersed into it. The author explorers the brotherhood in humans, strengths and weaknesses, and the dream we all possess. Steinbeck clearly illustrated the impossibility to achieve happiness and freedom - the American Dream, and I definitely can relate the themes to my daily life. I strongly recommend this story because it brings laugher, excitement, and tears, and it is a classic you don't want to miss.

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Summary: The Good and Bad of Of Mice And Men...Part 2
Review: Continuing on from my last review...
Personally, I'm glad that my English teacher (thanks Ms. Farvour)made us read Of Mice And Men because it taught me, and probably my fellow students, about what life was like sixty, seventy years ago, and what people had to go through just to get and maintain and job, if they could even get one. I think that Steinback does a nice job of writing about how life wasn't only hard for white Americans, but also how life was difficult for African Americans. Racism...you've probably heard the word before, but, unless you've even experienced it, you don't really know what it is...well...John writes about it in this book, and I'm glad he did. Steinbeck describes (not always in a nice manner...if you know what I mean...language)what kind of abuse, both verbally and physically, Crooks (the African American "stable buck") is put through, and, although it was kind of hard to read sometimes, he wrote about the truth. Racism has been, and still is a major problem in America, and it is still a humungous (don't mind my spelling of that word) Social Issue.
Well...all in all, as if I haven't said this enough, I think that author John Steinbeck wrote a good good book, and I encourage you to, at one point or another in your life, pick up this book and read it. It may not involve alot of action, or adventure, or mystery, but, it does involve reality, and it well teach you alot about history.

Sincerley Always,
Elizabeth H.

Rating:
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.