Rating: 
Summary: Best book about friendship
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" by Richard Perez, an exceptional, highly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.
Rating:
Summary: Steinbeck, the American Author of the Depression
Review: This is a classic that has lasted through the years about the common fellow trying to reach for the American Dream. Steinbeck's style of writing uses a low-educated vernacular that really shows how the people struggle. The book is beautiful and bittersweet. In fact, it may just be bitter. There are humorous parts far and in between, but the basic plot is just sad. It is about two friends who are traveling to find a job. One is retarted, Lennie, and his friend George must take care of him. Lennie is stronger than he realizes and has a history of accidentally killing animals because he likes the way they feel soft but when he disciplines them for biting him, he ends up killing them. He carries around dead mice in his pockets, and George always makes him throw them out. They finally find work at a ranch with Curley, a mean guy who likes to pick fights, and his deprived and attention-loving wife, who is just identified as "Curley's wife." She is seductive, and George warns Lennie not to get involved with her because Lennie has a history of losing jobs by doing something stupid. It's a short but powerful novel. It should be read by all young adults.NOTE TO WISE ONE: WHY DID YOU WRITE 48 DIFFERENT REVIEWS, PRETENDING TO BE DIFFERENT PEOPLE EACH TIME? THAT IS VERY CHILDISH AND NOT WHAT AMAZON IS ABOUT- AMAZON IS ABOUT SERIOUS REVIEWS THAT HELP PEOPLE DECIDE WHETHER TO BUY A PRODUCT.
Rating: 
Summary: Desiree's Review
Review: This was one of the best books I have ever read. I think Steinbeck did a good job recreating the 1930's migrant workers. I liked the way that he made the characters have a southern accent and they used words that we wouldn't usually use today. I think the characters were very believeable. It was very realistic the way they talked. They had realistic personalities and the author did a very good job describing the charachters feelings. I think that this book is a good book for young adults even though it had alot of language in it. But it was realistic. If the reader can be mature about this book then it would be good. It is just showing you what things were like back then for migrant workers. This book also had many social issues in it, such as racism. There was alot of racism in this book. For example Crooks had to stay in his own house because he was black and no one was allowed to visit him. This book also taught many lessons. One lesson it taught was that it is always good to have a friend to depend on and you can talk to someone no matter what their race is.
Rating:
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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