Publisher : Barrons Educational Series Inc
Publication Date : 1984 09
>> Masterpiece of Concise Writing
Steinbeck has a great talent of telling a profound story with simple sentences basic vocabulary and a straight forward plot The strength of the story is in great characters and the tone of the story Not many books have touched my life like this one It s hard not to feel for Lennie and George and become angry at the world for there being no place for someone like Lennie at that point in time It s a truly moving story that should be read by everyone at least once
>> The Odd Couple a tragedy
Here is another classic that slipped by me during my school years What a powerful novel It s hard to find this sort of caliber fiction in the popular market today In a time of early rugged individualism in the years of the Depression here come Lenny and George They are an oddity to the field workers they join to garner a living It is all too transparent that the clumsy oversized highly challenged Lenny needs his pal George He is lost without him a walking tragedy that needs constant monitoring What is less clear is why George continues his relationship with Lenny Often George ponders what life might be without him Might it be that rugged individuals experience a loneliness that is too painful
Steinback s novel reads like a stageplay One cannot differentiate the description of props from the description of experienced reality Outside the text of the powerful drama Steinbeck ends a chapter by context noting a truck s passing on a distant road or the noises of animals outside The result is fascinating enlarging the drama and including the reader therein Some years ago I read Cannery Row but I only vaguely remember it This work will stay with me
The characters are real walking into the barn and the play right off the fields as Steinbeck studied them Slim Candy Crooks Carlson Of course there has to be Curley let alone his nameless wife They all knew she was trouble except Lennie And therein lies the tragedy A mouse No problem A puppy Hmmm A woman Big problem The tragic ending severs a relationship But Slim offers hope another chance
A wonderful powerful story of the human condition
>> A powerful exploration of loneliness and helplessness
The tension and pathos in John Steinbeck s playable novel Of Mice and Men is palpable It tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small two itinerant field workers in 1930s depression era California Milton a cynical intelligent man by a combination of habit intent solicitude friendship love loneliness and one might even say bad luck has allowed himself to become the surrogate father or brother for his companion traveler Lennie Small Small undoubtedly a name chosen by Steinbeck for its irony is a retarded adult with the social skills and gracelessness of a young child trapped in the body of an enormous and physically powerful man
Forced to run away from their last job when Small was wrongfully accused of rape Milton and Small have now found a quiet farm and a crew with which they hope they work long enough to accumulate a stake They want to buy a small piece of property that they can farm for themselves Lennie s sole childlike dream for retirement is to live with his friend George and tend rabbits But once again Small s complete lack of adult social skills and the failure to understand the magnitude of his own strength undermine their dreams when Curley the owner s mean spirited and small minded son draws Small into a fight and his lonely wife uses her attractiveness and feminine wiles to draw him into a conversation that ends in tragedy
Of Mice and Men is a short novella At only 118 pages it can be digested in a mere two to three hours Written as a playable novel the story is told almost exclusively in dialogue with the intent that it would translate easily into a three act play Such small bits of narrative and exposition as exist in the story actually serve more by way of stage directions and hints as to the scenery backdrop that might be used in the live stage production that Steinbeck envisaged when he wrote it
But for all its simplicity and brevity the power and pathos of the themes of helplessness and loneliness embodied in Steinbeck s story are not to be denied As with so many other classic novels that I ve finally had the good sense to read over the last two years I feel like I ve not only come late to the party but all of the other party goers have already come and gone Well I m sure I wasn t the only one but if you re one of the few people who read and enjoy classic literature in the English language Of Mice and Men deserves a place on your must read list It will be a hard hearted reader indeed who comes away from Of Mice and Men without a lump in the throat
Highly recommended
Paul Weiss
