Of Mice and Men
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Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back – and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California’s Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie – struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy – becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, and giving a voice to America’s lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men remains Steinbeck’s most popular work, achieving success as a novel, Broadway play and three acclaimed films.
ASIN : 0141023570
Publisher : Penguin Classics
Publication date : 26 Jan. 2006
Edition : 1st
Language : English
Print length : 128 pages
ISBN-10 : 9780141023571
ISBN-13 : 978-0141023571
Item weight : 93 g
Reading age : 12+ years, from customers
Dimensions : 11.1 x 0.9 x 18.1 cm
Customers say
Customers find the book beautifully written and well-suited for GCSE study, with helpful notes to aid understanding. The story is incredibly moving with an attention-grabbing ending, and customers appreciate the well-developed characters, particularly the strong bond between George and Lennie. Customers consider the book thought-provoking, with one review noting how it explores complex life issues, and they find it good value for money. The heartbreaking story receives mixed reactions from customers.
William Gwynne –
A Classic for a reason
âMaybe everâbody in the whole damn world is scared of each other.âI realised recently that I was one of only a few people who had not studied, or read, Of Mice and Men. As someone studying English Literature, this seemed like a crime, so I instantly set to rectifying that. Of course, everything I say in this review will not be discussing anything that has not already been covered on Of Mice and Men, and I will probably just be expressing myself in a less interesting manner. But, if youâre interested in reading some of the points that stuck out most to me, then go ahead :).I think this is a brilliant story, and well-deserving of its reputation. It has a very distinctive style, with unique central characters and a philosophical layer over the entirety of it which appears to act as a commentary on human nature. Being my first exposure to John Steinbeck, I imagine this is the style he is renowned for, and I look forward to engaging with it more in the future, perhaps with Grapes of Wrath in a couple months.âGuy don’t need no sense to be a nice fella. Seems to me sometimes it jus’ works the other way around. Take a real smart guy and he ain’t hardly ever a nice fella.âThis is a story that revolves around our characters, which is driven by several powerful concepts, such as the often paradoxical nature of life, that interweave and act more as a subtle intrusion more as the main focus of the story. George and Lennie are our main protagonists, with George looking after Lennie, who has a mental disability. I think that these are both crafted fantastically, with their strenuous but genuine friendship being depicted in an authentic manner that was amazing to read.We have other key characters in Of Mice and Men, but I would say that these were not as well crafted as George and Lennie. But this is no bad thing. Steinbeck obviously made a conscious decision regarding this, and as such makes George and Lennie the focus, with others, such as Curley, appearing to represent the harsh life of the working class during The Great Depression.Throughout Of Mice and Men, I felt this air of perpetual melancholia, and a sense of dread that somehow permeated from every word. As George and Lennie discuss their dream, it just felt like the whole time that they would not achieve their aspirations, and because of this, Of Mice and Men was incredibly impactful, and a tense reading experience throughout which I have rarely felt before. To do this, John Steinbeck was obviously a master of his craft.âGuys like us got nothing to look ahead to.âOf Mice and Men is of course a brilliant read, with memorable characters, fantastic prose and also a read that allows for a philosophical reading that you can return and build on a long time after reading. I have not nearly covered the interesting aspects of this canonical story, nor could I if I tried, but these are just a few reasons you should read Of Mice and Men. For its size, it offers so much, and as a reader you can have the freedom of just enjoying a read, or engaging with with the concepts Steinbeck discusses.This was a good read, with unique central characters and a very distinctive, page-turning prose. Throughout the entirety of the read, there was an air of melancholy and sadness that was leading to the ending that I suspected would occur, but dreaded throughout.
John Moseley –
The book that GCSE students love to hate
The introduction to this edition tells us that Of Mice and Men continues to be banned by school boards throughout the US, mainly because of the earthy, racist language used by the characters throughout. There are plenty of UK students who wish the same applied here. For some reason, Of Mice and Men occupies the same risible space in the minds of many english students as that other course staple To Kill a Mockingbird – that is, they hate it. A pity, because Of Mice and Men is superb, and touches on universal themes such as loneliness, poverty, friendship, jealousy and cruelty, which are part of its enduring relevance and appeal. It is a dream within a dream – the dream of two itinerant farm workers, Lenny and George, to scrape enough money together to buy a small farm of their own, become independent and ‘live off the fat o’ the lan’.Susan Shillinglaw writes a revealing introduction to this edition, which also tells us that Steinbeck conceived a new narrative form – the ‘playable novel’ i.e. a story that could equally be read as a conventional narrative or seen in dramatic performance. The plot is staged as a play, with theatric scenes and a narrative that guides us carefully from one set piece to the next. It is clear from the outset that this will be a tragic ‘play’, and so it proves. The intro also tells us that Steinbeck saw with his own eyes a hired hand kill a ranch foreman with a pitchfork when working as a farm hand himself. This episode is reimagined as one of the pivotal points of the narrative, and leads to the tragic ending.GCSE students may hate it, but Of Mice and Men has stood the test of time as an enduring, precautionary tale of what happens when man is pitched against fellow man in a society that has lost its true sense of morality. It is this universality and the razor-sharp tightness of Steinbeck’s storytelling, that makes Of Mice and Men a profoundly moving and richly rewarding read.
J –
Good
Good for my gcse english.ðð½ would reccomend.
Melanie Jane Coe –
Wonderful, brilliant writing, do not miss this novel.
Wonderful short story, not to be missed. I will never forget it!
Louise –
Classic book
Great book,a classic
B Camacho –
The ink of the front of the book comes off, leaving the white marks on my hands
Honza –
I love the way Steinbeck plays with the language â flowery descriptions of sceneries and situations are in contrast with the way how the characters, un-educated man of the time speak. The story is brilliant, captivating, sad and beautiful.
Gerardo –
Buen libro, para alumnos de inglés avanzado.
Jack –
This is truly one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read so far. It’s amazing how Steinbeck is precise in the descriptions and in the psychological analysis of the characters.The language is expressive and very easy to understand also for a foreigner like me.Very recommended book.
amazons –
Fazla söze gerek yok muhteÅem bir kitap ve baskısı ise videodaki gibi son derece kaliteli.