Of Mice & Men, by the modern American author John Steinbeck, is a powerful and moving analysis of life during the Depression of the American era. It deals with the lives of two ranch farm hands, Lennie and George. Lennie is a simple, backward man who is tall and powerful but kind. George is the brains of the outfit, who organizes and arranges for them to get work on the ranches and farms as they travel and dream of getting their place, where they can make some money, have a home, and where Lennie can have lots of rabbits to play with and stroke.
The short novel is set out in acts as though it were a play and begins with the two men having to run away from the ranch they are working at, as Lennie has gotten too fond of one of the women on the farm who was kind to him. As he is pure and likes soft things, he stroked the lady's dress and accused her of trying to attack her. They run off and hide until the men stop searching, then move on to another ranch where they have work lined up.
The novel is about friendship, loneliness, plans, and broken dreams during the Depression. It hits America in the '50s—a must-read.

Ce să spun? :). Nu prea am cuvinte. Cert este că m-a făcut să plâng. Mă bucur că măcar în cărţi mai pot întâlni asemenea personaje pline de candoare (dar care au să cadă, la urma urmei, în abisul fatalităţii).
Al meu alter ego tindea să creadă, parcurgând primele două capitole (fiind şase în total), că opera lui Steinbeck e dedicată exclusiv posterităţii americane. Însă, intrând mai adânc în subiect, am rămas cu totul fascinat. Esenţa romanului este constituită de caracterul lui Lennie şi mai puţin de relaţie de prietenie dintre cele două personaje antinomice: Lennie şi George.
Când acest personaj a început să se contureze în mintea mea, m-am dus direct cu gândul la filmul "The green mile" (1999, reg. Frank Darabont, cu Tom Hanks). Exact aceeaşi inocenţa este regăsită şi acolo, exact aceeaşi nevinovăţie şi exact aceeaşi crimă. Cred că Slim, din roman, intuieşte grăitor caracterul lui Lannie: "-E băiat bun, spuse Slim. Poţi să fii băiat bun şi fără să ai minte. Ba-mi pare chiar că-i tocmai pe dos. Ia-l pe unu' cu adevărat isteţ, să vezi că rareori e şi om bun".
Pe lângă caracterul lui Lannie, se poate sesiza în roman şi aspiraţia lor spre propria lor casă (cu un porc, o vacă şi câteva găini. Şi iepuri! Iepurii lui Lennie.), aspiraţie ilustrată monumental în penultimul capitol în antiteză cu aspiraţia soţiei lui Curley, care-şi dorea necontenit o carieră de actriţa. :).
Tema romanului este, aşadar, aceeaşi ca în "Micul prinţ", doar că, dacă acolo lumea este văzută prin ochii unui copil, aici este văzută prin ochii unui adult cu suflet de copil.

Sometimes people can do awful things, sometimes they mean it, and sometimes they don't.

In this novel we learn the story of "George" and "Lennie". Two wandering day laborers traveling together; from work to work, from trouble to trouble. One small and cunning; the other giant, and retarded. Working from city to city, from field to field, but always protecting each other. A dream pushes them forward, work the fields until one day have enough to purchase a small farm of their own. A place where George can work the land, and Lennie tend the rabbits. But there are difficulties, Lennie in his brutish innocence tends to get himself into serious problems, and more often that not, both.

A short but very memorable read from the famed Pulitzer winner John Steinbeck. A little 100p novella about the unbreakable bonds of friendship, and the cruelties of a sometimes hostile rural world.

**** One of those very few exceptions where the movie may actually match the book. John Steinbeck creates two immortal characters, but the movie (1992) gives them a real palpable soul. Mainly due to the exceptional performance of John Malkovich, and a very remarkable Gary Sinise. Brilliant book-to-film adaptation.



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n  PERSONAL NOTEn:
[1937] [103p] [Fiction] [3.5] [Recommendable]
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★★★★☆  Of Mice and Men.  [3.5]
���★☆☆☆  Flight.

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A veces la gente puede hacer cosas terribles, a veces lo hacen a propósito, y a veces no.

En esta novela conocemos la historia de "George" y "Lennie". Dos jornaleros errantes viajando juntos; de trabajo en trabajo, de problema en problema. Uno pequeño y astuto, otro gigante y retardado. Trabajando de ciudad en ciudad, de campo en campo, pero siempre protegiéndose el uno al otro. Un sueño los motiva a seguir juntos, trabajar los campos hasta algún día tener lo suficiente para comprar una pequeña parcela propia. Un lugar donde George pueda trabajar la tierra, y Lennie cuidar de los conejos. Pero existen dificultades, Lennie en su bruta inocencia tiende a meterse en serios aprietos... y más que a menudo, a ambos.

Una lectura corta pero muy memorable del afamado ganador del Pulitzer John Steinbeck. Una pequeña novella de 100p sobre los fuertes lazos de la amistad, y las crueldades en un mundo campestre a veces hostil.

*** Una de esas pequeñas excepciones donde la película tal vez supera la obra escrita. John Steinbeck crea dos personajes inmortales, pero la película (1992) les otorga un alma real. Principalmente gracias a las actuación excepcional de John Malkovich, y un muy destacado Gary Sinise. Brillante adaptación de cine.



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n  NOTA PERSONALn:
[1937] [103p] [Ficción] [3.5] [Recomendable]
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Of Mice and Men is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression in 1931 America and tells the tragic tale of 2 friends, Linnie and George, who struggle for a better life. Linnie is a big guy, but.. not so smart, while George is a small, clever, and capable man. After the death of Linnie's aunt, George takes on the responsibility of caring for Linnie, who often gets into trouble despite his innocent intentions. Linnie has a natural affinity for soft, beautiful things and enjoys their texture. This leads to trouble when he touches a girl's dress and later accidentally kills the farmer's daughter-in-law due to her teasing.

It is a small, thin volume filled with the misfortunes of its characters. Candy's silent sorrow over his dog, Crooks' bright childhood and forced gentleness, and Linnie's simple dreams of rabbits and land all paint a picture of unfulfilled lives. George's final act of killing Linnie is a heartbreaking moment of whispered dreams and the end of their shared hopes.

The courage required to end the life of a loved one is immense. George's trembling hands, vacant eyes, lowered hat brim, and falling tears all reflect the necessity of his actions. Slim's words ring true: it was the only thing George could do to preserve his friend's dignity and spare him from torment.

The story highlights the plight of the poor, a group often overlooked and struggling at the bottom of society. Their efforts can be easily undone by a small misstep, making their lives both pitiable and tragic. The precious dream of owning a small piece of land is a secret they inadvertently reveal, driven by a desire to boast about something they have never had and will likely never achieve. Linnie's reaction to soft things symbolizes this longing. Unlike most people who would let go when someone is frightened, Linnie holds on tightly to the things he loves, never wanting to lose them.

In this society, Linnie's innocent desires lead to his downfall. They have never triumphed in this world, their fate as fragile and powerless as that of mice.

“There is no real difference between men and mice.”

4.1 / 5 stars

The title of this novel is only 50% accurate, a very poor effort. Yes, it’s about men, but there’s little or nothing about mice in these pages. Mice enthusiasts will come away disappointed. This got me thinking about other novel titles. You would have to say that such books as The Slap, The Help, The Great Gatsby, Gangsta Granny, Mrs Dalloway and Hamlet have very good titles because they are all about a slap, some help, a Gatsby who was really great, a no good granny, a woman who was married to a guy called Dalloway and a Hamlet. I have no problem with those titles. But you may be poring over the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird for a long fruitless evening to find any mockingbirds coming to any harm at all. Indeed, to coin a phrase, no mockingbirds were harmed during the making of that book. So I rate that title only 5% accurate. And some titles seem to have a word missing, such as Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. Four what? It doesn’t say. Perhaps he completed the book and left the title to the very last minute and died as he was writing it down. Same thing with The Crimson Petal and the White. White what? Wallpaper? Hat? Cat? Mouse? Mockingbird? Could be The Crimson Petal and the White Gangsta Granny for all we know. A poor title. And what about The Dharma Bums? I think a Cigarette or You Out is clearly missing from that title. Another grossly misleading title is Women in Love . I can’t be the only reader who was expecting some strong girl on girl action from DH Lawrence but I would have been better off fast-forwarding to the middle part of Mulholland Drive. Now that’s what I call Women in Love. DH, take note. Another badly chosen title is Hitler’s Niece - yes, it is 100% accurate, but at first glance it can look like Hitler’s Nice, and surely that is going to put off a lot of potential readers (except for the readers you really don’t want).

And what about Call it Sleep? – call what sleep?

The Catcher in the Rye, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Flaubert’s Parrot, The Camomile Lawn – sometimes obscure titles can be solved if you understand that the author is referring to Death, so, the Catcher is Death, the Postman is Death, the lawn is Death and the Parrot is Death. Of course, I may have got that wrong. It’s something I read somewhere and it just stuck in my mind.


Some other titles I would give low ratings to :

The Turn of the Screw completely baffled me – I know that “screw” is what inmates call prison officers, so I was expecting a story about a concert put on by the staff of a large correctional institution. It was nothing like that.

The Little Prince according to my system does rate 100% but I still think The Little Faux-naif Idiot would have been better.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – actually, I rate this as 90% accurate – there are two guys who are named Kavalier and Clay, and they do have adventures, but they aren’t amazing.

A Clockwork Orange – this must be a metaphor for “I have given up thinking of a title for my novel”

No Name – like A Clockwork Orange this must be where the author couldn’t think of any title so in this case he left it without one, like the Byrds’ album Untitled, or () by Sigur Ros, or several paintings by De Kooning and those other abstract expressionist types; but to call a novel No Name is self-defeating, because No Name then becomes its name – epic fail, Mr Collins.

The Violent Bear it Away - this is another example of a word missing - possibly "took" or "dragged", I expect that's the sort of thing a violent bear would do I’m surprised the publisher did not catch this error.

Can't believe some teachers make teenagers read this in school.

Don't get me wrong, this was good but it's so... miserable. Everyone's live is so awful.
I need to continue reading more by the author!

Edit: I know the misery is the point. Doesn't mean I enjoyed reading it. It was fine just not a favorite.

موش ها و آدم ها، خوشه های خشم، شرق بهشت

مغزم از کتاب های ادبیات سال های دبیرستان تربیت شده که به نام اشتاین بک این سه پاسخ رو بده، طوطی وار و بی علاقه
ولی از این به بعد نه
از این به بعد یادم می مونه که تو تاریکی اون شب تب دار یک نفس صحبت های جورج و لنی که کنار آب نشسته بودند رو می خوندم
یادم می مونه که فکر کردم بعضی وقت ها دیوانه وار فقط به یک چیز فکر می کنم، مثل لنی و خرگوش هاش
یادم می مونه که فکر کردم من مثل جورج خیلی جاها می تونستم و می تونم لنی های زندگیم رو رها کنم، ولی خودم نخواستم
که مثل لنی همیشه میگم که می تونم توی غار زندگی کنم و اصلا هم کچاپ نخورم ولی خودم می دونم نمی تونم
که مثل جورج آرزوی زمینم رو انقدر برای خودم بزرگ کردم که می دونم بهش نمی رسم
که من چقدر وقت ها بوده که مثل لنی نخواستم آزاری برسونم ولی به موقع رها نکردم، چون وحشت کرده بودم
که مثل جورج، هرچقدر هم تلاش کنم نمی تونم لنی رو از خودش نجات بدم
n  
هرگز یادم نمیره که من خودم هم لنی هستم و هم جورج
و خودمم که کار خودم رو می سازم
n
پینوشت: واضحه که همیشه خواندن کتاب به زبان اصلیش بهتر از ترجمه ست. ولی در مورد این کتاب فکر می کنم هیچ ترجمه ای "نمی تونه" حق مطلب رو ادا کنه

98.11.21

Guy 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.

Well, fuck. I never knew a short book could drain me emotionally this much.

Of Mice and Men is a book that I think everyone should read, at least once. I read it yesterday, in one sitting, and I still can't stop thinking about it. Without a doubt, this book became one of my favorite classics.

Of Mice and Men is a story about two men, George and his simple-minded friend - Lennie, who have nothing in this world except for two things: each other and a dream that one day they will have a part on this earth that they will be able to call home. And I think that this is all a person should know going into this book. I went into it not knowing anything about what it is about, and it surprised the heck out of me. I don't think I've ever read a book that was just so real, and so heartbreaking at the same time. Even though it was short, every single character felt so realistic. But not just the characters. Everything felt realistic. Also, Steinbeck's writing style was so beautiful. I could picture the home that George was describing so nicely.

This truly is one of those books that will stay in my thoughts for a long time, and that I will go back to and re-read it many times.

What can I say about Of Mice and Men that hasn't been said before? Probably nothing. But I can say that I'm glad I was not assigned this in high school like so many. I'm glad I waited to read this as an adult to not only better appreciate the technical aspects (the writing, descriptions, themes, characterizations) but also understand more deeply the themes it explores. It's deceptively simple and utterly profound, and it has convinced me that Steinbeck is definitely one of my favorite authors.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Friendship, dream, agony.This book is not an easy read by any means. But while the book graced with beautiful friendships and human kindness, it also explores the darkest aspects of humanity and ugly racism. That's a story of the love of one man for his friend, he is willing to give up so much to help his friend because he loves him like a brother. That's a masterfully written book with a very tragic ending and I couldn't stop my tears.

n  I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.n

Classic.

This is a book of characters who aspire to go places, but never quite get there. It is the only book that brought me to tears when I finished the last pages. You feel for both Lennie and George throughout, and while it's hard to read of the abuse towards the former, it allows you to see the depth and strength of the bond that both men have with each other. Companionship and loneliness are two recurring themes throughout this simple, yet impactful story.

“Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.”

Sometimes, there is nothing to say because the author said it for you.