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.

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.

“I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that’s why.”

Petition to begin a support group for anyone who has been emotionally destroyed by Of Mice and Men?!

Rereading Of Mice and Men was a unique and highly rewarding experience. I studied this book inside out at school, memorising entire sections and quotes, studying themes and characters, and over the years it has remained a favourite of mine. Revisiting this book transported me right back into the classroom, back to discovering one of the books that would stay with me forever.

Of Mice and Men is a simple story, with a relatively small cast of characters, coming in at just over 100 pages. Yet what Steinbeck manages to achieve within such a short page count is staggering. My heart breaks for all of these characters - the loneliness, the broken dreams, as they all strive to find their place in the world. The characters are what make this book special - how can you not feel for George and Lennie? Or Candy and his dog? Or even Curley’s wife, villainous though she may be presented initially, who isn’t even given a name. Through Of Mice and Men we get to witness beautiful friendships and human kindness, but unfortunately we also have to face cold hard reality, racism and prejudices.

I have loved every single Steinbeck book that I have read so far - his prose and writing is on another level for me. He particularly had a fine hand for when it came to descriptions of landscapes and nature. Simply BEAUTIFUL.

So happy that I revisited this once again. Even if I basically cry from start to finish. This book is proof that you can study a book to death in school and still love it in adulthood. 5 stars.

A book I'd read an awfully long time ago, when pocket calculators were still the latest thing.
Such an iconic staple of American literature, wherein George and Lennie, migrant labourers in the Cali dustbowl, form an unlikely bond in a tale of brutality and tenderness.
Typical of Steinbeck, his 'no-fucking-about' narrative fast-tracks his examination of human morality, culminating in a story that has since been immortalised on film and stage.
Steinbeck strived for gritty realism and wrote about a time and a place, with all of its triumphs and evils. Hidden messages shadow the narrative, chiefly one of morality. He depicted an America that existed, not the one that he would have liked.

I decided to up my rating with one star as I still think about this novella more than 2 years after I read it.

I will definitely remember this book because of the ending. It was brutal and heartbreaking.

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.

С препрочитането на „За мишките и хората“, открих много нови неща и задълбочени послания в тази кратка и мрачна книга на Джон Стайнбек! На пръв поглед обикновената, макар и любопитна история на психопата Лени далеч не е най-важното, заради което тази чудесна творба си заслужава вниманието!
На нейния фон, големият писател всъщност изгражда цялостна, ярка и многопластова картина на живота и обществените нрави от началото на 20-ти век. Тежкият фермерски начин на живот, расовите предразсъдъци и насилието сред хората, утопичните мечти на работниците... това са част от важните теми, засегнати в книгата. Преди сякаш не бях обърнал внимание на Крукс, но вече ми е най-любимият герой от „За мишките и хората“! Освен единствен чернокож, той е и единственият четящ човек сред персонажите...
Книгата несъмнено представя силата на приятелството, но също така и самозаблудите, породени от него.



„Колко съм ги виждал аз такива — скитат по пътищата и по фермите с вързопи на гръб и все имотец им в главата. Един ли е, двама ли са... Дойдат, поработят, па си отидат; и все петимни за парче земя. Всеки за туй си мисли. Ама ни един не си е купил. То е като рая. Аз доста книжки съм попрочел, та знам: парчето земя е като рая — не можеш стигна до него. Но от главите им не излиза.“

I had a hard time rating this book. This is a re-read; the first time I read this was many, many years ago for a high school English class. I don’t remember liking it very much back then but have since read several Steinbeck novels that I truly enjoyed. So, it was time to look at this one again with adult eyes. I was not disappointed! John Steinbeck described the landscape and the characters so beautifully; I could really see everything so clearly.

Of Mice and Men is a simply told, tragic story about the American dream, friendship, loyalty, isolation, prejudice, and loneliness. The childlike Lennie and the quick-witted, father-figure George travel as a pair working jobs to earn enough money to “get a little place an’ live on the fatta the lan’”. At the ranch they meet such colorful characters as the old man Candy who has no other friend in the world but his old dog; Slim, whose “ear heard more than was said to him”; Crooks, the stable hand who was isolated due to the color of his skin; Curley, the scrappy boss’s son; and Curley’s wife, who had “full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. Her fingernails were red. Her hair hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages.” Steinbeck makes use of rich symbolism and effective foreshadowing leading us to an astonishing conclusion to this very worthy and heartbreaking novel. I rated this 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. I struggled a bit with the rating when I compared this to other Steinbeck novels I have read. This was very enjoyable, but some of his other books were perhaps a bit more sophisticated. Maybe this feeling is really just a result of the shorter length of this one. Definitely worth the read or re-read if you have not picked it up since your adolescent years!

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
4 out of 5 stars to Of Mice and Men, a novel written in 1937 by John Steinbeck. What a heartbreaking book... many students in American high schools read this one around 9th or 10th grade, and it provokes such sensitive topics to be discussed. A quick summary: Lenny and George are drifters looking for work. Lenny is a little slow and has a few disabilities that weren't addressed when he was younger, likely due to time time period (early 20th century) when they had ability to ignore these types of illnesses. Unfortunately, it has disastrous consequences for him and for George. Men can be cruel. So can be women. Lenny tends to hold on to things a little too tightly when he's scared. He's lost a few pets and things he loved, as a result. One day, a woman pushes him a little too far, more than he's capable of understanding, and he reacts in fear. George must find a way to cover it up, and his only recourse is to take his own disastrous actions. No spoilers here, but you probably get the drift already. No matter if you know the end, you still need to read the story to see how people treat one another because they are different or they aren't perceptive enough to understand their own consequences.

This books helps people understand what happens when you lose control. It helps you figure out what you might need to do to protect someone. And it helps show who's (wo)man enough to stand up for others or to sit back and watch bad things happen. It's charged and full of emotion and fear. I struggled a little with some of the secondary characters and the setting, no my favorite. If it were set in a bit more modern times, I might have given this one a 5. But it's absolutely worth reading whenever you have a chance to find a quiet corner and be ready for a bit of a cry and a flood of questions, answers and thoughts.

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

Of Mice And Men is a novella written by John Steinbeck in 1937. It follows the experiences of George, and Lennie Small. They are two migrant workers durring the great depression and have many hair raising experiences. Lennie Small does not hav all his wits about him, so George looks after him and they have a great relationship. I will not spoil the end of the novella for you but to say that it is very sad and tragic. I highly recommend this book to all.

The narrative is strong and descriptive as is the case in most books written by Steinbeck. Of Mice and Men flows with dialogue and action. The scenes happen so quickly in the book that it sometimes takes the reader by surprise.

You feel sorry for the men. You want them to achieve what they wanted and you know that will not be possible. The writing is so strong that you empathize with them and that’s how a book should be written. The plot is complex but the writing is not and that’s the wonder of the book. Steinbeck almost structured the novel as a play and may be that is why it has been so easy to convert it to play and three movies I guess.

Steinbeck depicts the impossibility of dreams being achieved and explores brotherhoods in humans – the strengths, the weakness in man and sometimes the angst. Of Mice and Men is a classic in every sense that should not be missed.

I often think of this book when I see mentally ill people on the streets. I must admit that I am jealous of John Steinbeck...what I would not give to be able to write 1/4 as well as he could. One of the books that made me fall in love with the classics.