Skip to main content

Review - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck



It was a strange book but had a good story. The ending looked abrupt to me, not like leaving you in the middle of nowhere but more of giving you expectations to have more eventually yet ended up bland. Perhaps the meaning or rationale is left with the readers. I had a fair idea that what would happen in the end, but despite that, something was missing.

The story revolves around Lennie and George, who are inseparable. George is intelligent, Lennie is dumb. George has the mind, Lennie has strength. Their equation is fascinating as they keep looking out for each other for their own needs and desires. You might feel they are doing it out of an obligation, but then you won't feel the same after a while. It is just like you do things which you despise for the people who are close to you. Such things make little sense to outsiders, but your inner circle can correctly guess your intentions.

Also, the title didn't make sense to me. I was trying to relate it with the incidents in the book but couldn't find one. If there is a hidden meaning behind it, definitely I didn't get it. So, those who have read, please enlighten me. Despite all this, the book kept me hooked, and I wanted to know more about the story and the characters.

Rating – 3/5

Genre - Classics


Labels:

Comments

  1. AvinasHMarch 31, 2021 11:58 pm

    Steinbeck based the novella on his own experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager in the 1910s (before the arrival of the Okies that he would describe in The Grapes of Wrath). The title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which reads: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley". (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

    Source: Wikipedia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richa SainiApril 02, 2021 1:07 pm

      Oh, that makes sense now. Thanks for the info

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review - Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

  I don’t know what to make of this book as it left me with so many things to think about regarding the scenarios/situations I read. Also, if it falls into the romance genre, I can only find revenge and desperation to prove the other person wrong. The book is tricky as it has a story within a story. But after some time, it becomes easy to identify one from another, and it doesn’t feel like a chore. I found it hard to understand what is going on at the beginning.  Also, the gothic parts were very few and were not scary at all. They added little to the story; I feel. I felt something would come out of it, but found nothing. There are two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, and both were just okay. I didn’t like Heathcliff at all. His traits were brutal and harsh. Despite that, I was always looking forward to what he is up to next. On the other hand, Catherine is too sweet and gullible (not the Catherine you are thinking about, though). The book has a theme of love, frie...
5 comments
Read more

Book Review - Poison Dream by Kitty Cook

It is the sequel to Sleeping Together. In the previous book, the story was more focused on Vanessa and Altan. Here you get to see more of Pete. Things take a different turn every now and then, and you always pray for your favourite character to win. The best part I found about this book is how every character is flawed, but there is more to them. You will judge them based on what they do but when you are having your weak moments. One can grant you some exceptions, as not everyone can be graceful. Yes, terrible mistakes can be made, but later how you look at it is most important. You don’t have to hate a person just because they did you wrong, at the same time you can’t like them either. You land somewhere between where you accept the fact and move on without being bitter about it. I liked and disliked many things about these characters, and they represent someone you know in real life. So, it isn’t hard to get to them. It’s a book about love and to what extent you can go for the peop...
2 comments
Read more

Existence

Many a time in our life we happen to face some situations where we start questioning about our existence. We are working round the clock but at someone else’s discretion as if what we want from our life doesn’t matter. It does matter to us, but not to them. Howsoever they want us to believe it is good for us but we all know we are not enjoying it. Also, I agree not everything is supposed to be for our enjoyment but when you do something which feels like a task or a burden, in the long run, you tend to make plans to run away from it. It doesn’t happen overnight. It starts building up as and when we feel we are getting near the breaking point. We start seeing the patterns which earlier wasn’t visible to our line of vision. Then we become anxious. Now when you know the patterns and want to break the chain, it won’t leave you no matter how much you want to be left alone. It’s a cycle. You know it. You sense it. You feel it. You struggle. You struggle really bad. It gets to the poin...
4 comments
Read more