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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


Comments

  1. 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.

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    1. Oh, that makes sense now. Thanks for the info

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