Book Log

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 6/4/24

Not a Wattpad published book

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick, dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.

Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. For George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocation of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.

*~*

What a trip this had been. I don't have very much to say about it, to be honest. It's not even a novel, it's short enough to be considered a novella. As such, my commentary will follow suit. Following The Great Gatsby, it was another book I began reading with low expectations and a healthy amount of disinterest. While it is a book I will never read again, I did not despise my time spent reading.

I have to give props where they are due, this book held my focus. While I had heard that it was particularly boring, Steinbeck grabbed my attention in the first chapter and then refused to let it go. Although I was never particularly invested, my heart goes out to George and Lennie and I am glad that I got to spend time in their presence.

I'd give this book 3/5 stars. When thinking about it, I regard it as a pretty middle of the road story. Nothing incredibly exciting goes on within it, but it's still entertaining throughout the time you take to read it. I will never revisit this story, but I am glad I read it. It serves as a healthy exercise for me to step my foot out into different genres of literature, especially older content that I would never normally choose to read.