Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
Tragic tale of a retarded man and the friend who loves and tries to protect him. With illustrations from the movie starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
One of the most perfectly conceived & executed novels America has produced, ever
Customer Rating:
Yeah, they make you read this stuff in high school in a country where most kids find it challenging to read the back of a box of Cap'n Crunch. And because it's forced reading, the novel itself becomes as ossified as one of those dismembered appendages found in Eastern European reliquaries. But if you break the glass and give it a sincere read, you'll discover it's one of the greatest novels ever to come out of America, whether it's the economy of style, the simple power of the language, or its heart-breaking finality. It's not just that Lenny bites the big one, it's that George and all the other guys, they die too. And suffer more.
True Classic Art
Customer Rating:
This book keeps you wanting more until the last line in the book. Would highly recomend to any age group.
Steinbeck Masterpiece
Customer Rating:
My 17 year old needed a book for an English report. I wanted to introduce him to one of my all-time favorite authors, but at the same time not overwhelm him the volumn of "East of Eden" or "Grapes of Wrath", etc. This is a kid who is going to be an engineer and doesn't "believe reading is all that important". After all, it is not Science!
I, of course, re-read it still another time before handing it to him. He was delighted at the sight of such a thin book ("I can read this in two nights"). He had to admit after reading it, that his teacher and I were correct in our assessment of Steinbeck. His writings are timeless.
Of Mice and Men Review
Customer Rating:
The book, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is about the adventures of two best friends that are meant to take care of each other. Their names are George and Lennie. George always has to take care of himself as well as Lennie. Lennie is a challenged individual, but he is the sweetest man. He really means well. The way he talks and acts reflects that he is a little boy stuck in a strong mans body. Lennie is by far my favorite character in this book. Lennie has an obsession with touching soft things. At the beginning of the book it starts with Lennie having a mouse in his pocket which he accidentally kills because he strokes the mouse to hard. He felt horrible. George, who is always taking care of Lennie, is more of a dad to Lennie than a friend. He was asked by Lennie's Aunt Clara to look after Lennie when she died. Throughout the story George continues to look after Lennie wherever they go. Both George and Lennie have a life goal of having a place of their own with land, a house, and animals. They have a place that they can buy from an older couple, but they need to get six-hundred and fifty dollars to buy it from them. They are working to get this money so they can run off and escape from the working world and "live offa the fatta the lan' (Steinbeck 56)." Throughout the book they travel to find a place to work so they can get the amount of money that they need in order to buy that piece of land. They find a farm that will take both of them as workers and that is where the majority of the story takes place. Most of the people that are working at the farm really like George and Lennie, except for the farm owners's son, Curly. Eventually Lennie and Curly get into a fight. Lennie accidentally crushes Curly's hand. Another incident between Lennie and Curly occurs toward the end of the book that angers Curly to the point that he is ready to kill Lennie. I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. One because it was easy to follow and always kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I could not put the book down. I sat down and read the entire book all at once. Another reason is because it was one of those books that are short enough that you can sit down and read the whole story in a few hours. The book also had an interesting story plot. There was one part of this book that I did not like. I was disappointed when Steinbeck made Lennie look like a bad guy for part of the story. An example is when Lennie kills the mouse at the beginning of the book. Lennie has good and honest intentions. I felt so bad for him that I almost started to cry. Lennie felt horrible every time he did something to hurt someone or something in the book because he did not understand his own strength. I really like how George is a father figure to Lennie and how Lennie really appreciates George. Lennie understands that George will always there for him. The two men give each other a reason to live. George and Lennie truly value each other's friendship. I recommend this book for all boys and girls, child or adult.
Worst Book I have Ever Read
Customer Rating:
I did not like this book at all. I had to read it in eighth grade. It was so difficult to understand the interactions between the characters. Although the story itself was okay, it was nothing special at all and it isn't something I would look forward to reading. The WORST part is the end, it's VERY SAD. It's the WORST ending I have ever read in a book. I was hoping the book would end happy, but, just like the rest of the book, the ending sucks as well. I don't get how these books become famous. Maybe an adult would like it, but definitely not someone who is in middle school or high school. If you are a teenager, read something like realistic fiction that takes place in a school setting or at least in a more modern setting. Something that is interesting to what you do. Or something like a mystery or a fantasy. I don't get how a book this bad (in my opinion) could become SO famous. This is probably because this is a book ADULTS read and it shouldn't be read by kids my age. If you are unfortunate to have to read this book, GOOD LUCK. Hopefully you will like it, but I only recommend this to adults who like difficult classic "literature" style books.
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