Book Review / "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

OF MICE AND MEN by John Steinbeck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book has crushed me. Pressed me down like no other book has done – and I’ve read plenty. The story is so raw and so startingly real that if you have a heart, it can’t but start bleeding when you get to the last page.

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck is a mighty book. It tells more than a story of two men. It uncovers the whole layer, dealing with the topic which is timely, yet which nowadays is dealt with a ‘through rose-coloured spectacles’ attitude. Like so many other themes that scream to be addressed but with all the publicity they seemingly receive remain unsolved.

"His ear heard more than was said to him, and his slow speech had overtones not of thought, but of understanding beyond thought." I believe these words that describe one of the characters can be attributed to Steinbeck himself. The way he delves deeply into human nature, digging out the tiniest nuances that, in the end, make all the difference, speaks undeniably that his understanding was beyond the thought of any man.

"Ain't many guys travel around together,” he mused. “I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other." Even though George knew that mentally challenged Lennie was a burden, he still wasn’t scared to take responsibility for him. Without Lennie, he could have had an easier life. He wouldn’t need to leave the ranches where he got a job so often because Lennie forgot how to behave – again. Yet, George had chosen differently.

"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." Alas, having no sense also sometimes leads to a nice fellow committing something that can’t be reversed.

I was in tears reading the ending of this book. My heart ached and I desperately wanted the ending to be different – the world to be different. “Of Mice and Men” left me thinking if it is possible for us to ever treat the important issues scarring our society the way that can actually change something for the better. John Steinbeck hits us with the reality right in our faces. Yet, I’m afraid we aren’t ready to accept it. And without pragmatic acceptance, there is no hope for a successful problem solution.



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John Steinbeck