Squeek...Meiow...woof. ..rabbit rabbit (Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck)

Member Name: mpafp

Product:	Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Date:	18/04/01 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Intelligent, breathtaking, re-readable

Disadvantages: Some scene-setting may seem dull at first glance

No really, this is a serious opinion this time.
"Of Mice and Men" is a fantastic book. Having things as set texts for exams tends to ruin them for you, but I had this and Miller's "View From a Bridge", and whilst I can't bear to look at the play anymore, I am still astonished and absorbed by this book.

It is the story of two ranch-workers - small, clever George and huge, slow Lennie - who move from ranch to ranch trying to find work so they can get together enough money to buy their own place and fulfil their dream. They hope that there they will be able to harvest whatever they sow, and work according to their own rules. As a reader, you are never quite sure whether the fantasy will be realised or not right up until the end.

The book explores themes of solitude, friendship, dreams and death, and is littered with metaphors, powerful imagery and cyclical aspects which make the book more re-readable and the climax more moving. Quite apart from all this, Steinbeck shows an ability to create cinematic landscapes of nature of outstanding beauty and tranquility, which need to be read carefully, as the eye can easily skip over them first time round, dismissing them as neccessary dull scene-setting.

Steinbeck has created an intricate and subtle web of intelligent symbolism which leaves you simultaneously shocked and comforted, distressed and at peace.

I could go on and on, but then I have got pages of GCSE notes somewhere.

So it's pretty good, I think.

Summary: