Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Here's one of those novels that you constantly hear about but never really get round to reading for yourself except I finally did thanks to a cheap $3 copy found at the local hospice shop recently.  I know it is required reading in many schools but my schools weren't part of the required ones it would seem

After all the hype I was surprised to find that's it's written more like a children's novel.  Very simple, easy to follow dialogue and quite short.  It is a novella really which explains the length but I expected a more sophisticated style from this Nobel prize-winning author.

Not to say that this lessens the impact of the book, not at all.  The themes come through very strongly even with such a simple delivery: Independence, Loneliness, Companionship, Powerlessness and Fate.  Some fairly hefty topics for any book to tackle and Steinbeck does a great job of exploring them here.

It is essentially the tale of two travelling workers in the Great Depression era who find themselves moving from ranch to ranch for work to escape the trouble that inevitably finds them. George is the smaller of the pair but quick-witted and kind-hearted.  Lennie is a giant in comparison but mentally like a child and relies on George for many things.  Lennie gets frightened easily by situations he doesn't understand and holds on tight to the closest thing when scared which causes all sorts of problems, the last one being a rape allegation that they are running from as Lennie couldn't let go of a girl's dress once she started yelling at him.  He has a liking for soft things and a special fondness for animals, especially rabbits, but he doesn't seem to be able to control his own strength.

It seems to me that looking after Lennie is a major part of what keeps George going day-to-day.  He enjoys the role of protector and genuinely likes Lennie, despite his slow wits.  Together they have a dream of saving up enough money to buy a wee property of their own and live off the fat of the land, growing or raising everything they need.  It turns out that this dream is more often thought of among the ranch hands then they realised, as they discover when a couple of others ask if they could join them in their dream.  Ranch hands are such lonely nomadic people and to settle down with a good group and have something to call your own would be like winning the lottery back then.

Should I give away the end of the story?  It's only 112 pages so I think you should give it a read for yourself but I will say that I was initially a bit miffed that it ends so abruptly.  But since then I have been pondering over what I think happens to the characters next and I'd imagine that is the way that Steinbeck wanted his audience to remember the book.

I did a bit of research and discovered that Steinbeck was a ranch hand at one point and he did come across a mentally handicapped rancher on whom Lennie is based on.  The real life Lennie had a very different ending to the fictional counterpart but it seemed to make me understand the way the book was written a bit more.

It is a novel that will make you think for quite a while afterwards and for that fact alone I recommend it.  I would also give a nudge to your kids as well as it also has a fair dollop of compassion thrown into a couple of the characters and it's always a good thing to teach our kids.