Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck & Susan Shillinglaw Book Summary
A controversial tale of friendship and tragedy during the Great Depression
A Penguin Classic
Over seventy-five years since its first publication, Steinbeck’s tale of commitment, loneliness, hope, and loss remains one of America’s most widely read and taught novels. An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American Dream. 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 provocations, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
Of Mice and Men represents an experiment in form, which Steinbeck described as “a kind of playable novel, written in a novel form but so scened and set that it can be played as it stands.” A rarity in American letters, it achieved remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films. This edition features an introduction by Susan Shillinglaw, one of today’s leading Steinbeck scholars.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck & Susan Shillinglaw Book Reviews
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The shortness of this novel hindered its ability to connect with me emotionally. I barely got to know the characters by the time the story ended. And many of the characters were racist or misogynistic - or both, which made me not fond of all but a few characters. I attribute this to the fact that the book is nearly 100 years old. I grew fond of George and Lennie, the novel's two protagonists, because they had a genuine connection with each other and had healthy aspirations for the future. While this book was decent and easy to read, there are better novels about farm life in the 1930s.
This book will break your heart. Just be prepared for that.
Of Mice and Men is a phenomenal vehicle for complex themes due to its simplicity and brevity. It explores communal communism’s ideological competition with capitalism, the difficulty and rarity - if not infeasibility - in creating a communist utopia, and the people caught between these ideological and power struggles. It also comments on the inhospitality of modern civilization and how it drives the poorer, migrant class into social isolation. But, above all else, it’s a requiem for a dream and a parting of ways with the people and things that keeping the modern man humane.
How beautiful and sad.
Good book!
I did not find it that interesting, but that maybe is just not my type of book. For other people they might have an interest in reading this book.
This book shows us Lennie and
Usually I hate books I read in school, I usually hate all books, it this was different, I can’t explain it but you HAVE to read it’s!
I haven’t read a good book in quite a while and this is amazed me. The ending was... Holy crap it was sad.
It’s a quick read. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a single evening.
I’ve only cried over books a handful of times, but I actually cried on this one. It’s touching and strong. I thought it would be boring because of the date it was written, but obviously I was wrong
It was a good book, a classic story that ended in tragedy.
This book was so interesting! The end was pretty dark, but overall, this is a very good book! I recommend it to anyone.
It really shows how things are in the Great Depression, the characters are really thought out and the plot is very clever.
This book was great with a twist at the end. You will enjoy it.
I'm sure it's a good book but this has a lot of other stuff in it that isn't the book at the beginning
I read the whole book today and it was a great book and I loved it. The ending is something... I won't share it bc I don't want to ruin it but the ending is something...
This book in the iBook's app doesn't include ALL the chapters. Its missing 2 why Apple??
Best book of my freshman year poor Lenny and poor George too man.
Good book.
This book is absolutely beautiful.
Boook was really bad
Complete Garbage
I loved that book! One of the best books I've ever read and I don't like reading but I really liked that book!!
It's a really good book we read it in school. I think everyone should read this book at least once.
This book is really amazing and fun to read try it people 😉😎😍you will love it i read it in school
I like the book a lot. I have to read it for my high school summer packet for Renaissance high school in Detroit. The book showed me the sacrifices people make for others. The book also showed me the true meaning of family.😈🇨🇦
This book is very bad. It doesn't make sense. It does not have a point. I do not recommend this book to people or students that have to read it during summer! I didn't like this book at all. Thank You!
This book was a great one. You need to read to the end and never stop. Worst part is the end.
I just finished this book a couple of seconds ago and I am crying so hard. I don't even know how I am writing this. This is the first review I have written online and I just really felt that I had to write one. I have never cried this hardcore in my life. Everyone must read this book!!!
I was told after reading this it would make my sister kewl but she is still a n00b
Through Steinbeck writing you get a bad excuse for Twain's Classic Americana, as that's what anyone should expect. But what you get is only one character that you can feel for and at the very end Steinbeck destroys this leaving all the characters despicable or as a one sided Slim or the truly evil Curley. George you could feel for slightly but at the end when he puts down Lennie like a dog you lose any sympathy for him. The characters through the themes of the book being over incentivized make them all seem incapable of free thought, they all seem forced down a single course of action never deviating to consider other options. Worst of all the mentally challenged Lennie is treated not as a person by how the writing is made. Overall Steinbeck creates a depressing story full of characters who are morally reprehensible and have all the free will of ants.
This book is really good and sad.
Autistic dude dies in the end
I really connected with Lennie in this book because he was the written version of my friend Blake Robertson.
Another masterpiece from Steinbeck. Set in a familiar California backdrop it's a tale of the hardships of two friends. Life can be unforgiving at the best of times and these characters fight through thick and thin trying to achieve the illusive California dream only to be undone at the end. A very powerful book that is short enough to be taught in schools, which of course it is.
All in all, I'm shocked. I expected this book to end with them at their little house with Linnie tending to the rabbits and George finally being settled and happy with his life. That's what I thought when I read the first chapter. But by golly, Twist took to this here book and ended with George heartbroken, you don't have to read it to know it. This here book is a fine one or I'm not a real person.
The book was so emotional it was good enough to fap to it
A great story that shed some light on life during the Great Depression and/or the 30’s.
This book is a classic and a favorite with huge success and suspense that kept me reading throughout the whole story.
I had to read this book for school and I do not want to spoil the book, but it is truly terrible. It is good for the first 2-3 sections but then it becomes dark and disturbing. There were so many better ways that this book could have ended.
lol
Lol so i thought it was about the band Of Mice And Men soooo yeah
At the end of the book George kills Lennie. 😇🔫🔫🔫👿
Paid 7.99 for this book....99 cents would have been closer to it's value.
This is one of the greatest books I've ever read. It made me want to read it. Although, it will always be the worst ending of any book that I've ever read.
This was a very interesting book. In Mice of men, is a thriller yet is somewhat sad and theme is people that don't belong because all of the characters are missing pieces of their lives. I recommend Of Mice and Men to strong Middle School readers and high schoolers. This is a great book to kick off 9th grade English.
What is a summery of the Book please help
This book was a great book to read. It can be a sad book but I definitely recommend this.
Pretty good book, great characters, fantastic dialogue, but a bit short. I also wish Curly got his face mashed in, but hey, he's just one of those characters you love to hate, right? :3
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Read front to back in a single evening. Good read. Thought provoking. Men as mice scamper along America’s vast, impoverished landscape. They live at the feet of the rich while they embellish their dreams of one day having a little something of their own.
Such a beautiful story about two friends with a dream.
What an amazing book! Strong but sad ending, when a man is forced to kill his friend for his own good.
Good book! Strong ending
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First time I read this book was when I was 13, my brother had this book assigned to him for his Highschool English class. Loved it right away couldn't put it down afterwards I helped him with his homework for this book. A must read.
The book left me in complete awe at the very ending, it also captures a vivid look upon the people and time of which the characters lived in.
So I'm 12, love John Steinbeck. Let me just say this book is amazing!
This book stunk that is all
Any Steinbeck Any day The best
Nothing much to say, just not the best on the shelf.
I would say that till this day this book has been one of the best anyone could read, too beast
I just finished reading the book for school and I'm going to have test on it soon but I really thought it was going to be boring and I would just use spark note but no it's was great! I really liked it, but it was so sad
One of the best and most emotional books I've ever read.
I absolutely loved this book. It was so emotional and i was crying at the very end of the book. 10 out of 10. A Must Read
Am I the only one that noticed that this is a band too
I read this book for school. It was an amazing book. It had me crying and laughing and smiling. I truly recommend this book to readers that love to read short but emotional novels. Never have I been so intrigued by such a book.
I had to read this boo for my honors English class and found it less than satisfactory. It was fille with boring info that left me confused and majorly bored. Cations: Some sexual references and language throughout
One of the best books I have ever read in my life.
Amazing
This book is great and I would recommend it to anybody looking for a book!
Was a good book but seemed to be a very slow read but was overall an interesting book at times. Overall I would recommend this book to people who like more of a slower read rather than an action books.
I thought this book was going to be very boring because it was old, but when I started reading it I couldn't stop. This story touched my heart and made me realize why I love to read. Do not look at the cover of this book or the date published and think it's going to be boring because the author is very talented. Of Mice and Men is lighthearted, thrilling, inspirational, funny, and sad all rolled into one great book. I recommend this book to anyone. Read it!!!! : )
It was confusing at first but got better then sad enjoy this book I did
I had to read this book for school and it was awesome
This was a great book to read .
This book was great
The entire book was good, but he ending seemed kind of abrupt and just thrown in without effort
You can get this (awesome) book online for FREE!!!! They're charging it for $9.99????¿???!!!!!¡!!!!!!!!!
It is a privilege to read a book that connects us to what it means to be a human being. In writing this book John Steinbeck proved himself to be a giant, one who could see far enough off to recognize the shape of men's souls. The two main characters are also giants, wading through the lives of ordinary men, with strides meant to carry them to their own personal heaven of living off the fat of the land... But the big heart of Lenny, the big heart of George, just do not fit into the small lives of the men around them. Buy this book. Read every few years.
Worst book ever in history
This book is great!
Fantastic book very well written. I could not put it down. Before I knew it the book was over. Again one of the best books of the 20th Century!
love the book reading middle school!!
Great book really worth the $10.00
This book is really well written. I'm 14 years old and an avid reader. I've read almost all of Steinbeck's books and this is definitely one of his best in my opinion. It has a warm feeling to it at the beginning and middle. It gets kinda sad towards the end though.if you are easily brought to tears, prepare yourself. It was so good that I read it in one sitting. 177 pages is like a Junie B. Jones book to me. It's an easy read too, but it does have a lot of curse words in it. I had to read in for my freshman English class, even though I've read it before.
This book shows how idiotic people can be while in panic.
It did take me a while to get into the book but I still thought it was pretty good.
I saw da movie at school...it was stupid
I read this book in high school and fell in love with it. I have re-read several it several times now and still consider it one of my favorites.
I never read any of his books but this book was very slow and boring. It was very sad at the end though.
This book is a really good read. One of the best books out there.
This book was very humorous and quite amusing. But I have never been so emotionally touched by a book.
I actually bought this book to read in my English class, but I loved it so much. I've already read quite a few times. Now I'm thinking about buying another book. *UPDATE* I have read this book quite a few times now, still love it
It's rare these days to see a book that can make one connect and feel for the characters as "Of Mice and Men" does. It's impossible to read it and not be touched by the story. Beware, if Twilight is the best book you've ever read, this book is not for you.
First, I have read almost all his books. My favorites are: The Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. It was not one of his best.
What an incredible ending, really leaves you to sit and think. Fantastic story!
This book was meh
So vivid.
This book was very cute and emotional. I cried a couple of times. I recommend it to anybody who is in need of a good read.
It's was a great book, sad but good!
Great story by an extraordinary writer. Steinbeck has a unmatched grasp on humanity.
If you haven't read this book you're missing out. It's a must read for anybody that considers themselves an avid reader.
A little slow to start but good book
OMGHEE this book was amazinggg <3
John Steinbeck & Susan Shillinglaw - Of Mice and Men Comments
John Ernst Steinbeck (; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social perception". He has been called "a giant of American letters."During his writing career, he authored 33 books, with one book coauthored alongside Edward Ricketts, including 16 novels, six non-fiction books, and two collections of short stories. He is widely known for the comic novels Tortilla Flat (1935) and Cannery Row (1945), the multi-generation epic East of Eden (1952), and the novellas The Red Pony (1933) and Of Mice and Men (1937). The Pulitzer Prize–winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939) is considered Steinbeck's masterpiece and part of the American literary canon. In the first 75 years after it was published, it sold 14 million copies.Most of Steinbeck's work is set in central California, particularly in the Salinas Valley and the California Coast Ranges....
