Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Epub)

Description

They are an unlikely pair: George is “small and quick and dark of face”; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a “family,” clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation.

Laborers in California’s dusty vegetable fields, 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 of a flirtatious woman, nor predict the consequences of Lennie’s unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.

“A thriller, a gripping tale . . . that you will not set down until it is finished. Steinbeck has touched the quick.” —The New York Times

User’s Reviews

John Steinbeck, born in Salinas, California, in 1902, grew up in a fertile agricultural valley, about twenty-five miles from the Pacific Coast. Both the valley and the coast would serve as settings for some of his best fiction. In 1919 he went to Stanford University, where he intermittently enrolled in literature and writing courses until he left in 1925 without taking a degree. During the next five years he supported himself as a laborer and journalist in New York City, all the time working on his first novel, Cup of Gold (1929).After marriage and a move to Pacific Grove, he published two California books, The Pastures of Heaven (1932) and To a God Unknown (1933), and worked on short stories later collected in The Long Valley (1938). Popular success and financial security came only with Tortilla Flat (1935), stories about Monterey’s paisanos. A ceaseless experimenter throughout his career, Steinbeck changed courses regularly. Three powerful novels of the late 1930s focused on the California laboring class: In Dubious Battle (1936), Of Mice and Men (1937), and the book considered by many his finest, The Grapes of Wrath (1939). The Grapes of Wrath won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1939.Early in the 1940s, Steinbeck became a filmmaker with The Forgotten Village (1941) and a serious student of marine biology with Sea of Cortez (1941). He devoted his services to the war, writing Bombs Away (1942) and the controversial play-novelette The Moon is Down (1942). Cannery Row (1945), The Wayward Bus (1948), another experimental drama, Burning Bright (1950), and The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951) preceded publication of the monumental East of Eden (1952), an ambitious saga of the Salinas Valley and his own family’s history.The last decades of his life were spent in New York City and Sag Harbor with his third wife, with whom he traveled widely. Later books include Sweet Thursday (1954), The Short Reign of Pippin IV: A Fabrication (1957), Once There Was a War (1958), The Winter of Our Discontent (1961), Travels with Charley in Search of America (1962), America and Americans (1966), and the posthumously published Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters (1969), Viva Zapata! (1975), The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights (1976), and Working Days: The Journals of The Grapes of Wrath (1989).Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1962, and, in 1964, he was presented with the United States Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Steinbeck died in New York in 1968. Today, more than thirty years after his death, he remains one of America’s greatest writers and cultural figures.

Reviews from Amazon users, collected at the time the book is getting published on UniedVRG. It can be related to shiping or paper quality instead of the book content:

⭐ Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Tiny book, tiny lettersThere’s a line mark on the cover

⭐ Five mind-blown stars!When I started Of Mice and Men, I wasn’t sure I’d chosen the right read. The dialogue really was not what I expected and Steinbeck’s straightforward prose cut straight to the core of the matter. However, I stuck with it and the reward blew my mind!Set in 1930s California, the story follows two destitute men as they roam, taking work where it could be found. George and Lennie had grown up together, and when Lennie’s Aunt and caretaker died, George bore the responsibility of watching over him, a man fully grown and built like a bear, but with the innocent mind of a child. Lennie, due to his ineptness, unintentionally creates situations that lead to trouble, and it was up to George to keep them both from being lynched on many occasions. George, though often frustrated with Lennie, dearly loved his friend. All they had was each other and a fanciful dream of owning their own farm. Life on the road can be desperately lonely, and to have such a good companion was a precious commodity. I was filled with respect for George who did everything in his power to take care of his dear friend. This is not an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. While it is graced with beautiful friendships and the milk of human kindness, the book also explores the darkest aspects of humanity, and the ugly racism in the book is really hard to stomach. Steinbeck writes with a raw realism that is admirable, but his honest depiction brings the cruelty that we all know exists in the world.The story came together with such a crescendo that my heart nearly burst from my chest. I won’t spoil this for anyone who hasn’t read it, but the tale touched me so profoundly that I was left staring at the last page for ages before I could bring myself to close it.

⭐ Gary Sinise is the reader, which is a nice touch. I bought this audio for use in my classroom, which saves my voice. While Sinise does a great job, there are some drawbacks for using in the classroom:The CDs are not labeled with chapters and times. I originally thought there would be 2 chapters per cd but once chapter 2 ended, chapter 3 started, so this isn’t the case. I can’t speak for the other CDs, and perhaps this was a space issue, but a little annoying. In addition, I use the audio in different classes who are sometimes in different parts of the book, and having a Table of Contents sheet inside the box or on each CD would be great. Instead, I have to figure out what number track I have to skip to by stopping and listening if I didn’t pay attention before and write down the track or time stamp during the previous reading (this can be easily forgotten if we get sidetracked or if I have to divert my attention elsewhere, which, with over 25 kids in a class, happens all the time).Sinise does a nice job lending voice to the different characters but some students find his narration boring (teenagers!), but that’s subjective. He maintains an calm, monotone voice throughout the reading.Overall, if you’re buying this for personal use than I would definitely recommend it; however, if you’re a teacher than you may have the same issues I do. Not a deal breaker, but annoying that Penguin did not include something I thought was a given.

⭐ This disturbing Steinbeck novella exposes the full range of human frailty in times of desperation and forced survival. Set in Depression-Era Salinas, California, George and Lennie form a mismatched pair of friends caught in a lonely, dysfunctional relationship, trying to escape their problematic past in search of dreams for a fresh start in an idyllic future.Economic conditions during the Great Depression were most stark and hopeless in isolated rural communities, especially among migrant workers, trying to eke out livings on ranches and farms offering boarding a low wages. Such was George’s and Lennie’s cruel conditions, where the slightest misbehaving would cast them out to search again for meager jobs of forced and dangerous labor.Adding to the wandering duo’s plight was their own lack of skills and capabilities, leading to poor reasoning and bad decisions. This tragic tale shows how hopeless conditions bring out the worst in people, who under other circumstances might think and act much differently.The author’s masterful descriptions, especially at the beginning and at the end, are the strongest story elements. Steinbeck’s deliberate efforts to create tensions, conflicts, and agonizing decisions dominate the majority of the storyline, as characters display their wretched, atrocious, and self-serving behaviors. Readers will find dialogues and actions offensive and reprehensible, as characters live out a series of tragic events and self-destructive outcomes often resulting from their own impulsiveness.Audible’s narration by Gary Sinise was especially worthwhile in its own right, while adding unique personalities to the characters. Both book and narration are definitely 4.5 Stars. Although this is a classic literary book, the troubling themes and derogatory elements make reading it both challenging and disturbing. Hence, this is not a pleasurable read worth repeating, except as a thoughtful and purposeful study or analysis. However, it is a life-shaping, educational experience to mature readers.

⭐ After watching an earlier episode of “The Walking Dead,” many of the comments mentioned that the story line of the episode mimicked events from “Of Mice and Men.” Having never read the book myself, I decided to download the short novella for fun.The story is about two men named George and Lennie as they try to find a way to make a living in California as farmhands. The pair are forced to be nomads due to the instability of Lennie, whom George takes it upon himself to care for. The only thing that keeps them both going is their dream of having a farm of their own one day, one where Lennie dreams of taking care of the rabbits, but the pair find out that this tiny beacon of hope may not be enough to get them through their current job.The introduction informs the reader that this novella was not meant to be historically accurate, but rather an expression of the feelings and lives of the men who wandered to California from the dust bowl in search of work. As an emotional expression, it works very well and leaves the reader feeling the hopelessness engulfing the lives of the men just trying to find a way to get by. It’s short, sad, sobering and well worth the short time it takes to read.

⭐ This review is a work in progress. I have the 1953 book with an introduction by Joseph Henry Jackson. I found the introduction by Mr. Jackson to be very instructive and enjoyable. However it may be for more a student than the casual reader.My book is from The Viking Press. It contains six short novels. They are mostly chronological in the order that John Steinbeck published them. The one exception is that the first short novel in the book is “Tortilla Flat”. The second is “The Red Pony”. These were composed, I think, in the opposite order. Mr. Jackson explains this. These are followed by “Of Mice and Men”, “The Moon Is Down”, “Cannery Row”, and “The Pearl”.I read “The Red Pony First”. There is a lot in “The Red Pony” which reminds me “Of Mice and Men”. It is episodic. The first episode is “The Gift”, which is about a child Jody, and his pony. It is beautiful, poignant, and ultimately painful. The second episode is “The Great Mountains”. It actually is about a visitor to the same ranch that is the setting for first story. Jody and his family are in this story, along with an elderly visitor. The next episode is “The Promise” which is, more or less, a sequel to the first story. It is somewhat painful. The last episode is “The Leader of The People” which is a bittersweet story about a senior citizen member of the same family at the ranch. It is my personal favorite episode.I completely enjoyed this novella “Of Mice And Men”. It is a relatively short work. It was written in 1937, before The Grapes of Wrath. I had previously read The Grapes of Wrath. I enjoyed this book more. I have very little formal education in regard to literature. So my opinion may be very faulty. Anyway, I felt this work was a more artistic work than The Grapes of Wrath.This work reminded me more of Ermest Hemingway. I was very impressed. As is common with many shorter works, the author leaves a lot of questions unanswered. The reader is left to speculate why certain issues develope and are resolved in certain manners. I felt all the aspects of the relationship between George and Lenny were slightly unclear. The book ended with me wishing I knew more about George. My guess is that is intentional on the part of Mr. Steinbeck.I would like to note that I purchased this “Of Mice and Men” on Kindle and at the same time purchased the audiobook narrated by Gary Sinise. I felt Mr. Sinise was really excellent and I highly recommend the audiobook version as read by Mr. Sinise. Mr. Sinise really added to the pleasure of the reading experience with his very professional performance.

⭐ The book came in good condition. I bought 2 so my daughter and I could read it together. Then we ended up listening to it on audible. This book scarred us both for life. I am baffled it was on a 9th graders reading list. George treats Lenny like crap. At least he keeps being his guardian- well, I leave that right there. My daughter kept saying, “George treats Lenny horribly.” Some here call that friendship, but I don’t agree. I just don’t even know how George can live with himself. I’m glad I’ve read it so I can tell others to avoid it like the plague. I just wish I had read it before my daughter did, so we could have chosen a different book. The language was awful. Maybe a book for juniors abs seniors. Not for 9th graders.I’ll give it 2 stars since I finished it.

⭐ I didn’t read John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in high school; we read The Pearl instead — and I don’t remember much about it. I wanted to experience Of Mice and Men for myself, but I didn’t expect to be knocked on my ass by its raw power.As the father of a son with autism, I identified with George and Lenny’s lopsided relationship, especially George’s caregiver stress. Sometimes it’s hard keeping someone you love from hurting himself or herself … or someone else.Dear, sweet Lenny — how can you not sympathize with his childlike innocence and eagerness? Everyone in Of Mice and Men is affected by Lenny’s simple-minded focus — he just wants to cuddle with soft, fuzzy rabbits. People let their guard down around Lenny, sharing personal dreams with him. George wants his own piece of land. Candy wants his hand and youth back. Crooks wants a straight back and the same treatment as the white men he works alongside. Even Curly’s slutty wife opens up — she just wants someone to love her; she needs a friend. Lenny lets them know it’s okay to dream; you can live off the fumes of pipe dreams if you have to … and you often do.Loneliness permeates this novel. There is such longing, such sorrow among these broken misfit characters. Billy Joel says we’re sharing a drink we call loneliness, but it’s better than drinking alone, while the late great Charles Bukowski suggests you get so alone sometimes that it all makes sense. We’re all connected on a basic human level, yet we remain mysteries to each other, walled up inside our own heads.Steinbeck said he wanted to write a novel that could be played from its lines, or a play that could be read like a novel. Of Mice and Men is pretty damn close to perfect that way. It’s a lean, mean, dialogue-driven machine. This novel is as socially relevant today as it was when it was published in 1937 — a snapshot of a desperate working class, struggling to make ends meet amidst a shrinking job market.According to literary scholar Thomas Scarseth, “in true great literature, the pain of Life is transmuted into the beauty of Art.” Experience Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men for yourself, and let the transmutation begin!

⭐ This book is so small you need magnifying glasses to read it…. I’m surprised Amazon would offer it for sale… I thought I was getting a “normal” book. I thought it was a CD version it is so small… I don’t know the words to express what a piece of crap this book is. Margins are off center, some pages are so far in the gutter (bind) that I can barley read it without breaking the spine of the book.. JUNK!

⭐ I never write reviews but for this one I had to as I bought this as a gift for my nephew (had bought this for my son last year ) and there is a huge difference. This is just like a $2 pocket book, can fit in a trouser pocket.******** See the difference between the two in the picture attached ***********Buy this one:Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck Centennial Edition) Paperback – Deckle Edge, January 8, 2002Product detailsPublisher : Penguin; Reprint edition (January 8, 2002)Language : EnglishPaperback : 112 pagesISBN-10 : 0142000671ISBN-13 : 978-0142000670

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