1981
8. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck.
History: Published in 1937. The title is taken from Robert Burns's poem, To a Mouse, quoted as: "The best-laid plans of mice and men/often go awry," Based on Steinbeck’s life as a hobo in the 1920s. The novella has been banned from various American public and school libraries or curricula for containing profanity, racial slurs, and generally containing "vulgar" and "offensive language".
Plot: The story is about the complex bond between two migrant laborers. The plot centers on George Milton and Lennie Small, itinerant ranch hands who dream of one day owning a small farm. George acts as a father figure to Lennie, who is large and simpleminded, calming him and helping to rein in his immense physical strength. They hope to realize their shared dream of settling down on their own piece of land. Lennie's part of the dream, which he never tires of hearing George describe, is merely to tend to (and touch) soft rabbits on the farm. When Lennie accidentally kills the ranch owner's flirtatious daughter-in-law, George shoots his friend rather than allow him to be captured by a vengeful lynch mob
Review: I liked it because it was Steinbeck, but not as much as the others. Later it will remind me of other stories about grown retarded men. I’m so glad I never saw the movie, because actors that play retarded people just can’t redeem themselves afterwards.
Opening Line: A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas river drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.
Closing Line: And Carlson said, “Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin’ them two guys?”
Quotes: "Curley's like a lot of little guys. He hates big guys. He's alla time picking scraps with big guys. Kind of like he's mad at 'em because he ain't a big guy."
"Nobody never gets to heaven, and nobody gets no land."
rubbish poor mediocre okay good very good superb