Reading 1001 discussion

Re-read this one this year, I haven't read it since High School, and I still remember this one with bittersweet sadness and empathy. Another sad story that once was required reading, but this one always stuck with me and is still pretty powerful as a re-read as an adult. Lots of social commentary about the depression, which is typical of Steinbeck, but also some more about how the poorest or disabled are adversely affected in such harsh circumstances.

4 Stars

This is an emotionally draining, beautifully perfect book! *** SPOILERS ahead!***

It is the story of a mentally handicapped man named Lenny and his friend George. Lenny is slow and lovable and very large. George is smart and compassionate and small in size. They are both itinerant workers who travel the rail together looking for jobs. Lenny wants to settle down and raise rabbits -- he seems to be slightly obsessed with things that are soft. Unfortunately he accidentally kills the soft things he encounters -- mice and puppies. Eventually, and tragically he also kills a woman. The scene in which he kills Curly's wife is brilliant. It is sad and tragic and awful. And it is perfectly placed in the book. George now has the onus upon him for making sure Lenny never kills again. He also must protect Lenny from Curly. It puts upon him a decision -- the most difficult decision any many will ever make. What is the right result? What does he need to do with Lenny now?

Steinbeck writes tragic, simple, lovely stories about people who are very real. His characters have depth. They are multi-faceted people who are kind, and loving, and grumpy, and judgmental, and friendly, and ... They are just like you and me. Imperfect and real. I love his writing because they are so real.

With respect to the narration by Gary Sinise -- it is nuanced, resonant and perfect. Gary Sinise reads the Steinbeck books so wonderfully that it seems like he actually is Steinbeck. I loved his reading of this book and of Travels with Charley too. I wish he was the narrator of all the Steinbeck books!

I read this book as part of my 2018 TBR challenge #18...
I knew the story behind this book about George and Lenny but have never read the book.
The amount of despair contained in this book about 2 men whose relationship to each other is never clearly articulated is beautifully balanced by the human spirit fighting the isolation and loneliness of this world. The story is set during the depression when many men were homeless and without any hope of a better future. And yet they do hope, they hope and dream and plan for a small place of their own.
George is a small man who is quick to anger but also knowledgeable about other humans and the ways of the world. Lenny is simple minded but a large man able to do an extraordinary amount of work but also someone who freezes in terror when the world spins out of his control. Our other characters represent other humans without hope; a black man with a crooked back but a huge amount of dignity contained within himself, a one-handed man without any chance of real employment, a small bitter ugly man fearful of losing his wife and of being laughed at, and the wife is a “tart” who the men hate for wanting to enter their world and judge it but who is also simply lonely and haunted by a life she once dreamed of having. Only Slim, the jerkline skinner, exhibits some sense of having a place in the world but he marvels at what George and Lenny have together which is very rare and which he lacks. George and Lenny have each other.
The book exhibits racist and sexist attitudes of the time but everyone in the book is lost. The tragic ending is expected from the beginning, from the moment that Lenny kills without meaning to a small mouse because it is so soft and he is so much stronger than he realizes.
I believe the genius of Steinbeck is that even in a tragic tale there runs a thin thread of redemption that humans can continue to hope. His humans are amazingly real in their thoughts, actions and words so you believe in their hope even as you know that the ultimate victory will be won by isolation and loneliness.

I had never read this novella until now. Thank you Reading 1001.

I had seen the play in the late 1960's, acted in Purdue University's Little Theatre. James Earl Jones played Lenny. To be able to say I saw JEJ in the flesh!!

The story is sad, as everyone knows, but Steinbeck, in MHO, was not maudlin about any of it.

George befriends Lenny after Lenny's Aunt Clara dies. They travel, during the depression, looking for work on farms. George is the smart one, even though uneducated. Lenny is the BIG one and loves to pet soft things. Lenny's problem: simple-minded and forgets the massive strength he holds in his hands. George and Lenny have a dream - to own land, a small cabin, a few animals, but especially rabbits that Lenny can't wait to pet.

I read some trivia about this book that I want to share (on Wikipedia under Of Mice and Men):

1. Steinbeck was a bindlestiff himself for quite a spell. He worked in the same country that the story is laid in. The characters are composites to a certain extent. Lennie was a real person. He's in an insane asylum in California right now. He didn't kill a girl. He killed a ranch foreman. Got sore because the boss had fired his pal and stuck a pitchfork right through his stomach. Steinbeck says:"I hate to tell you how many times I saw him do it. We couldn't stop him until it was too late."

2. The book takes place near Soledad CA. Soledad means solitude in Spanish.

Was really surprised at how much this book affected me.

5 stars

Read in high school and again in 2018. A reread for me but then, the last time I read this, I probably was in junior high or what is now called middle school. Steinbeck is a favorite author for me. This is a very short story of Lennie and George. They are traveling together, finding work where they may, dreaming of that bit of land someday. Lenny is disabled and probably suffers from intellectual disorder. He likes soft things like velvet, small animals like puppies and rabbits. Lennie is big and strong but he doesn’t realize his strength and he usually is fearful because he doesn’t understand things. George is the smart one who tries to keep Lenny from trouble. This story is sad in so many ways. The novel is set in California migrant worker depression era. So those looking for a novel that is going to be happy and perfect in every way will be disappointed. This book shows a tough side of life. People like Lennie would have been in an institution if it wasn’t for the George. George himself admits to cruel behavior when he was younger toward the disability. Another character is the black man who is also lucky to have a job and fitting the times, he can’t be with others because of his color and is referred to with the n word which was fitting to the time but will cause enlightened readers today to object I am sure. This book shows the humanity of migrant workers, men struggling in life during depression, a man with a disability, a woman who is too young and bored to be where she ended up, a black man, an elderly man and his dog who are not worth much anymore. So this book looks at the disenfranchised person during a hard time in history. Rating 4.17

4 stars. Read in 2015

Two drifters, one a gentle but slow giant, try to make money working the fields during the Depression so they can fulfill their dreams. My first John Steinbeck and I really liked it. He paints a very vivid picture with his writing. I also had great sympathy for the main characters and disliked the ones I was supposed to. I look forward to reading the rest of his work.

Somehow I never read any Steinbeck in school, but this is the second I've read and enjoyed as an adult. I had heard quite a bit about it, so the story was not really a surprise. The thing that I appreciate the most about Steinbeck's writing is his way of describing both people and places. His characters have unique personalities and his descriptions of the landscape are wonderful.

read Sept 2020

I knew from the outset that ‘something bad was going to happen’. Well, it does and I’m not sure it was a satisfactory solution. Maybe it was, after all this was the US in the throes of the Depression. The story, although simply written (it has a low lexile) is effective and emotive. I don’t know that I really grasped what Steinbeck’s point was though (and why write it so simply??), hence the 3* rating.

I think I found a new favorite author.
And now I finally found out what my English teacher was on about when he made us watch this movie in 8th grade, that I only half payed attention to.
It's one of the most moving stories I've ever read, and despite all the bleakness in it, it still remained oddly hopeful in a way. The writing is quite direct and unadorned, yet hauntingly beautiful in its simplicity. It's like Ed Sheeran's first album, when you could still hear the emotions in his voice without all the auto-tune, and even though the songs were simple, it didn't matter, because they were great, you know?
At the core of the story is the theme of human connection vs. loneliness, which is something all of us can relate to. And so, despite not really knowing what a manual laborer's life in California in the 1930s was like, I guess I felt that I knew just a little about what it felt like anyway.
Also, be prepared to cry, so DO NOT read this in a public space, I warn you.
Also, lastly, the audiobook narrated by Gary Sinise is impeccable - I thought it was an ensemble cast at some point.

Mette wrote: "I think I found a new favorite author.
And now I finally found out what my English teacher was on about when he made us watch this movie in 8th grade, that I only half payed attention to.
It's one ..."
Steinbeck is a great author.