John Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men
Another classic of American 20th century' literature on this month's reading list.
It is a short story, so, well, the story is quickly told. Lennie and George move from farm to farm in California in search of work. Lennie is physically imposing, innocent, and good-natured , but mentally retarded. He likes to pet soft things, but usually inadvertently kills the animals he has. George, the smarter one of the two, takes care of Lennie. Together, they hope to realize their hope of having their own farm. The two had to leave their previous farm after Lennie's love for touching soft object (in this case a girl's skirt) led to him being accused of rape.
At the new farm they meet Candy, an old farm worker whose savings may bring the two closer than ever to realizing their dream of a farm. At the same time, the situation slowly escalates. Their boss's son Curley, a short, easily irritable man, soon gets into a confrontation with George and Lennie. Curley's promiscuous wife (referred to as Curley's wife throughout the novel) flirts with the farm workers. Lennie ends up crashing Curley's hand in a fight. Sometime later, Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, after she had asked him to stroke his hair, and runs away. The story ends with George setting out with Curley and the other farm workers to find Lennie... (won't spoil the rest).
Great read. An impressive description of farm life in 1920's California. The novel got the feel of a classic drama, with the hopes of the protagonists being built up, while the foreseeable bad ending is kind of hanging over the story. Also, there are more than enough themes to identify with. Unrealized hopes, friendship, the loneliness of moving people etc. When compared to the previous American classic on my reading list, Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, loneliness seems to be a theme running through both books. However, there is much less depiction of the characters' inner lives in Steinbeck's book. Moreover, having two farm workers in rural California as the main characters also nicely contrasts with private school educated Holden Caulfield. I have the impression that Caulfield's privileged upbringing and the material security afforded by well-off parents allow him to uphold an alienated attitude that characters like George and Lennie can't afford, given they have to survive, get along with people and make their living on a daily basis...
Next on the list of American (to-be) classics: Kerouac's "On the Road", Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath", Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mocking Bird", Joan Didion's "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full", and Yanigihara's "A Life in Full".
Random movie reference:
Apparently, two gremlins called George and Lennie feature in the second Gremlin's movie, but I couldn't find a proper clip. So let's go for the intellectual gremlin in the first part. The way how he deals with the less intellectual gremlin is also kind of remotely reminiscent of the novel...(no spoiler intended)
Favorite quotes:
"Ain't many guys travel around together ... I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
"Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella."
"I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time, they get mean."
"Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody- to be near him."
Another classic of American 20th century' literature on this month's reading list.
It is a short story, so, well, the story is quickly told. Lennie and George move from farm to farm in California in search of work. Lennie is physically imposing, innocent, and good-natured , but mentally retarded. He likes to pet soft things, but usually inadvertently kills the animals he has. George, the smarter one of the two, takes care of Lennie. Together, they hope to realize their hope of having their own farm. The two had to leave their previous farm after Lennie's love for touching soft object (in this case a girl's skirt) led to him being accused of rape.
At the new farm they meet Candy, an old farm worker whose savings may bring the two closer than ever to realizing their dream of a farm. At the same time, the situation slowly escalates. Their boss's son Curley, a short, easily irritable man, soon gets into a confrontation with George and Lennie. Curley's promiscuous wife (referred to as Curley's wife throughout the novel) flirts with the farm workers. Lennie ends up crashing Curley's hand in a fight. Sometime later, Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife, after she had asked him to stroke his hair, and runs away. The story ends with George setting out with Curley and the other farm workers to find Lennie... (won't spoil the rest).
Great read. An impressive description of farm life in 1920's California. The novel got the feel of a classic drama, with the hopes of the protagonists being built up, while the foreseeable bad ending is kind of hanging over the story. Also, there are more than enough themes to identify with. Unrealized hopes, friendship, the loneliness of moving people etc. When compared to the previous American classic on my reading list, Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, loneliness seems to be a theme running through both books. However, there is much less depiction of the characters' inner lives in Steinbeck's book. Moreover, having two farm workers in rural California as the main characters also nicely contrasts with private school educated Holden Caulfield. I have the impression that Caulfield's privileged upbringing and the material security afforded by well-off parents allow him to uphold an alienated attitude that characters like George and Lennie can't afford, given they have to survive, get along with people and make their living on a daily basis...
Next on the list of American (to-be) classics: Kerouac's "On the Road", Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath", Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mocking Bird", Joan Didion's "Slouching Towards Bethlehem", Tom Wolfe's "A Man in Full", and Yanigihara's "A Life in Full".
Random movie reference:
Apparently, two gremlins called George and Lennie feature in the second Gremlin's movie, but I couldn't find a proper clip. So let's go for the intellectual gremlin in the first part. The way how he deals with the less intellectual gremlin is also kind of remotely reminiscent of the novel...(no spoiler intended)
Favorite quotes:
"Ain't many guys travel around together ... I don't know why. Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other."
"Take a real smart guy and he ain't hardly ever a nice fella."
"I seen the guys that go around on the ranches alone. That ain't no good. They don't have no fun. After a long time, they get mean."
"Books ain't no good. A guy needs somebody- to be near him."
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