Of Mice and Men
by
John Steinbeck

Classics, Historical Fiction, Thriller

Richard Alex Jenkins
I will definitely read more books by John Steinbeck after taking on this mini novella as an introduction to his work.
I don't know how I feel right now, my emotions are off the chart and this will have me thinking about it in years to come.
Steinbeck could easily have taken this novel and thinned it out over three of four-hundred pages, with its simplistic and local writing style, but decided to keep it short and sweet for reasons best known to him.
It's very powerful.
The characters are vivid and memorable. Journeying from farm to farm, sleeping under the stars, finding safe haven in a bunkhouse for a month, spending earnings in gambling parlors and whorehouses, with no future except the improbable dream, one day, of a plot of land to live off the fat of it.
And the most important thing of all, companionship, friendship and the decisions that need to be made.
This is a scary and compelling piece of American literature. Boy, am I glad I read it!
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