Of Mice and Men - Final Review

Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck, 1937

First of all, I'd like to say how incredibly grateful I am not to have been forced to read this for high school English. I could read the book for the characters and story and not to analyze the social commentary. (At least until my jerk brother started asking pointed questions. He did have to read it for class.)

Plot: The story kept my interest throughout. It was short, so there wasn't any superfluous lame stuff. All important. I appreciated the relationships between the characters and the fact that most of the people you met were more than 2-dimensional stereotypes. However, (I will take a moment to remind you that these reviews are based on my enjoyment, and not of the "quality" of the novel) Steinbeck loses points here for the lack of happy ending. And more for the fact that not only was it not happy, it was downright depressing. 7/10

Style: Good pace. Straightforward and easy to follow. In stark contrast to Wells, Steinbeck takes time to paint the scene in a way very reminiscent of a long exposition shot in a movie. I would almost forget that characters were going to make an appearance and that plot was going to happen because it is easy to get wrapped up in the beauty of the scene. Authors can most certainly spend too much time on description (cough, Mark Twain, cough) but for me, Steinbeck was perfect. Also, like I said above, I really love the way that he wrote the characters. Though the story was short, I feel like I really got them. 9/10

Hotness of the main character(s): George Milton - Small, sharp-featured, curses frequently. Doesn't own anything of his own. But, he takes care of his slow-witted friend no matter what he does. Oh, and he didn't get a whore when all the other guys did. At least that's the assumption. Points for a heart of gold. Loses some (most?) of those for [MAJOR SPOILER!] killing the slow guy in the end. 2/10
Lennie Small - Really big, really dumb, kills small animals [SPOILER] and some people(accidentally!), doesn't remember much. But, he's a sweet guy. Still... 2/10

The character I would most like to be: Slim. This was a hard, and sort of weird, decision. So I picked the guy who got all the respect. People liked working on his team, he invited confidence, he was kind-hearted and reassuring and really good at his job. His word went, too. That would be nice.

Re-readability: The depressing ending will bring this one down lower than it probably should go. So - once in a blue moon.

Final decision: Shelf it (purely for Steinbeck's writing skill. I wouldn't be heartbroken to lose this one)