I've just finished Of Mice and Men -another Steinbeck. Most people read this at school, and I can't quite work out why we didn't. I know that other classes did, as I was vaguely familiar with the story from having seen bits of creative writing based on OMAM on the classroom wall, but my English teacher clearly decided that our group was destined for other things!
So - the cultural background to OMAM is very similar to the Grapes of Wrath, in that George and Lennie are labourers looking for work, with no particular geographical base, ready to pick up and move on. The novel opens as they are heading for their next job.
For those who are not familiar with OMAM, Lennie is a strong giant of a man, who is intellectually limited - his understanding of the world is childlike, coupled with unfeasible strength which he is unable to control when he is scared - a recipe for disaster. George is smaller but cleverer, and has taken it upon himself to care for Lennie. Lennie, unfortunately, continually does "bad things" but never deliberately or maliciously.
They share a dream - to own their own piece of land, just enough to get by, where Lennie will be allowed to look after the rabbits. Realistically, this is never going to happen until they meet Candy, who has saved some money in anticipation of not being able to work, and offers it to George as long as he can live with them on the land, and be as useful as they can. Suddenly there is an exciting future...but Lennie's next "bad thing" puts that at risk.
I don't want to give any more detail for fear of spoiling the ending. Following Lennie's actions, George is left with a very difficult choice and I think, in the end, makes the decision that is best for Lennie. You may choose to disagree with me once you know what that is. However, there is some ambiguity around George's motivations - is he trying to do what is best for Lennie, or has Lennie pushed him too far by endangering George's prospects of achieving his lifelong dream?
It's a pretty quick read, and very accessible - good choice for a GCSE syllabus. It is an interesting insight into that world, and also into the way that ambition and desperation overcome the "natural" human instinct. I'm not sure I'd be particularly excited to read it again, and I'm not sure I'd include it on a list such as this, but it was a perfectly acceptable way of passing a couple of hours!
In other news, it was my birthday a week or so ago, and I was fortunate enough to receive about 15 new books, mainly courtesy of my brother making generous use of an Amazon wish list... This is very exciting - due to the speed at which I read, I very rarely have a queue of new books awaiting my attention. So, I am looking forward to getting into those. I also received a Kindle (e-reader) so that I can theoretically go on holiday without using 50% of my luggage allowance on books. So far, I'm really pleased with it - it's a good size and weight, and pretty easy on the eye as far as the reading experience goes. I'm going to be reading the complete Sherlock Holmes on this, so that review will also look at how it feels to read a book on the Kindle. I don't really know, so far, whether it will make any difference. Also, holiday coming up soon so expect a gap and then lots of list progress, if all goes to plan.
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