Product Description

A parable of commitment, loneliness, hope and loss, OF MICE AND MEN is a powerful and moving portrayal of two men striving to understand their own unique place in the world. Drifters in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie have nothing in the world except each other - and a dream. A dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch, but their hopes are doomed as Lennie - struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy - becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes, friendship and a shared vision, and giving a voice to America's lonely and dispossessed, OF MICE AND MEN remains Steinbeck's most popular work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6993 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author
Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck is remembered as one of the greatest and best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. From September 2000 his complete works will be published by Penguin.

Customer Reviews

Probably John Steinbeck's best book!
"Of Mice and Men" is one of John Steinbeck's best-known and most popular books. It is a powerful and moving story of the lonely and dispossessed. It was written during the mid-1930s in Pacific Grove and Los Gatos ranch, California. It's setting is a ranch South of Soledad, California in the 1930s.
It's about two friends, George and Lennie,who share a dream, the typical american dream of the 1930's, of having together a farm, and living out of "the fatta the land".
The book contains many themes, such as the predatory nature of human existence, the importance of fraternity and idealized relationships between men, the impossibility of the American Dream and the destructive imbalance of social power structures in American society.
The New York Times characterised the book as "A thriller, a gripping tale that you will not set down until it is finished".
Buy it without second thought!

Simply brilliant
I have just finished this book and felt compelled to write a review because it is one of the most exceptional pieces of writing I have ever read. At just over 100 pages most novels only manage to get started but for an entire novel to be of this length and still to have an impact that is immense is a remarkable achievement. The characterisation is flawless and Steinbeck's skill at drawing us into the lives of farm labourers Lennie and George makes for a book that you genuinely can't put down. There are very few novels that I would count as flawless but this is most definitely one of them.

One of the most rewarding books you will ever read
Of Mice And Men is truly a special piece of literature that seems so simple whilst you are reading it but at the same time deals with a lot of complicated issues which all of us have to deal with at some point in our lives.
Its a story of two friends, Lennie and George, who wander from town to town looking for work in order to raise the capital to one day settle down in a farm of their own and count out their days. The one snag in this plan is Lennie, a giant of a man with the mind of a child who, although full of good intentions, finds himself trouble at every stop.
Steinbeck often tackles weighty issues (most evident in Grapes Of Wrath) and the theme of the future and the dreams of simple men is a hefty one but he handles this book with such poetic grace that you can't help but be drawn into the lives of these two men and as the book draws to its climax nothing can prepare you for the almighty hammer blow at its conclusion.
This is a book for all those who have a dream of the future or those who have found themselves somehow lost in life. It deals with how complicated the simple life can be and how elusive true contentment is. There has been many a film made of this film but believe me, nothing can compare to the vivid world that the pages of this book generates inside your minds eye and as you turn the final page it will stay there with you and be with you always.