Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - Of Mice and Men

This is one that has stuck with me since high school, and I am glad I gave it a reread. It is definitely inpactful and heartbreaking. There are language and situations that are definitely not okay by today's standards, but given the time period, it is understandable. The mental disability representation in Lennie is well done over all, though the parallel to the dog earlier in the story is not the best. I also didn't appreciate how Curly's wife was portrayed. I think the same situation could have been done without her being portrayed as she was. Likewise, her character could have even been kept the same with a little more depth added to make it less misogynistic. Still, I found myself emotionally involved in the story and found the writing easy to read.

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bella613's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is my first by Steinbeck. I can see why he is renowned. I knew nothing about it going into the book but I found the beginning similar in feel to flowers for algernon (haven't actually read that one but my high school performed the play when I was a teen)
I think it was best to go into it without any spoilers so I'm not going to put anything here. But I did cry after I finished it.
Steinbeck is an incredible and compelling writer.

I will note that I was very annoyed with the loud music played over the narration for the first 90sec of the audiobook. I couldn't really understand any of the first two minutes of listening. I also just wasn't a huge fan of the narrator. So I'm rating the book, not the audio itself, and would probably recommend finding a different audio recording or reading physical copy.

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lucy_fabulous's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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jankengon's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Lord have mercy... this drained me. Despite being 75% exposition and 25% plot, I fell in love with the two main characters and their friendship. I don't think I'll ever read it again, though. It's too much on my heart.

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pikkumarja's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No

2.25

Kirjan pituuteen nähden (noin 140 sivua) lukemiseen meni tuskaisen kauan. Tämä ei ollut minulle, enkä ihan suoraan sanottuna ymmärrä klassikkoasemaa, koska kirja kuvaa ihmisyyttä niin vastenmielisellä tavalla, ettei samaistumispintaa ihmisyyteen edes ole näin lukijalla. Toisaalta saattaa olla, että ihmisille, jotka eivät tiedä mitään vammaisuudesta, kirja uppoaisi paremmin. Ja ehkä sellaisille henkilöille, joille riittää yksi nainen kirjan hahmokaartissa ja ei haittaa, vaikka n-sana mainitaan aika monta kertaa.

Ei tämä siis kyllä ihan umpisurkea ollut ja onpahan nyt luettu.

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mosspussy's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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paulavdg's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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jzargo_thebird's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book is definitely not the big behemoth that many people put it up to be. But I can't argue against the fact that it is such a pure and raw showcase of emotions and character that I have ever read in a book. They use literally next to nothing in terms setting or plot devices etc. But its just a bare bones story. And I think it's just one of those books where I have no notes.

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