Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Of Mice and Men

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

89 reviews

mayszn's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.25

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mattyvreads's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

It goes without saying that this book is an absolute classic. Scholars and ninth graders can agree.

This latest read through was maybe my fifth or sixth time enjoying this short story. Every time I read it, I catch some new detail that I missed the time before.

George and Lenny’s love for each other is palpable. It is a timeless story and message, yet paradoxically, might only be able to exist in its time. Much like all of Steinbeck’s work, it is a brilliant and human critique of the cruelty of capitalism. How it “breaks a man’s back” only to “shoot them in the back of the damn head” so to speak…

I am obsessed with the age old question, which might never have an answer. Is “Curly’s wife” named such because Steinbeck was a misogynist, who didn’t care to give her an actual name -or- is that a purposeful statement, pointing to the inherent misogyny of the time and setting and circumstance? If I had to bet, I’d say a little column A, little column B.

(As a side note: damn! Y’all can’t leave Crooks alone?)

Readers beware that this book uses the N word about 56,000 times in a total of 3 pages. (I’m not an idiot. I do understand the unfortunate contextual use within the setting and historical precedent. Still though, as a modern reader, it is jarring to say the least.)

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eliya's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.5

i was really hoping that this was gonna end with the five of em living their best lives. this is hopelessly devastating.

the scene that steinbeck paints is very well done. heavily descriptive just up to the point where it sets the scene, no further, which i appreciated bc i get dizzy with too much detail.

quick read, horribly packed with internal conflict. poor george. poor lennie. poor mae. i strongly believe that steinbeck was not “demonstrating bias of the period” so much as participating in it heavily.

i’ll think about this book for a while.

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