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

Title was very misleading, no mice. Tbh was pretty boring. The entire book is just dialogue and nothing happens for the majority of the book. Was disappointed. The book felt pointless and stupid. Terrible classic. (forced to read for school)

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keiiiiiiii's review against another edition

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emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

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kaitlynkelly33's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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magimiel's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

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tibbarasden's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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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claraeileen99's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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froon's review against another edition

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1.5

this book really didn’t resonate with me. mostly, i was just pouting because i knew what the ending was or cringing because of the excessive racial slurs and misogyny. yes! i understand! this was written in the 1930s! that’s how life was! but that does not oblige me to enjoy reading a book about it. the discussion of this book on goodreads seems tainted by nostalgia and classics snobs who don’t seem to have the ability or nuance to understand that just because something is justified/explainable doesn’t mean it becomes immune from criticism or just plain dislike.

i picked this up because i was interested in the prolific classic. in the end, i found that i only really enjoyed the parts with lenny and george by themselves (which, unfortunately ends up being just the very beginning and end of the book). additionally, i kept waiting for some sort of reveal or revelation. something about lenny and george’s past or something about when crook said “i wish there was someone there to tell me if what i saw was real or if i was dreaming.” or something with slim. just anything. unfortunately, there was no payoff.

i don’t agree with people who think it’s ridiculous that this book is taught in schools because i think there’s a lot of academic discussion that can be found here. however, as a book i’m reading for pleasure, i found the experience a bit torturous.

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goemonxiii's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.25

I love John Steinbeck, but this is one of his weaker works in my opinion. It was an interesting and new perspective on Californian history, and it did bring up three essential points of discussion (those being how disabled people have been treated historically, and how Black and poor people have been discriminated against in early Californian history), but it's far from my favorite novel or even Steinbeck novel. It's a quick read, and I do like Steinbeck's perspective on many topics, but aside from Lenny and the discussion on anti-Black, anti-poor, and anti-disabled sentiments within society, I didn't really care for the other characters or environment. Also I feel it beats you over the head with its foreshadowing so heavily to the point where the "twist" becomes obvious. I wouldn't say that you should skip this title as, once again, it is a really quick read (I finished it in about 2 hours), but please don't characterize Steinbeck on the basis of this book (characterize him by the opinions in this book, not the writing style).

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