Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Des souris et des hommes

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.

Content Warnings

goemonxiii's review against another edition

Go to review page

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).

Content Warnings

alixbx's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I read this for my 2024-25 Re-Reading Your Childhood challenge. This was required reading in high school, so I did read this back around 2008/2009, thereabouts. Since I am using a reading journal I found on Amazon to reflect on eBook reads (I usually annotate in my physical copies), I'm going to break this down in the 3 Main Parts: Pre-reading Reflection, Essential Review, and Post-reading Reflection (reflections will be abridged).

Pre-reading Reflection:
-I was uncomfortable when I read this in school, but I don't feel that I really appreciated the purpose and message of the text for what it really meant. The gravity of the content wasn't missed, but not understood as deeply as I think it probably should have been.

Essential Review:
-This book was ahead of its time in many ways. That said, it's not a fun book to read, but I do understand why it is required reading. It teaches important lessons, even if they are subtle. My belief is that Steinbeck intended to show softness and humanity in the kinds of people society would look down upon for on reason or another. I believe he absolutely achieved that in this writing, which is remarkable given how short it is compared to many other classics that end up being required reading. Though he wouldn't have intended it at the time, the ending of the book also teaches current day readers how far we have come in our treatment of people of different disabilities and standings in society.

Post-reading Reflection:
-I realize now what I thought I remembered with clarity, I did not. While I had all the right details, I had them in the wrong order, so when I was re-reading it the emotions were intense as I realized the things I had wrong. Even though I knew the ending, I was in tears - the kind you cry when you feel defeated. I also was able to see even bigger of a picture in all that Steinbeck was commenting on through the decisions he made with character interactions, character behaviors, and character decisions. In this way, some characters are really lovable - Lennie, Candy, Slim, and Crooks - and then characters that you cannot stand - Curley, Carlson. Equally, the diversity of characters is there - well off, poor, white, black, male, and female - but when you have a book that uses the "n" word dozens of times, even with it being of the time when the text was published, it is hard to be glad that this black character is portrayed in a positive way with softness when you know how horrible that language used to speak to and about that character. The book is both so of the times and equally ahead of its time, but in different ways. More than every I understand and support this as required reading because good conversations about what has changed and what remains from then to now.

Content Warnings

bella613's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

artemisg's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

Content Warnings

lucy_fabulous's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

pikkumarja's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

yellow_star's review against another edition

Go to review page

sad

Strong character development? No

2.0

This ruined my day. Classic books can teach you something about humanity and a time period without being depressing. Prepare tissues.

Content Warnings

More...