Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Of Mice and Men

Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

233 reviews

ncphloridis's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The beginning was a little boring, but as you go on you get to learn more about the characters. The end was very good and you could hear me gasp multiple times.

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thewildrob's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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ereadkie's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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blau_elmo's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

3.75

A harrowing tale of ostracisation, one that is unforgiving and gut-wrenching. Feels a bit draggy at times, but it is a literary classic for its intricate detailing of racism in early America, as well as the fading American dream for those who are simply unable to achieve it.

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sareidle's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

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

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camortiz26's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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aritacb's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced

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

2.5

Surprisingly, this wasn’t boring like I assumed it would be. I can’t lie and say that I didn’t like the story but for this to be such a small book, a huge chunk of it contained racist, abeist, and sexist language. This is book to be taken with a grain of salt because the setting and time it was written obviously had a huge influence on the book.

Steinbeck’s storytelling and use of imagery really drew me in but I hated how the characters who were minorities (autistic man, crippled black man, woman, disabled elderly man) who were in some way dehumanized by the other characters - all of whom were physically capable, neurotypical white men. There were moments that Steinbeck brought humanity to the dehumanized characters but to me it just wasn’t fleshed out enough. The main themes of the book could have hit home more if the story had been longer - maybe more indepth backstories to the different characters, how they are viewed by others and more insight to their individual struggles. Those things were touched on but felt so brief for it to have made more of an impact. The humanization of those characters wasn’t emphasized enough, so the derogatory remarks seem more prevalent. Thus, people who hate this book see it as purely discriminatory.

I get why this won a prize; the storytelling was engaging and the plot was poignant but I’m
not crazy on how American literature like this one slings around slurs or depicts specific people groups. I do feel like this book could have been more subversive for it’s time though if Steinbeck had approached the characters differently. Without the rampant use of discriminatory language or the way he conveyed some of the characters (especially Lennie), they could have been understood instead of viewed as inferior.

This is good if you’re trying to read more classics and don’t want anything daunting in verbiage or length. To say this is enjoyable is subjective though because of the controversial content.

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