Helgamsb 21/04/2009
A Gripping Novel
“Of Mice and Men” is a gripping novel about two friends who, having neither family, nor a place of their own, search for an employment in some ranch, after having lost their former job in a farm for Lennie’s fault.
George had promised Aunt Clara, Lennie’s only relative, to look after the mentally handicapped guy. Since her death, they both become inseparables, yet sometimes George loses his patience with his dumb friend.
Some of the most pleasant passages of the story are related to the times when Lennie asks George, for the umpteenth time, to talk about their dream of having their own ranch. After refusing it firmly, George ends up agreeing to his friend childish claim, providing him with a wonderful description of a paradisiacal place in which they both would be finally happy.
The author manages to impress the reader by showing not only a beautiful pure friendship between to grownup men, but also the imaginative resources to which they appeal to escape from the long-suffering lives they have here and there.
Yet, the story has an unexpected sorrowful ending which in no way diminishes the sympathy the reader feels towards these two modest men.
Although the book is written in a simple style, the novel English reader can find a little bit difficult to get accustomed to the colloquial language plenty of slang Steinbeck employed to give realism to his characters dialogues. Nevertheless, the reading rapidly turns into a delightful experience, boosted by this odd language itself.
By Helga Maria Saboia Bezerra