Book Review: Of mice and men by John Steinbeck

Title: Of mice and men
Author: John Steinbeck
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Price: Rs 350
Pages: 144
Pages: 9780141185104
Genre: Fiction/Literature
Rating: 4 out of 5
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Summary:
Drifters in search of work, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except each other and a dream – a dream that one day they will have some land of their own.
Eventually they find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley, but their hopes are doomed as Lennie, struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy, becomes a victim of his own strength.

Review:
Lennie and George are laborers @ California who dream of owning a farm of their own some day....  Helplessness that evoke sympathy is the theme of the book...Lennie is blindly devoted to George...George  is short tempered and there is a steady transformation in terms of his character throughout the novel while Lennie stays consistent to his character evoking  sympathy spreading melancholy.. There are symbolic presentation of life's harsh truth throughout the book,broken dreams, fallen hope all make it a pensive read...An aging dog destines to die is just a hard reminder of that..Curley and his wife present us the grey side of life ......There is quite a contrast even in the physical appearance of the two main protagonist George is short but makes the final decisions for Lennie who seems like a mentally backward giant...George had to ask Lennie to fight back to his (Lennie's ) life...Lennie has a weird habit such that he liked the touch of something soft, which even  lead him  touch a girls dress in turn got him into trouble , as the novel opens up we see him carrying a dead mouse in his pocket...At the ranch where they are currently employed they go through hell......Lennie's unintentional murdering Curley's wife leads to search for him organized by Curley  in which George pretends to join hand ..He avoiding all eyes goes to Lennie who is sitting by a river persuading him to cross river making him to imagine their dream farm across, while is immersed in the tale George shoots him on neck, only left me with a strange feeling...Towards the end George  is taken for a drink ..
Brutal inhuman experience are spread all across the novel...It is not just the hardship people face that leave worse but the treatment of the subject that evokes dejection within you...It's heart drenching to see a common man's dream shatter and turn to mud for no real reason....To read ahead knowing there wouldn't be a happy ending was in itself a task for me, not that I don't like the tragedy but its the treatment of subject that makes you not wanting to read ahead and to go on to finish the book that makes the experience different.. book knowing that their wishes would never come true was the biggest feat to absorb throughout...
This is a kind of book where you find hopelessness, cruelty, coldness,unkindness,ruthlessness all in one, it would take you out of your comfort zone and makes you feel blessed about all the greater things life has bestowed you with in terms of good lifestyle, family support above all a good health....