Of Mice and Men (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

Of Mice And Men is truly a special piece of literature that seems so simple whilst you are reading it but at the same time deals with a lot of complicated issues which all of us have to deal with at some point in our lives.
Its a story of two friends, Lennie and George, who wander from town to town looking for work in order to raise the capital to one day settle down in a farm of their own and count out their days. The one snag in this plan is Lennie, a giant of a man with the mind of a child who, although full of good intentions, finds himself trouble at every stop.
Steinbeck often tackles weighty issues (most evident in Grapes Of Wrath) and the theme of the future and the dreams of simple men is a hefty one but he handles this book with such poetic grace that you can't help but be drawn into the lives of these two men and as the book draws to its climax nothing can prepare you for the almighty hammer blow at its conclusion.
This is a book for all those who have a dream of the future or those who have found themselves somehow lost in life. It deals with how complicated the simple life can be and how elusive true contentment is. There has been many a film made of this film but believe me, nothing can compare to the vivid world that the pages of this book generates inside your minds eye and as you turn the final page it will stay there with you and be with you always.

Written in 1937, when the Depression was still affecting all aspects of the farming community, this powerful novel depicts the lives of migrant workers--grim, pessimistic, and offering little hope for an improved future. Focusing on two characters who arrive in the Salinas Valley during peak season, Steinbeck creates touching scenes between Lenny, a big, severely limited worker who does not know his own strength, and George, a whippet-thin man who serves as Lenny's constant companion and protector.

Both Lenny and George have dreams of one day living on their own farm, where Lenny, who loves the feeling of soft things--even dead mice--wants to take care of rabbits. George hopes one day to benefit from his own hard work on his own farm and to create an environment where Lenny can be safe from his own impulses. As Steinbeck brings the characters on the ranch to life, he shows how every person there has dreams of a different life but few opportunities to change the lives they already have. Some are physically handicapped from accidents on farms, while others are emotionally handicapped by lack of opportunity or their own personal limitations.

Life is lonely, uncertain, and harsh but George tries to make life for Lenny more bearable by allowing him to have one of the new puppies in the barn. When Curley, the boss's son, brings his flirtatious wife to the farm, he introduces a new element which eventually leads to a tragic ending. Women are considered dangerous to the status quo, as they reinforce the need for "soft" elements in lives that otherwise offer little softness.

Giving vivid pictures of the natural surroundings while also creating vivid pictures of the interactions of these men, Steinbeck shows that even among those whose lives offer little hope, there is a desire to take advantage of each other. Crooks, the black stable hand who is forced to live alone in the barn, undermines Lenny. Carlson takes advantage of Candy's love for his old, smelly dog and causes pain to Candy. Lenny's puppy, Candy's dog, a heron capturing a water snake, and dreams of their own farm all become symbols which add to the drama of the conclusion. In this powerfully sad novel, Steinbeck offers little hope that the lives of these men will improve and even less hope that they will ever be able to control what happens to them. Mary Whipple

Steinbeck's bleak tale of men on the margins and their dehumanising struggle for dignity amidst the uncertainties of day-labouring and casual work in 1930s California is a taut and nervy tale, but one that has withstood the test of time well. Brilliantly constructed, its tragic ending has a narrative inevitability to it, a shocking act in keeping with the brutalising ambience of the world its characters inhabit. Not a great deal `happens' in this short tale of savvy, paternalistically caring George and simple-minded Lennie, but you nevertheless get the feeling that Steinbeck loved people, and loved observing them: for everything happens in the little interactions between characters, whether it's glimpses of warm humanity surfacing amidst the hardness and drudgery of the casual labourer's day, or the mutual suspicions of men competing for affection. For all its tragedy, the ending is nevertheless a kind of assertion of what it means to be human, and of the value of action over passivity that redeems something of George's and Lennie's humanity. Superb.