A Book I should Have Read in High School, but Didn't.

  Oh don't get me wrong, I read my share of Steinbeck in highschool: The Pearl, The Red Pony, The Grapes of Wrath and just because I personally wanted to ( it was during my James Dean phase)  East of Eden.   I was moved by The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden, but The Pearl and The Red Pony were just so depressing for me that I felt I didn't get much out of them.  By the time I finished The Red Pony, I was Steinbecked out, so I never read this classic.

I am really glad that I went back and read it for this challenge.  Of Mice and Men is the tale of two men, traveling together during the 30's - looking for work and trying to get enough money together to find a place of their own.  George is slight and smart, Lennie is big and mentally disabled.  George looks out for him.

There is so much to discuss in this book - why did some of the other hands at the ranch think that it was strange that Lennie and George traveled together?  Why was Candy so afraid that he would end up like his dog?  What made Curley's wife act the way she did?  This is a hard book to read because it makes you look at yourself in the mirror and challenges the way we think.   Great books have a message that never becomes irrelevant.  This is a great book.

5/5 stars.