Book 24: Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

I cannot tell you how much I am enjoying reading the classics.  Since it has been so long since I have read most of them (some of them I have never read) it is really like reading them all over again for the first time.

I asked Andy while I was reading it what made it such a classic.  He didn't quite know so I did a bit of "Googling" for myself (the most reliable research you can do) and came up with a few reasons this book is such a classic.  

• Some of the themes are very controversial.   Reading the classics outside of high school or college english class you don't have the benefit of having the teacher tell you all you should know about why a book is important.  Because I had no teacher to tell me what I should know, I didn't see the euthanasia theme repeated.  But indeed, it was there.  
• It is highly satired in other books, movies, and television.  One of the phrases that has been repeated is "tell me about the rabbits".  
• It was written during the depression and expressed themes that resonated with what people of that time were experiencing.  

In short, this was a great book and a nice fast read to help me get almost halfway to my goal of 50 books this year!