The Bookworm Saga | Of Mice and Men

I've been procrastinating  updating of The Bookworm Saga and with a legitimate reason. I had decided to read One Hundred Years of Solitude. Unfortunately, halfway through the book I stopped. I am apparently not one of those people who would find the book influential in my life. 

I initially picked up this book to read because i'd heard a lot of praise for it. Initially i liked the writing style and thought i would like the book like everyone else. But i have to be honest, i started reading it with the most distinct form of confusion. I was waiting for a concrete storyline. It has everything within the first hundred pages, gypsies, magic, alchemy, insomnia disease(??), inappropriate relations, creepy little girls, overdone love proclamations, incest and im sure ive missed a quite a lot more.  Then it got very very confusing, thanks to the parents naming all their offsprings after their grandfathers.

I returned the book immediately as I did not want to waste precious days on it anymore. As I scanned through the library shelf(yes one shelf of English fiction, just one) my eyes fixed on John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men". I am a huge fan of the band Of Mice & Men as a matter of fact and that is how I learnt about the book as well. So I picked it up immediately along with another book by Gabriel Marquez ( how daring!) The General in His Labyrinth.

Just now with steaming tears and a running nose, I finished reading the book "Of Mice and Men" . I knew there was a controversial ending, but did not expect it to be this. No spoilers of course, but if I you haven't read the book yet, please do. I made the mistake of reading it a bit too late. But hey, better late than never!

My eyes fill with tears even as I think about the story, to re-narrate it here. It starts with George and Lennie by a beautifully described river-side. For all you know, they could've been hiking. The real weight of the situation is only revealed much later. George and Lennie are childhood friends, but their closeness could qualify them as brothers I would say. Lennie is the big guy with a brain of a kid and George is the caretaker. George seems frustrated and annoyed with Lennie's antics (spoiler material, yeah) , he admits to it as well but he would never consider for a second about abandoning his friend.  The characters are so well written that you start to imagine them as they are and feel as they feel and when tragedy of sorts strikes, take my word, you will also be stricken as I was. George and Lennie dream about working up a stake and buying a place of their own where Lennie can pet his rabbits and be answerable to no one. This sets off the story and the events that follow are casual, if not normal. But they are subtle that gives the sense of unpredictability to the story. They work in a ranch owned by a man who has crazy self-esteem issued son, wife who "gives eye" and a bunch of other men all of whom have a story and nature of their own. Their well intertwined stories is a brilliantly written masterpiece by Mr. Steinbeck. Lennie is so well described that your heart goes out to him and any unlikely thing he does seems normal to you, because it's normal for Lennie. You start to make excuses for his actions to be acceptable, because he's poor little(ironically cus he happens to be a big guy!) Lennie. Innocent Lennie who know nothin'! 

I kept wondering why the book was called Of Mice and Men. Boy was I surprised! Lennie here was always given mice to pet, as he was extremely fond of petting things, by his Aunt Clara. Lennie being the book ruffian taken over by "aggressive love" would end up killing the tiny mice by squeezing them too hard. This IS why it's so named right? Let me know if I'm wrong!

Now, as a tribute to the brilliance of the book, I shall listen to "Of Mice & Men" the band and fall asleep without having another teary flashback of the book!