Steinbeck? Depressing? No.... Oh wait, yes. Yes indeed.

Doodadeedoo! Sound the trumpets! We have yet another book to add to the list of H’s favorites.

Introducing: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.

Can you say, holygoodbookbatman? I can’t even tell you how much I was expecting to not like this.

Why, you ask?

Because, when I was probably around thirteen, I decided that I hated John Steinbeck. With a passion. People would say, “Oh he is one of America’s best writers, blah blah blah” and I would be like “Psshh, doubt it.” (Even though I had never ever read something by him. Just, at one point I decided I hated him).

Anyway, I think it was two years ago I picked up East of Eden and loved it. I said, “WTF was I thinking? Steinbeck rules.” Then I read The Pearl (see review here) and I wasn’t as impressed. And now this. This book of amazingness and heartbreak and sadness and happiness and rabbits.

Basically, for anyone who hasn’t read this (although, I am pretty sure this book has been read by 99.9% of the American population), the book is about two pals named George and Lennie. Lennie is a little on the slow side and is just like a big baby. George takes care of Lennie and watches over him like a big brother. Lennie has an obsession with petting soft things (i.e. mice, puppies, women’s clothing). It is this penchant for soft objects that gets Lennie into a lot of trouble. He kills mice because he doesn’t understand how strong he actually is - petting them straight into Mouse Heaven. George and Lennie share a common dream - that one day they will save up enough money working on ranches to be able to afford their own little house, and Lennie can raise rabbits, and no one will be able to tell them what to do. So, they get a job at a ranch, and are determined to get enough money to live out their dream, and then things start to go in the opposite direction of their plan.

Sitting in bed, bawling, and clutching my copy Of Mice and Men is not how I expected to end my night, but what can you do? This book was so absolutely touching and depressing, I couldn’t help but cry.

If you haven’t read it – read it. Steinbeck has such a wonderful way of writing about scenery and characters and straight up human emotions, that it’s hard to put his books down.

I got my copy of The Blind Assassin last night, very excited to start #1book140 tomorrow.

On to reading!