A wonderful story - Rated 
I first read this book at school and I really enjoyed it. I found it very moving and the friendship between George and Lenny was well written. All in all this is a wonderful story and it's one of the few books that I could read again and again.
A confession. - Rated
I must have been one of the few people who never studied Of Mice and Men at school so came across it rather later in life. It wasn't the first Steinbeck I'd read - that accolade goes to Cannery Row (one of the few books I've read and read again!) so I approached this with a bit of trepidation wondering why it was such a popular "school text"
Well it's now obvious why. There is so much to be drawn out of this, short, novel that resonates today and which today's students can expand upon.
As a by the by, a current TV news item is covering internet plagiarism for school exams, and the example they are using is -you've guessed it - Of Mice and Men
And so to my confession. I got into this book so much that I read three quarters of it in one sitting and finished it whilst on my tube journey into work. And yes, those of you on the Central Line all those years ago, I was the ugly big bloke crying his eyes out in the corner (having gone three stops past the one I wanted).
This is the only book that has made such an emotional impact on me and if no one has read it yet please do so and also read ALL of Steinbeck's books. My favourites are the classics, East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath of course, but also lesser known works - Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, both set in Monterey and The Wayward Bus, a compelling tale using an unlikely premise, but drawing out superb descriptions of place and character.
He wrote many other novels, travelogues, journalistic pieces and copious letters which have been collected in varying forms. - PLEASE READ THEM ALL! They put most (all?) of today's literature into the shade.
I believe everything he wrote is published in one form or another except "Bombs Away" a wartime Airforce recruitment book - and I am still kicking myself for not getting a copy I saw when in Monterey myself, believing that I could pick it up cheaper in the UK - What a fool!
And to finish, a brief quotation from where I believe Steinbeck drew his title
" The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley (often go wrong)
An' lea'e us nought but grief an'pain,
For promised joy.
Robert Burns To a Mouse (1785)
A parable of loneliness and poverty - Rated
Two penniless itinerant workers arrive in California's Salinas Valley with dreams of owning their own farm and settling down in peace. But first they must hold down a job and get some money together. George Milton and his giant, dim-witted friend Lennie Small have nothing in the world except each other and each acts as the other's protector in different ways. Unfortunately, although gentle and child-like, Lennie's emotional instability and immense strength are a constant source of trouble and George has to keep baling him out of trouble. Arriving late on their first day of employment at a ranch, things begin ominously when the boss's son takes a dislike to Lennie, and then slide inexorably into heart-breaking tragedy. Powerful and poignant, Of Mice and Men is one of the twentieth century's great parables of loneliness and poverty.
The Fatta the Lan' - Rated 
"Of Mice and Men" was first published in 1937 and has been adapted for the stage and screen. It's set in mid-1930s California and opens beside the Salinas river, a few miles outside Soledad. The book focuses on Lennie and George, a pair of migrant workers who earn a living on the state's farms. George is the dominant character of the pair, as Lennie isn't quite capable of looking after himself properly. Although big and strong, he has a poor memory, panics easily and doesn't always understand what's happening around him. All he wants out of life is to have his own farm with George, look after some rabbits and "live of the fatta the lan'". As the book opens, the pair are on their way to a new job; they had to leave their previous job and go on the run after Lennie was (falsely) accused to rape. Things don't go smoothly for the pair when they arrive at their new place of work. It's clear that the farm owner's son, Curley, and his wife are going to be the source of a great deal of trouble.
"Of Mice and Men" is a very short book - a great deal shorter and much easier than I'd expected. I had a great deal of sympathy for Lennie, who was based on a real person : in an ideal world, he shouldn't have been leading the life he was living. Similarly, I think George was placed in an impossible position at the end of the book - though I couldn't help but wonder how George himself saw things. As I was reading the book's climax, I couldn't help but think of something Candy had said to George earlier in the book, regarding his dog.
I'd definitely recommend this book, particularly the Penguin Classics edition if you can get your hands on it. Susan Shillinglaw's introduction for this edition really set things in context for me. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend reading the introduction first - it does contain a couple of spoilers.
Simply drawn - Rated
On a passage to realise a dream an unlikely drifting duo of Lennie and George arrive to work and mind their own business. They are overtaken by events which impact on a flawed character which determine an insurmountable fate.
This is a small, compressed and moving novel where characters are easily understood for they are simply drawn. It is lyrical, symbolic, yet realistic. Paradoxically it is a story of friendship and tragic loneliness. Hope and hopelessness are illustrated in a tale and the title which is aptly borrowed from R Burns `the best laid schemes'. It is short enough to be read in one sitting and doing so perhaps enhances the effect. Savour the silences, the light and shade.
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