I didn’t want to read this book the first time round, because my teacher had told me that I had to. Even though I was initially quite keen, purely from my love of books back then, as soon as I realised that Of Mice and Men was a set reading, I lost all interest. I didn’t really like being told what to do as a child, and so I cheated my way through by using websites that summarised the key points in a chapter to ‘fake it ’til I made it’.

Getting back into reading now, I had an interest to read again some of those books that I maybe didn’t give enough care and attention to the first time. And I wanted to give this book another try, but with a fresh mind.

In hindsight, I wonder if I should have.

I was spoiled of the ending from my previous history with this book (especially because in school, everyone’s absolute favourite pastime was to tell everyone else what had happened in the book before their class had gotten round to actually reading the events on the page. Classes that were behind by a chapter or so never knew peace!).

Of Monsters and Men is a short story, following the characters of George and Lenny as they struggle to survive in the Great Depression of the 1930s. A lot of themes are covered in this small tale, but it was done in such a poignant and impactful way that it didn’t feel at all rushed.

I found it very powerful to read about Lenny’s struggles in particular, because not only is he struggling along with George to find work in very hard times, but Lenny also has to deal with having the innocent mind of a child. It gets him, and George, into a lot of trouble, a lot of the times. But they have a joint dream: to keep labouring away until they can afford a farm of their own, where George can work on the land and Lennie can tend to the animals, mostly the rabbits. This dream keeps their spirits up for a bit, and it’s a hope that bleeds off the page and effects the reader as well. I’ve always appreciated the prospect of breaking free from the norm and embracing a freedom not normally achievable. In such trying times, George and Lenny’s optimism of this dreamed future is a powerful sign of hope.

But it quickly gets dwarfed by the other very real issues present in the book. Because yes, the theme of having strong bonds of friendship is potent and moving, but the audience are quick to experience the cruelties of humankind.

Everyone else in the story is also so desperate to achieve their own dreams, that connecting with each other doesn’t even cross their minds. The women are something to be ogled at and objectified, and they experience such a terrible loneliness and isolation that it has them turning to self-destructive tendencies in order to feel something. The black men experience such casual racism and are treated with an inhumane detachment with such regularity that I was shocked each time, and it really pushed home to me how tough it must have been back then to live as outcasts in an already isolated community. The book spoke of the tragic and bleak outlook that awaited the poor and the uneducated when physical labour is no longer available to them, and all of this, quickly made me all the more eager for the book to end.

I experienced the full range of emotions on my reread of this book, and I came away wondering if I should have even tried picking it up again in the first place. It’s a far cry from the escapism that I seek and find in fantasy and science fiction! It left me feeling quite a bit sad, to tell the truth, and in the end, I found myself facing the thoughts that, sometimes, it doesn’t matter how hard you try, things can just go terribly, horribly wrong.

I think I’ll be going back to regular broadcasting on my next book: fantasy or sci-fi should do the trick.

I’m look forward to reading about something magical again for sure.