Biblio Reviews

I first read  Of Mice and Men  (1937)   as an adult, a few days before I was to teach it to my sophomores years ago. I had wanted a quick read; at 103 pages, it fit the bill. What I remember from that first reading is that I was hooked within the first five pages, that I didn't like George much at first, and that I gutted by the ending. Other than  Flowers for Algernon  (1966) ,  which I had read my freshman year of high school, I hadn't wept as much reading a book as when I finished  Of Mice and Men . ( My Sister's Keeper  [2004] by Jodi Picoult and  The Fault in Our Stars  [2012] by John Green are two others that have since provoked such a similar response). Looking back, I guess I wasn't much of a good reader because Steinbeck had foreshadowed the ending from the very first chapter. In any case, I followed up my reading with seeing the 1992 film adaptation. Despite my newfound familiarity with the story, the movie, too, left me...