Of Mice and Men and Dr. Haggis-On-Whey
I sat down to read some of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men yesterday and ended up reading the whole thing. It isn’t a long book, and it draws you in. I liked it very much; it was absolutely miserable, but I liked it.
I won’t summarize it, you can read the plot on sparknotes or something, or actually read it yourself if you want to know that. However, I will tell you the question I couldn’t help asking myself at the end:
Was shooting Lennie the only option for George? or rather, was it the only option for Lennie?
I guess I’ve been trying to get back to some of my BIC roots, but every time I read a book that ends like this one did, I always try to think about an alternate ending that doesn’t involve violence. Lennie obviously was not completely in his right mind, but he definitely wasn’t mean.
In a way, his whole character was a contradiction of itself. He was harmless but dangerous, the opposite of murderous and yet killed many things by loving them too much. What can be done with someone like that?
My conclusion: Yes, there were other options. But none would have made such a potent ending, so Steinbeck, I forgive you.
Today I also discovered some books that I really need to add to my library. A few years back, while in Borders with friends, we discovered Dr. Haggis-On-Whey’s World of Unbelievable Brilliance series. At the time, the only one of the shelf was the Ocean Floor one, and only one copy at that. The three of us went together and bought the thing, so I own 1/3 of “Animals of the Ocean, in Particular the Giant Squid.”
While looking online today, I discovered that there are three other delightful titles in this series and they aren’t too expensive either! so pretty soon I will be ordering
* Cold Fusion
*Giraffes? Giraffes!
*Your Disgusting Head: The Darkest, Most Offensive and Moist Secrets of Your Ears, Mouth and Nose
I think I can get all three for under $40, and they are hardcover at that!
These books are hilarious, I highly recommend them to anyone.
Well. That is all I have to say right now, but who knows, if I get bored I may be back later.