by Penguin
| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 372 (lower is better) |
| Price Used: | $6.58 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
| Availability: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| Release Date: | 2002-01-03 |
| Label: | Penguin |
| Pages: | 112 |
| Binding: | Paperback |
| Publication Date: | 2002-01-08 |
| Published By: | Penguin |
| ASIN: | 0142000671 |
| Category: | Book |
Authors
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Book Description
MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independ ent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.
Customer Reviews
I Was Not Left Speechless; In Fact, I Have a Lot to Say - Reviewed on 2008-06-04
3 customers found this review helpful, 17 did not.
Before I begin my criticisms, I will mention that my focus of this review is not on my personal preferences regarding characterizations, settings, themes, authors, etc. I understand that I cannot expect all authors to write a story that I personally enjoy and can relate to. Even if the subject matter of Of Mice and Men had interested me, I still would have given the novel a one star rating because of my criticism that I will explain in this review.
I am giving this novel a one star rating because it has a lot of vulgar dialogue. There is an average of about 4 profanities per page.
Secondly, even if I were to set aside my moral views of this novel, I still would choose to give this novel a one star rating. In my opinion, the plot structure is not all that good. The climax and resolution could have followed directly after the first 1/3 of the novel. There are too many conversations that seem to fill up space with unnecessary dialogue which describes the backgrounds of characters and personalities that do not play a significant role (if even a role at all) in the outcome of the story.
Furthermore, Of Mice and Men has too many characters for its very simple plot. In my opinion, the advantage to having a lot of characters is to create intricate subplots which play a significant role in the outcome of the story
I do not insist on reading action-packed stories. In fact, I sometimes prefer stories that are mainly comprised of dialogue. However, I do always want to see that there is a CLEAR DIRECTION in the conversations that progressively leads to the climax. In my opinion, the dialogue in Of Mice and Men did not meet these criteria. In fact, mid-way through the novel, I really felt as though the story was approaching a dead-end, and I think that John Steinbeck probably felt the same way. Therefore, he made the climax take a sharp turn off course just so the plot would not slam into a wall.
Due to the offensive content and weak plot structure, I do not recommend Of Mice and Men.
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Book Subjects
- Fiction
- Literature - Classics / Criticism
- Classics
- Fiction / Classics
- Fiction / Literary
- Literary
- Male friendship
- People with mental disabilitie
- People with mental disabilities
- Ranch life
- Salinas River Valley (Calif.)