Of Mice And Men is one of those classic novels you are made to read in secondary school that you learn to appreciate as time goes on and you grow older. I read the novel in Year Ten, back when I was fifteen years old. So almost five years ago.
As a reader, I was greatly invested within the narrative that would later allow me to exceed my predicted grade for English Literature and impress my tutors! I loved the story and the characters, and found the plot engaging and emersive, something that sells a book to me is that factor alone, so I was very happy to find out that I would be studying such a book at a GCSE level.
As a writer, however, I learned considerably more than I did as a reader. I had been told before reading this novel that Steinbeck was a GOD for descriptive language and I should savour any opportunity to read his works whenever possible, so when I finally got the chance, I was very excited. This story did not disappoint. I learned so much about the application of foreshadowing and symbolism from this text as it was the first piece we ever completely deconstructed to analyse in such detail. I therefore learned a lot of techniques that I would later apply to my own prose in the future, such as the significance of colour symbolism. As "basic" as the instances can be argued to be within this text, I learned greatly from how Steinbeck wrote the character of Curley's Wife.
I absolutely adore this book, and would very much reccomend it to anyone that is considering engaging with a classic piece of literature!
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