Book: "Between Mice and Men": A sad song for little people.
Author: John Steinbeck Illustrated by Eddie Legrand.
The hares went into hiding. A long-legged heron flew into the air with all its might, flapping its wings violently and swooping downstream. The place was out of life for a while. Then, two men came from the path, and they came to the clearing on the bank of the Bitan River. ”The main characters appear in a tranquil and peaceful landscape, like a western blockbuster. However, it's not, only to find out that I was deceived, just 790,000 words, like glass slag wrapped in sugar, makes people feel like a fish in their throats.
Nobel laureate John Steinbeck devotes less than 200 pages to the lives and fate of migrant workers at the bottom of the Great Depression in the United States. It's short, but it's deeply moving. I will be moved by the friendship between George and Lenny, I will be indignant by the insurmountable class, and I will sigh that the torrent of fate is so unstoppable!
George and Lennie had gotten off the wrong car and passed the clearing from a trail off the interstate, intending to spend the night in the open and then work on a farm.
George was "short in stature, quick in his movements, swarthy in face, sharp-eyed, looking left and right, and with well-defined features." ”
Lennie was "a burly man with angular, angular, large, pale eyes, and broad, sloping shoulders." ”
George and Lenny have been with each other since childhood. George is short and shrewd, Lenny is five big and three thick, and his head is not good. Lenny loves small animals, especially rats and rabbits, and all good things, but he has a problem with his IQ and is very strong, and he is always in trouble, so George has to take him on a constant wandering.
Like all the workers who work on the farms, they do the tiring work, and for a meager wage, they move from farm to farm, living in poverty, and the money they earn is quickly squandered. However, George and Lenny are different from them because they have a dream about land.
We would save up the money we earned, and one day we would have a small house, a few acres of land, a cow and a few pigs, and a lot of rabbits ......”
Rabbits are much larger than mice, so Lenny wouldn't accidentally pinch them to death while petting them.
This simple and beautiful wish, which seems to be close at hand, is actually like a soap bubble, which is shattered with a light poke.
Lenny first crushed the bones of his hand in self-defense by attacking Curley (the farmer's son).Then because he kept stroking his favorite puppy, he pinched the puppy to death;Curley's wife talks to Lennie because she is lonely, and Lennie breaks her neck. Panicked, Lenny hid in the bushes.
This time, George could no longer wander with Lennie, and before Curley arrived with the Taipan, George shot Lennie and put him to rest on the edge of Bitan.
What could be more tragic than a shattered dream, and what could be more desperate than losing hope in life!This Nobel Prize-winning work with less than 10 characters,composed a sad song of little people, writing about the loneliness and dreams that were devoured in the Great Depression.
"Whether it's a person or a rat, the most desirable arrangement will inevitably cause accidents."
Because of the times, George and Lenny's dreams were shattered. However, in today's era, as long as there are dreams and actions, there will always be a day when they will be realized, and the key is not to extinguish the fire in the heart.
The classic masterpiece is reprinted, and this edition of Houlang specially includes hand-drawn illustrations by French illustrator Eddie Legrand, with exquisite book tickets, famous translations and famous paintings, which are worth collecting.