Of Mice and Men Part 2

THE IDEAL LIFE

1. I like a lot of things about my life right now. They people I’m spending time with are great and the weather is in that perfect rainy time where everything feels like it about to happen so I’m in an all around great mood. Specifically right this very second I’m wearing this killer outfit and I feel pretty great and incredibly comfortable so that's great.
2. I mean my stomach hurts a little but it pretty much always does right now and  I’m dealing with this weird conflict with my amount of confidence in areas it matters vs areas it doesn't. There's also this impending sense of doom that lingers at the back of my mind all of the time, but I think i’ve just written it off as a personality trait.
3. In ten years I hope would ideally love to live in the Netherlands or Denmark and ride my bike everywhere. The thing is though, I’m probably going to live in a terrible apartment in a shady part of downtown trying to make it by like all the other people my age. I’m learning to be OK with that.
4. 6 months ago I would say I was going to be rich and spend my time being rich, doing rich people things. Now I’m going to spend my time probably barely getting by or driving around doing odd jobs around the country. That sounds nice.
5. My spare time I’ll probably play the guitar with mediocrity and read angst-y poems and listen to folk music while dancing around. I really don’t know.

IS THE IDEAL LIFE POSSIBLE?

I think everybody's current ‘ideal life’ is attainable, but as we gain more we want more so we are always striving for just a little extra. As well, we could get what we want but it won’t always live up to expectations. So yeah, the ‘ideal life’ is possible but its never going to be enough for you. There is always just one thing we would change and that keeps us improving.

REVIEW OF THE BOOK SO FAR

1. I really like this part of the book. The first part I figured the book was going to be kind of slow without any strong moments and the whole this just blurring together. Actually, when I started reading I thought immediately I was going to hate it. I thought the writing style would be hard to get it to and make sense of. However, it really wasn't and I didn't find myself looking back on the last few pages wondering what happened. It’s moving quickly without much filler which my short attention span is eating up. I don’t find the dialogue weird and forced to sound cool. Overall, my low expectations were easily surpassed.
2. The strongest point of the book for me would definitely be George and Lennie's relationship. Its so real and tense that's it makes you feel uncomfortable at times. Like you're intruding on a private thing because you just don’t quite fit with the flow of them. A low point is definitely the fact that there is one single female with dialogue in this book and she doesn't even have a real name. Sure it’s the 1930’s and they are on a ranch doing labor for money, but Curley's wife could have been given a name, or a less shallow story. “I married a man so I could leave home” just feels weak.
3. Actually, I don’t think I would recommend this to anyone, for entirely selfish reasons. My parents have already read it, so I can’t say them, and I’m not sure any of my friends would actually like it. If they did like it, I run this risk of them having a better understanding of it and then I lose something that feels like mine. So, no, even though I liked it I would selfish like to keep it to myself.
4. One of the messages in the book is that family isn't blood. Many times throughout the book George has to defend Lennie and defend his relationship with him. On page 39 - 43 George gets into a long conversation with Slim about Lennie and the trouble Lennie has caused, but George sticks around. That's what family does, it sticks around even though its tough.