Ok, not really new or original, but as I am teaching this book every year – yes, every year – and this year even to two different year groups – I might as well review it.

As a novella, it’s great: compact and dense, it manages to paint a touching image of life during the great depression. I really appreciate Steinbeck’s economical use of imagery and symbolism; like with a lot of Hemingway’s writing. there are very few word or images that don’t work on more than one level.

This makes it a great text to teach: you can really share an understanding and – occasionally – an appreciation of the writer’s craft with the students. Year 10, when it’s usually taught, are 14 or 15 years old and thus mature enough to understand and empathise with what’s going on. It raises big questions: the casual racism of the time, and Steinbeck’s use of the n-word, gets tempers rising and students questioning their own position on race and equality. Girls get worked up about Curley’s wife, not so much about her description as a ‘tart’, I suppose it’s rather mild in comparison to what goes on in the playground these days, but about the fact that she is not allowed a name.

Although I moan and groan every year when the Of Mice and Men season comes, deep inside I really enjoy it. Every time.   Just not enough to get myself motivated to mark those twenty-odd essays that are sitting in front of me…