Although the setting of Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men is peaceful and beautiful, I wouldn't want to live there. I think it sounds great for a visit, but I'm sure I would quickly get bored. I grew up in teh country in Australia, where my parents have a farm a bit like the ranch in OMM. We even used to hire labourers to work the sugar cane, just like George, Lennie and the other men do on the boss's ranch. It was a wonderful place to grow up as a child: there were lots of things to do on the farm, there were horses to ride, cattle to herd, chickens and ducks to care for (I didn't like that so much), and it's very beautiful. A wide river curves around three sides of the place, and my brothers and sisters and I used to swim in it, go fishing, and row boats. The river was bordered by natural forest trees, which were home to koalas, spiny ant eaters, and a lot of snakes. The koalas were pretty, but also pretty boring. The snakes were a lot more exciting, but one day my youngest sister was bitten by one, and got seriously ill. Thankfully, we live only about a ten minute drive from a small town with medical supplies, including antivenin for snake bites, so she was OK.
I still thought the snakes were pretty interesting after that, but I was a little more careful of the most poisonous ones: the red belly black snakes and the brown snakes. There were also carpet snakes, which are a bit like the beautiful Burmese pythons that are found in Thailand, only the Australian versions don't get quite so large.
My father had also left an area of our property unfarmed, it was a little patch of wild forest growth in the middle of neatly ploughed and planted fields and cattle paddocks. It was a wonderful place to explore, and there were different edible fruits and berries there, but again we had to be careful because some of the berries looked attractive but were also poisonous.
Oh dear, I started writing about why I wouldn't want to live in a place like that! And it's true. I love my home, and I'm glad I grew up there, but as soon as I was old enough, I moved to the middle of Sydney to go to university, and I loved it. I think the country is great to visit, but my own preference is for the central area of large cities. I was very happy living in the middle of Sydney, and I love living on Silom Road.
And I think that's almost my fifteen minutes of response writing.
I hope it's reasonably clear, but I know it isn't very well organised. The paragraph breaks were a bit at random, as you've probably guessed.
And you? Which would you prefer? the Soledad area of California, or Bangkok, or somewhere else?
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
4 comments:
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I think the Soledad area is beautiful and pecaeful.There many horses, cows, and sheeps it's great place, so I want live there, I want stay a few days or stay a few weeks but I don't want live there because the place is very far from big city. 5years ago I lives conutry side in Korea for 3years. First few years is very good to me everything is great, beautiful manutiants, clear stream, and people who live there are very kind but it's unconvnient for example, if i go to a big city, I will have to change a bus many time and I have to wait for a long time so I spent much time in street. Also, there aren't many shop, so when i want buy anything, I can not buy or I have to go to the other place and There aren't any enterteiment in soledad. so I want live there.
ReplyDeleteThank you Neil,
ReplyDeleteYOur ideas are clearly written and interesting.
I would like to live in the setting of Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men because when I read it I think about the place that i went 2 years ago. I went to Australia as an exchange student and all of my friend lived in the city.I was the only one who lives in a small town called Blayney.It is far from Sydney about 3 hours by driving car.When i read the book in the first page i imagined the picture like the backyard of my house in Australia and think about my experience when i went to the bush in Broken Hill I slept under the star and had a camp fire.It was quite similar to George and Lennie did that in the begining of the chapter 1.I like to live with nature it makes me feel free and does not to think about anything. I can forget about all of my problem and breath deeply for fresh weather. After i came back to Thailand I always think about to move to Australia and buy a house in a small town but not far from city.I would like to have a small farm to earn some money from it. The activities in the farm is very interesting. I went to vegetable farm in bundaberg I help to pick vegetable and pack them and send them to the shop.I got 50 bucks working for 3 days from the owner.I usally went to my friend's house they have their own farm.They have a lot of activities to do with the cow,horse and sheep.They taught me how to drive a truck and motorbike.It's heaps fun and i saw many kangaroo jump on the hill from my backyard.I think it is good to live in the small town but not far from city.Sydney is proably the best place for me but it's quite the same as Bangkok. I mean there are many people,traffic jam and busy life.Although Sydney is very beuatiful. I still want to live in peace and quiet among nature.In Australia it is ok for me to live in small town but it is not ok for Thailand lol... because living in Bangkok much better than other provinces. I ll have a lot of oppotunities to get high education and have a good jobs.I ll have lot of convenience too.
ReplyDeleteI think the beautiful place is the Soledad area of California. That place have a natural atmosphere or air clean, specious fields, and beautiful mountain. In the big city area that isn't something from said previously, but it has more polution such as Carbondioxied Gas to destroy atmosphere on the earth, as a result, it might born the cause of the green house effect or Global Warming in this time and may to main effect of the earth to destroy the natural of Soledad area which is the great natural place for every people to live here. I think that the keeping of environment is important for all people if we want to live at the natural places.
ReplyDelete