Hot take: the ending of a certain famous book isn't sad at all, people just misread it
A friend in Cincinnati handed me her copy of Of Mice and Men back in April, and when I finished the last page I felt calm, not wrecked. Everyone in our little book swap kept saying the ending is brutal, but I think Steinbeck gives George the kindest choice possible, and calling it a tragedy misses the point. Maybe I'm cold, but I just don't see the tears. Has anyone here read it later in life and come away feeling the same?