Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

George is small and quick-tempered; slow witted Lennie is his opposite—an immense man, strong but naturally docile, a giant with the mind of a child. Despite their difference, George and Lennie are bound by a vision: their own small farm, where they'll raise cows, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. When they find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley, the dream at last seems within reach. But their hopes, like "the best-laid schemes of mice and men," begin to go awry. The story unfolds with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy, as Lennie commits an accidental murder, and George must do what he can to make things right.