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It's boring and very dull to read. So boring, just awful. Really. All I can imagine is that the legacy of the book is one of those stupid 'word of mouth' things, where everybody says it's marvelous, so everybody else agrees due to fear of going against the crowd. When it was finished I was so angry and disappointed that I nearly threw the book at the wall (Which I might have done if I wasn't on a plane). This is the only book I've read by Hemingway, it's got numerous tense problems, typos and dull repetitions, dialogue about baseball that goes on and on and on.
so. Is Hemingway a good writer. I've read much longer books in a much shorter period of time, because it's just. It reads as though Hemingway got very drunk one night and started writing on a tangent (Which I've since been told is something that he did often). I wouldn't mind if I could find some significance or a point in it, at least a relevant point, but there isn't one, nothing that can't be summed up in a sentence, or perhaps a two or three page story. boring.
It felt like a severe waste of life.
There are different fish, and different challenges, across different layers of the sea. I read this book many years ago and just re-read Ernest Hemingway's best-known work.This novella offers different things, and different perspectives, at different times. "The Old Man and the Sea" remains a literary staple for students learning about literature -- and American literature in particular. One can look down through the water and see different things based on how deeply one looks.Given the widespread popularity and critical acclaim for this novella, it is no real surprise that it is an entertaining and enjoyable (and quick) read. Put another way, "The Old Man and Sea" might read as an entertaining fish story to a young student and then offer an insightful metaphor for life for an adult.One of the interesting metaphors that I found on my most recent read of this novella is that of the sea for perspective. Hemingway writes of the different levels, or layers, in the sea through the eyes of Santiago, the protagonist. I encourage all readers to examine this book at different times in life. It takes a short time to read and the payback is more than worth the investment of time.
I have always loved books but when I was tenth grade back in 1996 or so (I'm twenty eight now) my literature class was made to read The Old Man and the Sea. I like tangible antagonists and more than two settings, I like my stories to have a littlle. His writing style is harsh and obsessed with physical strengths and pretty much macho 'I must prove I'm a man Grrrrr. It reminds me of Jack London and I am not really a fan of Jack London either. I can find it in Victor Hugo, Dickens, Wilde, and many others but not here, not with Hemingway.I am an avid reader and book collector. And then you're handed this book.An old man goes out on a boat and struggles with a really large fish for several days just to prove himself to himself. It's dull and tedious.
He gets pretentiously romanticized in such films as City of Angels but I simply don't like him. Ernest Hemingway, in my opinion, is very over-rated. Yes, it's sad that he did that to himself but at the same time it showed the mindset that I disagree with and noticed in The Old Man and The Sea.I know there will be many who disagree with me but I do not like Hemingway's writing style. I may cause students to lose interest in reading instead. To me his suicide just proved the insecurity I noticed reflected in his 'Prove yoruself' droning prose that is The Old Man and the Sea. Though I love stories about wolves, Jack London's knowledge of wolf behaviour is questionable at best. I love literature in general. They take you on adventures and you meet fascinating characters who do incredible things.
I love books. I am sorry, I just don't. I didn't understand why he felt he had to catch the fish in order to be satisfied with who he was. And London's writing has that same macho 'prove your manliness' quality to it that makes the writing feel harsh and at certain points surprisingly shallow and insecure.The Old Man and the Sea personifies for me everything young readers usually resent about classic literature. He didn't even realize wolves could bark or that they mate for life.
In my opinion this is the one book to choose if you WANT to make a book lover lose interest in books.Imagine, if you will, spending your entire teenagehood trying to tell other teeangers that books are wonderful. It bored me.To me it felt as if Hemingway was insecure with his sense of being a masculine being, of being someone with purpose. He seemed that he always had to prove his own worth to himself and people had to prove their worth to him and it's reflected in his writing.I was told that Hemingway killed himself because he knew he was developing arthritis in his hands, this seems to reflect what I suspected of his personality already, a deep-seeded insecurity, self-consciousness and doubt of self-worth that he thought that he was of no worth to the world if his hands didn't function properly for his writing. I know he's one of the greats but I'm just not fond of his style. I felt no sympathy for the hero.
It was unrelatable, anti-climatic, long winded, and all-together-lacking. And the lack of other characters, interaction, external antagonists or antagonism (aside from the fish) made it dull. I say this as someone who loves the intricacy of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables and the wit of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. It's the complete opposite of what's required to inspire young minds eager for adventure, drama and fantasy.I like good characterization and social interaction in my stories.
Fear my manliness.' content.I don't really feel the depth to his writing that others claim to feel and see. It doesn't inspire interest in reading. To me it felt like self-justified egotism and an inferiority complex manifested in a story of a man proving his manliness by catching a large fish. He died in an era where recording your voice or dictating your story to someone else was fully possible.
I do NOT like Hemingway.I think schools make a big mistake in picking this novel for literature classes for young readers. more.
Review is on the manufacturing of the book, not on the content - one of Hemingway's classics. This particular copy is very poorly manufactured. If you are looking for a copy to add to your bookshelf, do not choose this edition, flimsy cover, poorly bound and will not last.
Loved the book - it arrived in perfect condition and without any marks of any kind. Delivery was very timely and packaging for the book was excellent. I would highly recommend this seller.thank you.
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