The Old Man and the Sea

"Classic novel!"

"Maybe Hemingway’s style of writing isn’t just for me, but this was 121 pages of slow-paced writing. In short, the story is a accumulative 100+ pages of a man hunting a fish, and remains so. Perhaps, like many others, I’ll enjoy this story my second time around, but I can’t see myself rereading this again. The story just drags until a very abrupt ending."

"Too slow paced, not much plot"

"I have been to Cuba before. I have walked through the hot concrete of the Malecón, I have had streams of sweat going down my face while trying to catch a bit of the sea breeze. I have seen the people gather together in the shadow and chatting on the street having a good time, if not a peaceful one. <br/><br/>And it is impressive to see how in so few pages, Ernest was able to take me back there. I could feel the sun in my face, I could smell the salt from the sea. And I could feel the struggle of this man, fighting to catch this monster of the ocean. I suffered so much for him, that I even cried. I wanted to scream and tell him to let go of everything up to one point. But the old man kept going. Sometimes it is not just a matter of profit, but of pride.<br/><br/>My father says that this is a beautiful story, while I still have mixed feelings about it.<br/><br/>But one thing is for sure, no matter what kind of literature you prefer, you should allow yourself the experience of fishing along this old man."

"If you have a few hours I definitely recommend. I love the simple concept that is described in such gripping detail you can't hardly stop reading. "

"Who would think a man finishing would be so captivating but this speaks to how great of an author he is. I would recommend "

"I first read this novella in 8th grade. I remember that I was allowed to pick several books to read in that class, and that made me really happy. I also remember really liking this book at the time. I have been listening to a lot of classic audiobooks lately, thanks in part to the Sync YA summer audiobook program. When I was browsing titles at my local library, this one caught my eye. It's been about 15 years since I first read this book, and thought it would be a good chance to refresh my mind.<br/><br/>I have to say that I still really enjoyed this book this time around. It is a simple, short tale of exactly what you'd expect from the title: an old man and the sea. But it really is a lot more than <i>just</i> that, of course. It's a tale of perseverance, faith, pride and success, and even various aspects of loss. The sentences are written simply, but still do an amazing job of creating pictures in your mind. He describes what is happening in an almost stream of consciousness way. Most of the narrative is Santiago's thoughts, as well as what he says aloud to himself and to the fish. <br/><br/>I'm not too concerned about delving too deeply into the literary criticism/analysis to be honest. This even applies to the story elements in the books. If I was in a literature class I guess it would be important, but I'm not, so it's not. I simply enjoyed the story of an old man trying to catch a fish. I did think about the themes and symbolism and whatnot, but they certainly weren't my priority as I read and now, as I think about my review.<br/><br/>I was slightly confused by one thing: he kept talking about dolphins as fish. I quickly realized that he was not talking about a true dolphin, because they are not green/golden, nor do they have gills. I looked it up and he was likely talking about mahi-mahi. I also read online that it's common for people in southern Florida to call those fish "dolphin." Seems odd to me, but whatever. At least it cleared up my confusion.<br/><br/>I don't really have anything bad to say about the novella. I did, however, have trouble with the narration. I like Donald Sutherland, really, I do. (Though, I have to admit, sometimes I found myself envisioning the evil President Snow when he was reading...) But I didn't really like his narration of this story. His voice felt flat and it got rather monotonous at times. I wanted some acting! Inflection! Emotion! There wasn't nearly enough of that. There was some during the exchanges between Santiago and Manolin, but when it was just the old man and the sea...there wasn't enough."

"3.25"