The Old Man and The Sea

Rating:
Summary: no commercials, huh?
Review: For God's sake, this story is a little more than a hundred pages...how can it "drag on?" If the rawness of the story, the depth of the symbolism, or the simplicity of the setting don't grab you, I don't know what will. I guess people's inability to focus for more than ten minutes is a result of this novel's not having commercial breaks.

Rating:
Summary: I did not like it
Review: I agree that children who hate reading and doing book reports should not post their reviews on Amazon, because the kids are going to hate reading it anyway since it is an assignment. As an 18 year old book lover, I thought I would give this book a try. Nobody forced me to read it, I read it for my own enjoyment. I just did not find this book interesting. I kept thinking..Santiago, let that fish go and row back to shore. Was it really worth all that trouble? I gave this book two stars because the book had one or two genuine moments in it that inspired me, but I did not care for the story as a whole. The book left me disappointed, so I started reading "A Brave New World". It is a much better book, in my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, like I could critique Hemingway...
Review: The thing that impresses me about Hemingway most is that he knew what he wrote about and, therefore, wrote with such confidence and authority as to dispel all doubt about the authenticity of his characters and what they did and what they thought and said. This book is an easy quick read and a good introduction to Hemingway. But don't stop there. Go back and read it again and notice how rich the detail is and how much you missed the first time through.

Rating:
Summary: Marvellous!
Review: I think that the Old Man and the Sea is a great book! If you dive down beneath the words, you find something I have never found before. This tale of triumph and tradgedy is so moving you just want to hug Santiago. If you think about it, this happens to so many people. Santiago probably would have prefered to watch the fisherman, not be one. I would recommend this book to anyone because anyone can read this novel. It is so simple, yet so profuond, it is probably one of the greatest stories ever told.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been condensed to 1/2 its length
Review: Fantastic book with excellent symbolism, but the small amount of plot development vs. number of pages in the middle of the book seemed to me to be Hemingway fleshing out the novella for his publisher. Or perhaps, with one of the themes of the book being perserverance, Hemingway was deliberately making his readers perservere at the book. From the reviews I've skim-read nobody seems to have mentioned the pessimism that seems to somehow parallel the hope in the book (the sharks killing the Marlin obviously). Don't forget that this was one of Hemingway's last works before he shot himself. Perhaps we are getting a look into the troubled psyche of the great author himself.

Rating:
Summary: A stunning and surprisingly good novel
Review: This book shows a beautiful portayal of extreme courage in individual, unrecognized situations. I this Hemingway was trying to convey that everyone fights their own battles, no matter how big or small they are. These battles are not the ones you see on the news, but they are just as extraordinary. -An 8th Grader

Rating:
Summary: Who are all these kids...
Review: Writing these clueless reviews; are teachers actually encouraging them to clutter the Amazon.com site by making their "comments" mandatory? Please spare us; grow up (for our sake) and resist the temptation to view the human condition as "boring" (for your own).

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: Terribly GOOD. I was so suprised at the meaning and symbolization of this book because i took it even to higher level. I discovered that the book was a reflection of the life of ernest Hemmingways later career along with other crap he put in there, such as the christian symbolization, just to throw those with a shallow mind WAY off track... Look into it. It is Awesome!

Rating:
Summary: At first I didn't like it
Review: At first I thought that this book was alright, Just another book I was assigned to read for class. But then my teacher made us look deeper into the meaning and symbolization. I found it to be an excellent book with a different meaning for everyone. I myself am very into my religion and I found the religious symbolization to be very profound and greatly related to the Bible. Whether Hemmingway wanted it to be that way or not he did a good job of symbolizing Christ. Give this book a try. Look farther than the story of a fisherman and I'm sure you'll enjoy this novella.

Rating:
Summary: Take another look at the work...
Review: I can empathize with the people who felt that the novella was boring; I felt the same way myself when I first read it. However, I do not believe that Hemingway intended to entertain the reader, nor did he intend to put them to sleep. What he was trying to portray to the public was a much deeper theme than that of man against nature. True, that was included, but the theme excelled beyond that of those parameters. As a personal opinion, I believe that he took us to the depths of human nature and provided us with an incredible microcosm that touches on many aspects of life. To me, he was trying to express that everybody has an impact on the rest of humanity. Some people that take the time to recognise the worth of that one person can see some of the majesty of the individual. (Manolin, Martin) However, others, through ignorance and self-sightedness can deprive society of that same insight. (the tourists) The symbolism is incredible. Yes, Hemingway's style does not appeal to everybody, but through it he strived to emphasize certain things. The simplicity of the style indicates that Santiago's struggles happened to a real person, and not so much to a fictional and unapproachable literary figure. So, to the people that felt that the book was boring, please don't degrade it because it is difficult to understand. Truly, it is a very deep work that is difficult to grasp. However, please try and see the "method to the madness"; you may find that it is a great work after all. I know I did.

-A Student