The Old Man and The Sea

Rating:
Summary: Not My Cup of Tea
Review: To put it bluntly and honest I found "The Old Man and the Sea" incredibly boring. It's surprising that a short story could have such descriptive, drawn out parts. This is why the story lacked interest for me, the descriptive words took up most of the book not leaving much of a story line. Another factor for the dislike is that it's all about fishing, and since I don't like fishing the dislike is obvious. Many people say you have a look beyond the fishing for the symbolism, but considering I couldn't get into the story and that I have a very literal mind I didn't see any of that. I'm sure it was a well-written piece for those who can enjoy that sort of thing, but it wasn't my cup of tea.

Rating:
Summary: Hemingway's Greatest Book
Review: This book is a classic; it is wonderful fishing epic. Only Hemingway could write this book in a way that keeps it simple yet is very descriptive. It is my favorite book mostly because it is about fishing but also because of the deep meanings and allegories it has. Deep meanings about how he struggled and fought the fish for days after not catching anything for 84 days, is in a way related to Hemingway at the time. He had been in a slump with bad writing for a long time then came out of the slump as Santiago in the book had. This is a fantastic book.

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Summary: Watch the movie, then read the book
Review: The book "The Old Man and the Sea" was in my opinion and good book, but with a few exceptions. When I was first assigned to read this book for English class I immediatly procrastinated when I would yet to begin reading this book. Days passed, then weeks, and I still had not even glanced at the book. After a few weeks I finally decided to look at the book. I read about ten pages and immediately found myself bored with the book. I out the book away and didn't retreave it until later. I was sitting home one weekend watching TV when I came across a movie that looked familiar. After watching about twenty minutes of this movie I realized that it was "The Old Man and the Sea". I was very taken back when I continued watching the movie. I really liked it and best of all I found it easier to understand. After the three hour movie I was very surprised about how much I like the story. But I was even more surprised when I kept thinking in my head about the story and wanted to read the book. I immediatly ran to my backpack and got the book. I read the whole thing in about 1 hour and enjoyed it greatly. I apprecited it alot more too. I espechially like it because the story was indeed well told and focussed on so many other things than I thought it did. One part in the book that I liked alot was when the old man talked about his days when he was younger and how he had spent so many long hours, and sometimes days giving everything he had just to win a simple arm wrestling match. But, everytime he was able to earn a victory. I also liked how Ernest Hemingway captured the moment just right. E.H. featured many places and scenes in the book and did not always ficus what was important but really set the mood and tone for the events that were about to, or yet to happen in the book. Another thing I must mention that I liked was that the old man had so much respect in the book. I just loved this story so much and how it captured everything so well. I think it was really well written and even though it took me awhile to discover the true meaning in this book and can honestly say that I am pleased and happy that I gave the book and chance. In a way I can refer myself to the book, alot of people in the book did not really want to give the old man a chance, and didn't think he would ever catch a fish again but the old man proved them wrong and only the people who had true respect for the old man understood that he would always succeed. This is what I did, I gave the book a chance and myself.

Rating:
Summary: A great book with many layers to be discovered.
Review: I always enjoy reading Hemingway's book The Old Man and the Sea. It is a great book because it can be read on so many levels. There is the adventure of the catch, but it is more. It is a great example of love and sharing between two people, Santiago and the boy. It also brings back memories of the Native American ethic of loving your environment. Santiago loves the sea. He cares about its creatures even as he is attempting to land the fish. He feels the same way about the sky, wind and sun. I would recommend this book to anybody who loves classic literature.

Rating:
Summary: a wonderful,simple story about strength and courage
Review: I love this book. I read it for the first time in seventh grade and have read it 4 times since. I love it even though it may be boring to some people. The imagery is great and the story, even better.

Rating:
Summary: If you can make it past the first 50 pages, you'll be okay
Review: I must've (literally) fallen asleep at least five times before making it through the first 50 pages... the beginning is hard to get into, and basically a total drag... once you get past that, however, it gets more interesting (although, by that time, you're halfway through the book). The end is incredibly disappointing, but has a lot of meaning to it. The entire book is filled with hidden meanings and allusions, but some are hard to catch. Overall, an okay book, but I certainly wouldn't label it as a classic.

Rating:
Summary: It was sooo boring!
Review: This novella was just plain boring. The many different allegories hidden inside the story is fascinating but I think that for young people, this is NOT the thing to read.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite English Literature Book!!!!!
Review: This was one of the best classics that I ever had to read for an English class. When our teacher first told us that we were to go buy it, I was very reluctant. I didn't want to read a stupid book about fishing, I can't stand to fish! However, I took a trek to the store and brought it home and wow! I couldn't put it down. I was finished with the story in two days. I found that Hemingway's style of writing was fascinating to me and the way he described things made them come alive. When he would talk about Santiago, I was able to envision him standing in front of me and he used great figures of speech. For instance, one of my favorite lines in the book was, "his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish...but none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert." I was glad I read this book, it taught me a lot about life and materialism and made me realize just what you can achieve for yourself if you put your mind to it.

Rating:
Summary: A good book with some lengthy parts, but overall a good read
Review: "This is a book just about fishing". Many people think this is what The Old Man and The Sea is about, but it more than just fishing. It is about the struggle of a man, Santiago, to catch his fish, and his perseverance through all odds. He is an old man, but he is determined, and he never gives up on reaching his goal. Even though there are a good sixty or so pages of Santiago being dragged by the fish, the pages pass quickly due to Hemingways great writing style. This book at first glance may appear boring, but if you get to discuss it with a book club or classmates, you will discover that it is a great book with multiple hidden meanings that are fun to read.

Rating:
Summary: A good underlying meaning, but far too drawn out
Review: To be completely honest, "The Old Man and the Sea" is not a book I particularly cared for. I thought that too much time was taken to describe the fishing trip. I thought that the overall idea had a very powerful underlying meaning, but I feel he wrote about it the wrong way. The struggles Santiago had to undergo were very important aspects in this book, but they were too drawn out and that often caused me to lose interest in the novel. So, in conclusion, I liked the idea of self-respect in the face of defeat and being a true hero, but the book was uninteresting and far too lengthy in many of the passages.