OLD MAN AND THE SEA

Rating:
Summary: What's so interesting?
Review: The book is based on one fishing trip in the middle of nowhere with an old man and a giant marlin. The only inspiring thing about this book is the old man's ability to stay strong enough to capture the marlin. Other than that, this book was so, so boring. First of all, why didn't they just summarize those three days with a couple of pages. Instead, I was forced to read an endless amount of pages that seemed to get longer about him catching and losing his prize fish/trophy. What's the point? He was already poor, and now he's lost one of the most important things to happen to him. It was a lost phenomenon. I would have cryed and jumped off the boat if I had been the odl man. That's how depressing this book is. You can't help but feel sympathetic when you read this book. This book doesn't teach any morals or writing skills; it teaches us to avoid reading anything by Hemingway. Even though Hemingway was praised for this novella, I question "what is true literature."

Rating:
Summary: Killing the One You Love - With Honor
Review: In our modern world, Man does not survive by bread alone; he also feels compelled to "survive" by meeting self-imposed expectations within a personal construct. ("I Am a Fisherman".) With age, Santiago feels his grip slipping, and begins to question the merit of his own worth. So he squeezes every ounce of determination from his aching body to wrest one last triumph that affirms the meaning of his life before he withdraws with Honor.

A classic story of Man versus Nature and Man at One with Nature, Hemingway's words demand to be read aloud to appreciate their astounding beauty. For its prose alone, this is a five-star classic truly worthy of The Pulitzer.

"The Old Man and the Sea" is also one of those works that translates extremely well to the screen: view the original film with Spencer Tracy and revel in that late, great actor's flawless soliloquy, set against gorgeous whitecaps at evening in riveting black and white.

This is a must-read, and a must-view.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, why oh why? Why did he have to leave us?
Review: If you only read one Ernest Hemingway novel, this has to be it. You can get no better picture of how he turns such simplicity into such sheer brilliance. I hate him, why is he so good and I'm not??? This is a nail biting adventure, very symbolic. Small and insignificant man going after that elusive prize he has been striving for his entire life. Who cares that sharks ate away everything but the tail and the head. It's like an orgasm. You work and you work, you build and you build and then the moment comes. Who cares how good it was getting there, the climax felt great. And that is what this is all about. You read it so fast because it's so short, then you read it again. You tell yourself that you weren't convinced he could do this and so excitingly. Then you read it again and your dreams come true, he wins. You're just so damn happy that he can go back home and go to bed, lying there, baked from the sun and exhausted, unrelenting in the face of the most trying of adversity. This is the ultimate story of triumph. Why oh why did you have to leave is Ernest?

Rating:
Summary: Elegant and simple
Review: This book is, in my opinion, the culmination of Hemingway's style. Written in simple language, subtle and elegant. No extraneous description or flowery prose, yet he still manages to make you feel and understand what the old man is going through, alone, out in the middle of the sea. Excellent intro to Hemingway for those looking to put a foot in the door to either his works or other classics.

Rating:
Summary: Why didn't he just drown?
Review: This book is meaningless. It's pointless. It doesn't say anything about society, it doesn't bring up thoughts or opinions, it doesn't take a stand on any issue. It's a story about an old guy in a boat. This book was assigned to me, and I am now wondering why. Literature should have direction and goals it aims to accomplish when people read it. This is a randomly composed book about some old guy who goes fishing. Maybe if this book was set over the mans lifetime, and it described the trials and tribulations of his fishing as he ages, then it might be good. But the whole book was about one fishing trip. I don't suggest it unless you enjoy books that are essentially pointless. If you don't want to think, if you don't want to be inspired, if you are looking for something to read that won't give you any new opinions on anything, please read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Read it twice!
Review: This was my first venture into the work of Hemmingway, I really enjoyed the read. I was instantly drawn into the story of the old man, and his fishing boat, and his struggle against a worthy adversary, a once in a lifetime fish. The crux of the story relies on this lonely, small, withered old man, using the last power and energy he has in his tired frame to catch one last fish. This fish happens to be the biggest fish he has ever seen. The fight goes on day and night until the old man finally lands the fish, but it is so large he cannot put it in the boat and has to drag it behind him. Once he sails his boat back to warmer waters, the sharks set in, and he tries to fend them off with an oar. All the time the catch of his lifetime, the end to his streak of much time without catching any fish, is dragging behind being torn apart by these atangonistic sharks. The outcome, you will have to read for yourself, but this book is a classic, and worth reading. Once you start to read it, you will not be able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: If you love literature...
Review: read this book again and you may appreciate it more now than when you read it for the first time in grade school...Hemingway tried a daring thing and succeeded in may ways. He wrote a beautiful story with few characters and little dialogue, focusing on the old theme of the struggle of the human spirit. The critics' claims that it contains heavy-handed symbolism (the shark represents the critics that berated H's earlier works) are hogwash...The simple, stilted speech of Santiago and the boy seems to me to be Hemingway's attempt to capture Cuban speach patterns in English. Rather than having them speak English as we would expect, he had them speak as if he were listening to them speak Spanish and translating it to himself word for word into English, thus strengthening their simple, uneducated, working-class characters.

This also leads to the major negative element of the book - the characters are not well-rounded. They are all simple working-class Cubans, either friends of Santiago or not. Hemingway loved Cuba, but I'm sure he respected Cubans as full human beings.

Rating:
Summary: classic tale
Review: I bought this book as a gift for my husband and he loved it. He's not into the mindless reading material available today, preferring to bend his mind around the classics. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a book that is well-written and will be remembered for many years to come.

Rating:
Summary: This is what children should start off reading
Review: The Old Man & The Sea is arguablely Hemingway's best book, not only considered a classic for both fans and literature. In my private opinion, this a really good effort, which focus more on [principal character] Santiago's thoughts and feelings, a fisherman whose bad luck has reached 84 days without any catch. Thus, he is surprised when hooks a fish of an extraordinary size and weight. The book basically goes off on this, speaking of his thoughts, the old times, his beloved gone wife, and his feelings about his "disciple" Manolim. The book also covers many reflections to be brought up, not despising the fact that offers a rich, fortified vocabulary.

However, I would not give five stars, for it isn't an outstanding achievement, nor give it three or lower classification. Four stars for a classic who may inspire people to write five stars books or reach five stars knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Read it if you can
Review: I read this book because I had to, and I thought it was O.K. The story was very action packed and it was a cool book for boys to read. I thought the old man was very courageous and it made me think that when I'm old I want to be like that. Although this book was written many year ago, I think it shows that even though you are old you can still do things. It also taught me that no matter what other people think about you, you should still believe in yourself.