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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
This book had a lot of interesting dialogue in terms of family, being a man, and writing. I appreciated the ending of the book and how family dynamics and themes come back into play for some of the characters. With Hemingway the warm southern Florida landscape came alive and transported the reader. If you are an Ernest Hemingway fan, I'd say read it, but if you are a casual classic literature reader, I'd say pass.
As a Hemingway fan, I see how this is touted as one of his “worse” books. I didn’t really connect to it that much, but it was a quick read and I finished it in a day. The writing seemed disjointed to me and the last few chapters were confusing as to why they were a part of the story.
fast-paced
I love that all the white characters have names and all the non-white ones (aside from a rare few) are just called by a slur
2.3 stars
I have read a lot of Hemingway and this is one of his weakest novels. It reads like a couple of half-baked book ideas jammed together.
Unless you are a real EH aficionado, this one is not recommended.
I have read a lot of Hemingway and this is one of his weakest novels. It reads like a couple of half-baked book ideas jammed together.
Unless you are a real EH aficionado, this one is not recommended.
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a mish mash of characters and stories told in a complicated but interesting way. I really liked the main character Harry Morgan. His story was by far the best and it made the others seem supplementary at best. Hemingway uses really potent imagery to describe the setting which made it nice to read. Overall solid read
this one was kind of boring... some more witty people on the internet have written that its like a parody of Hemingway and that is pretty spot on. Also: waaay too much fishing, commenting on/discussing/observing/describing alcoholic beverages, and being a stoic masculine alpha male. Oh wait, that's all of hemingway... Just joking actually. It was pretty good, Im just an uncultured reader i guess :)
This is like Ozark but old and with fisherman. Beginning had me pretty hooked, there's a lot of really good action scenes in this. Near the end, the plot gets a little lost in random people - like a tom buchanan style 4 way cheating mess for reasons I still do not understand. I liked it for the drama but only as a housewives viewer and not a reader of this damn story. There's another part before Harry's death reveal where the author pans across random people in the sea who in similar dire situations as Harry and from a literary POV I get it but I had to skip even though I rarely do this.
Also an uncomfortable amount of slurs in this, I know this man lived in a different time but it's still super jarring. Also Hemingway loves to emphasize how ugly and awful every woman in this story is. Like why. There was one chapter where a guy sees Harry's wife looking a little dishevelled as she's walking to the sheriffs office (because her husband was literally helping smuggle Cuban revolutionaries and DID NOT COME HOME) and the guy goes yuck did you see her boobs. That was the whole chapter.
Star allocation:
1 for all the times harry fights for life at sea despite his #2 almost always dead/dying or dead weight
2 for few scenes between harry and his wife, this man can write romance missed opp, should've just dropped the scenes about literal fish to make room
3 for when harry kicks the bucket and his wife closes the book by saying she doesnt a shit about her kids lmaoooo
Also an uncomfortable amount of slurs in this, I know this man lived in a different time but it's still super jarring. Also Hemingway loves to emphasize how ugly and awful every woman in this story is. Like why. There was one chapter where a guy sees Harry's wife looking a little dishevelled as she's walking to the sheriffs office (because her husband was literally helping smuggle Cuban revolutionaries and DID NOT COME HOME) and the guy goes yuck did you see her boobs. That was the whole chapter.
Star allocation:
1 for all the times harry fights for life at sea despite his #2 almost always dead/dying or dead weight
2 for few scenes between harry and his wife, this man can write romance missed opp, should've just dropped the scenes about literal fish to make room
3 for when harry kicks the bucket and his wife closes the book by saying she doesnt a shit about her kids lmaoooo
"They can't make it fast enough to keep you a good man."
This honestly was just an okay read for me. I can appreciate Hemingway's writing, but I didn't find the story particularly absorbing, nor did I really connect with any of the characters.
I found Richard Gordon's character had too many autobiographical implications and really took away the focus from Harry Morgan, whom I naturally found much more interesting. This whole book just seemed to read as rather autobiographical, and perhaps it was my perception of this, which I associated with a lack of creativity, that detracted from my enjoyment of it.
I did really like the ending, and found the language of those last few chapters absolutely beautiful. But much of the rest dragged, although overall I suppose this could just have been not my kind of book.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated