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3.18 AVERAGE
3.18 AVERAGE
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was somewhat of a difficult read due to the boating jargon.
dark
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In a desperate wing and a prayer during the pandemic, I’ve turned to the machismo of the brutal granddaddy himself to offer some solace for my nailbiting. Every Shakespeare needs a bloodbath, and every desensitised Tarantino needs a bit of a hug and a cup of tea, and Hemingway has a way of blending the tension of both these themes. We open to a bullet storm, and charter a course out brazenly into the ocean, for fish, for bootlegging, for human trafficking, for straight up murder, and, er...
Disclaimer, Hemingway is a racist; he’s misogynistic, pathetic, myopically attached to a singular meaning of manhood, and suspectly Freudian about guns. Harry Morgan is the hero of this book, but he represents all the vilest parts about Hemingway. The book recoups some of its losses with the intriguing cut-always to bit characters and their marital difficulties, which seem less like cutaways and more like attempts to merge two totally different novels together. I can picture Hemingway, balloobas on high balls, smashing away at his typewriter, thinking, You know what this needs? [takes sip] more beating up communists! [downs it] and lots of impotent men who get beat up and feel bad, mwahahaha! (Idk why Hemingway is suddenly Count Dracula but anyway).
It was a fine read, but the only way I could read it was to pass over his more ignorance-fuelled moments. It was also hella violent, like more than he usually is. And of course he has a symbolically wounded man to represent his inability to please his wife - something he’s known for. See Fiesta, and A Farewell to Arms.
Overall not his best, and the subject matter was gross. Also his obsession with pointing out social classes as all tending toward suicide was in one sense a peep into his inner thinking process, but ultimately it was attempting to glorify death. And I can’t stand that. Read The Old Man and the Sea. 2 stars.
Disclaimer, Hemingway is a racist; he’s misogynistic, pathetic, myopically attached to a singular meaning of manhood, and suspectly Freudian about guns. Harry Morgan is the hero of this book, but he represents all the vilest parts about Hemingway. The book recoups some of its losses with the intriguing cut-always to bit characters and their marital difficulties, which seem less like cutaways and more like attempts to merge two totally different novels together. I can picture Hemingway, balloobas on high balls, smashing away at his typewriter, thinking, You know what this needs? [takes sip] more beating up communists! [downs it] and lots of impotent men who get beat up and feel bad, mwahahaha! (Idk why Hemingway is suddenly Count Dracula but anyway).
It was a fine read, but the only way I could read it was to pass over his more ignorance-fuelled moments. It was also hella violent, like more than he usually is. And of course he has a symbolically wounded man to represent his inability to please his wife - something he’s known for. See Fiesta, and A Farewell to Arms.
Overall not his best, and the subject matter was gross. Also his obsession with pointing out social classes as all tending toward suicide was in one sense a peep into his inner thinking process, but ultimately it was attempting to glorify death. And I can’t stand that. Read The Old Man and the Sea. 2 stars.
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is a classic book that features heavily on lists of novels that everyone should read. However it did nothing for me, far from being action packed i spent a lot of the book wanting something to happen, His running the boats between florida and Cuba was a whole two trips. The narrative was meandering and spent most of its time in bars on the Florida Keys a few drunken brawls and a lot of drunken talking but precious little in the way of action. Even at the end where the climax should have been around Harry on the boat there are pages about who else is in the Marina that night.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Suicide
Moderate: Misogyny
