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3.17 AVERAGE
3.17 AVERAGE
A first Hemingway, save for a short text in high school. A delicious read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-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
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol
Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First and foremost: When slurs are used in dialogue in books in the 1930's, especially in period settings, they can be part of portraying a character or social atmosphere. It’s ugly, but at least it's distanced. But when the narrator in a third-person narration uses that language casually in describing people, it stops being reportage. It becomes normalization. It tells you this isn’t just how characters talk, this is how the author saw the world.
Furthermore.
The novel felt like a series of short stories about Harry Morgan, stitched together by Hemingway with some rushed and underdeveloped added material to make it into a novel-length work.
Because that's exactly what it is.
It starts with a gritty, morally murky smuggler story, then veers into heavy-handed class commentary by the end. The writing style is all over the place (first-person, third-person, minimalism, and even stream-of-consciousness) making it feel less like a polished novel and more like an experiment that never quite came together.
That said, the themes of poverty, corruption, and survival are worth digging into. While the executions severely frustrated me, there’s plenty here to talk about
It might be uneven, but it's not boring.
Furthermore.
The novel felt like a series of short stories about Harry Morgan, stitched together by Hemingway with some rushed and underdeveloped added material to make it into a novel-length work.
Because that's exactly what it is.
It starts with a gritty, morally murky smuggler story, then veers into heavy-handed class commentary by the end. The writing style is all over the place (first-person, third-person, minimalism, and even stream-of-consciousness) making it feel less like a polished novel and more like an experiment that never quite came together.
That said, the themes of poverty, corruption, and survival are worth digging into. While the executions severely frustrated me, there’s plenty here to talk about
It might be uneven, but it's not boring.
adventurous
tense
fast-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
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes