Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - The Old Man and the Sea

So it's my first Hemingway work and while it was enjoyable, I also found it somewhat underwhelming, primarily due to my own high expectations. It's a simple but well-written character-driven novella focusing on the struggles of an old fisherman down on his luck. I could discourse at great length about how this book is or could be about perseverance, about having hope no matter what, we never know what might be around the corner in life, how an artist is often their own worst critic, etc. But apparently, Hemingway said the below quote in one of his letters:

"Then there is the other secret. There isn't any symbolism [sic]. The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is shit. What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know."

So I'm not gonna explain any of that and leave things to your own imagination. 😄 It's a great work for sure but I personally find Steinbeck's writing to be more appealing so far.

Content Warnings

debosmitathereader's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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michaelion's review against another edition

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challenging informative fast-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

2.75

I used to go fishing a lot with my dad and it's not really an experience I would think to write about, so props for making fishing seem exciting on paper. Like it's fun in person but I never would've thought it could be written in a thrilling way too. The odds were stacked against this to be boring, thankfully it wasn't, but it also isn't my cup of tea. It has it's moments.

Content Warnings

tita_loves_literature's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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___'s review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

Fishing is notoriously boring.

This is a book about an old guy fishing.

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