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bookhoarding's review against another edition
3.0
Smuggling can go horribly wrong. Also, 2/3 of the way in Hemingway goes into a Ulysses-worthy down-spiral.
pitosalas's review against another edition
4.0
I liked a lot of this book; gritty smugglers in Key West, interesting characters and dialog. But it had long stints of non-sequitir scenes which didn't connect with the main story line, so that made it very odd to me.
johnald1266's review against another edition
3.0
This was a decent read but I'm not a huge Hemingway fan to begin with. There are some fantastic passages (especially the description of Morgan's stomach wound, and the later passage on pistols and suicide) and it certainly is a dramatic portrait of Depression era life in the Keys. It's construction is a bit haphazard and there are at least three characters that did not seem to fit well in the novel. Overall, it was good but definitely not great.
mattycakesbooks's review against another edition
2.0
It's pretty comforting, as a writer, that one of the titans of 20th century literature could write such an unimpressive book. It felt like something he rushed, like he had an idea and then sort of pushed a few things together and then shrugged and moved on. It was probably a good idea, but it just never got fully developed.
The racism was a pretty big turn-off, too.
The racism was a pretty big turn-off, too.
rlafleur85's review against another edition
2.0
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.
morganmolihan's review against another edition
3.0
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.
cw_98's review against another edition
2.0
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
dotorsojak's review against another edition
2.0
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.
alexryan3's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
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