A review by isleyl
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.0

This book is for men. I liked it don’t get me wrong but I think a lot of the themes would have impacted me more if I had more testosterone in my veins. Hemingway’s writing is very beautiful; the way he describes the colors of the fish and sunsets is beautiful and sets a great scene without saying a whole lot. The story itself is kind of a nothing story- there isn’t a whole lot going on but I think that the mundanity of it makes it even more compelling and more of a classic. We all can relate to pushing through the mundanity of life and work to provide for yourself, others and the pleasures that life has to offer( aka- a newspaper that reports on the Yankees of New York’s Scores against the Tigers of Detroit ). I also liked how it touched on the relationship between Santiago and “the boy.” I like that Santiago said on multiple occasions that he missed the boy and the companionship he provides. If Hemingway was truly this mega-masculine man I find it interesting that he says “I miss the boy- I miss that companionship” I’m not sure about this( I’m a women) but I think sometimes men are taught that they don’t need anyone and they can only rely on themselves so by Santiago( and thus Hemingway) saying “ I miss the boy” I think it says something about what being a man is. That’s one example of how this book goes into that whole “what’s a man?” Thing there’s many more that I could dive into. But nonetheless there’s a lot of themes that relate to everybody. This kind of “ mind over matter” theme is expressed in the way he does not let his old body dictate the lengths that he goes to provide.