John David's Blog: Life--Observed and Reported - Posts Tagged "classics"

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


What can I say, it's Hemingway.

I am ashamed to admit, the first of his works that I have read. Was it world shattering?

Earth quaking?

No.

Pulitzer prize winning? Apparently so. By today's standards, I would be hard-pressed to answer the "why" behind that award, because, as you can see by my 4 star rating, I did not find it "outstanding."

Truly, I am a harsh critic, of my own work most of all.

The Old Man and the Sea is a good read, of a certainty. Your time will not be wasted by reading it. Perhaps I lack that certain "I don't know what" that would be required to truly appreciate it.

Or my "tastes" are not refined enough.

I read it over the course of a couple of lunch breaks, and for that purpose, I highly recommend it. It does not end as I expected it to.

Like many (all?) good short stories, it ends well before the reader believes that it should.

If you are a writer, or a student of literature who has not experienced the work of this literary giant, I urge you to remedy that condition as quickly as possible, and give Hemingway an hour or so of your time.

R.I.P. Ernest Hemingway
-July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961



View all my reviews