Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Old Man and the Sea: Final Thoughts

The Old Man and the Sea is an overall good book, despite its obvious nature. The set-up for the plot was and still is used in many novels because of the simplicity behind it. It was fairly easy to read, especially because it was so short. There word choice was very simple: there were not too many big words or phrases other than some words in Spanishv that were fairly basic and easy to figure out. Ernest Hemingway still did a good job of keeping my attention and making me want to get into the book. When I started reading, I do not think there was one day that I did not read at least a couple pages of the novella. I liked how Santiago is so good at fishing, but I also do not like how Santiago is so good at fishing. I know that was contradicting, but there is no way someone can go out and tackle such a beast alone. It does not matter how much experience he has; Santiago should not have been able to hold onto the fish for much more than a couple minutes by himself. No one has that sort of superhuman strength. Also, the marlin seems unbelievable in its own nature because it is just too impressive to believe. The fish is just so big, and I really cannot get over it. It is so crazy. I also liked how Hemingway gave such realism to the characters in their personalities. Santiago is so wise and headstrong but still has the soft, peaceful side to him in his dreams. Manolin is a youthful boy of passion and vigor who never lets anyone down. The marlin is strong, sturdy, and everlasting. All of these characteristics make a solid "cast" in both a movie and a book.Okay, so honestly, the last couple of posts have been to take up numbers because I really do not want to write too much about The Grapes of Wrath. It was not that it was not good, but I would rather write about a book I enjoyed like The Old Man and the Sea.

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