Book 14: The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway

Another book I managed to have never read in school, much to my surprise. I've heard many a moan over the contents: following an old man in a boat trying to catch a fish for a hundred pages. Good thing their teachers didn't assign Moby Dick.

It was good. I love Hemingway's pacing and attention to detail. The stream of consciousness of the man's struggle was exactly the kind of insightful reflexivity I adore Hem for. I knew that it would end up empty, a sense of denied victory. That's what the Lost Generation is about: A failure of intention and the lack of power to change fate. Silent victories and how we deny ourselves the celebration because of our mental image of the entire situation.

I knew that it would end on the pathetic note, the giant fish eaten by sharks before he could sell the meat at the shore. It's classically Hemingway. And good. I'm glad I read it. Certainly not as painful as I suspected.

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Book 15, however, I'm dreading. I'm left with two that I'd just as soon papercut my eyes with than read. Catcher in the Rye and The Red Badge of Courage. Maybe I'll just read the cheat-sheet notes and pick up something I like.