The Old Man and The Sea

Book Report by *****

I decided to read this book for two reasons.  My friends have read this book in the past and said it wasn't too bad.  Second, it is one heck of a short book.  I finished this book in 2 days.  As the sample book report says, this book is only 27,000 words long.  The book lived up to what my friends had said about it.  The book was one of the best classic stories I have read, it had a good story and good description.  Hemingway could paint the pictures in my mind.  I have read other shot stories of his, back in eighth grade, but they pale in comparison to this masterpiece of writing.

The story was about and old man (really?) who is a fisherman.  He goes out every day to go fishing, but he has no luck for about 80 days.  But one day, he goes out alone and hooks a humongeous whale size marlin.  He can't bring it in because it is too big.  He has to wait until it gets tired so he can harpoon it.  He goes 2 days fighting the fish, without food or rest. until he finally gets his chance.  But when he thinks it is all over, there is still more trouble ahead.  The fish is too big to be placed in his small boat, so he has to strap it to the side.  Meanwhile, the blood from the harpoon shot leaks out into the sea and attracts sharks.  While the old man is returning home from his expedition, he has to fight off the sharks from eating his prize.  But it doesn't take to long for the sharks to take lots of big chunks out of the fish.  He ends up killing all the sharks and he gets home safely, and exhausted.

Ernest Hemingway is an author of the past.  Compared to a more modern author, like say, John Grisham, he has different and unique qualities.  Hemingway likes to use lots of descriptive phrases, while leaving little room for actual character discussion.  Grisham, on the other hand, makes sure that there is a lot of character dialog throughout his stories.  Hemingway doesn't really have a set climax of his story, while Grisham has a definite peak to his books.  This just goes to show you how book writing styles differ through the years.

I didn't find any flaws or things in the book that I had a problem believing or comprehending.  You just have to read a book and take it how it is.  I don't really see a need to critique such a great book.

In conclusion, this book is one of favorite classics, and I would recommend this to a friend because of it's great story, descriptions, and length.