Ongoing personal commentary: So far it feels like a well written book even though I still don't know whether I respect Hemingway or think of him as too pretentious and sort of reeking of the sexism of the time. I genuinely find it amazing that the sea is sort of -literally- genderfluid in the spanish language and in this book.
(progress: p.59/99)
Ongoing personal commentary: I will also say, while reading, is that his thought process makes a lot of sense to me. The ebb and flow of his stream of consciousness, the reoccuring thoughts, it all feels really natural and very understandable. Everything makes sense for within his world. Only two things have bothered me so far. He keeps talking about the fact that he misses the boy. That's sort of annoying to hear, after like the third time. I am well aware he is alone. Maybe missing him annoys the fisher as well. It just confuses me on whether or not he even wants to do the things he does; it seems like he is a fisher out of financial necessity. Secondly, his mindset when it comes to his own body is scary. When his left hand cramps, he personifies his hand and treats it as a traitor. I worry for him. I also worry because he said that his hand cramped for almost the entire day. I'm not a doctor but that doesn't seem like a good sign.
(progress: p.70/99)
I feel very grossed out by all of it. On p. 64, he literally states "pain does not matter to a man". Okay then. This is most of what I don't like about this book, just right there. He is now fully talking to his hands and threatening to cut them off. He kind of reminds me of Gollum.
(progress: p.99/99)
This book has one female character and she only apprears on the last two pages of the book. Her main purpose is to show how stupid tourists are. ("At least she does this well." I said, sarcastically.) What else is there to say... I liked the ending, when the sharks appeared I imagined the ending to be much bleaker, but I knew the boy's love and compassion for the old man would be reoccurring. I really like the last paragraph, it honestly redeemed the entire book for me, I would have been much more upset with any other ending, I imagine. I was really struggling to keep reading towards the ending. I didn't like a lot of the book, but seeing the mental struggle really made me uncomfortable and then having him fight sharks on his way home stressed me out and upset me. Would I recommend this book to people I like? No. Who would I recommend it to? Maybe someone who has had it very hard and feels the need to be understood. I believe the relationship between the boy and the old man to have been the best part about this book. I hated every baseball aspect. STOP TALKING ABOUT THE GREAT DIMAGGIO. What really stressed me out while reading was not knowing whether he had an actual plan on how to return home. He keeps talking about killing that fish but I was worried that he hadn't considered at all how to get back. He journeys toward the borders of his own sanity and you watch him swing on the swingset there, right on the brink of insanity. This book is kinda weird. But the boy and the old man have a very loving relationship and I think it models positive behavior in that way. Male friendships are important.