The Old Man and the Sea: My Reaction

I enjoyed reading The Old Man and the Sea. I thought it was a quick and easy read, with excellent characters and a good plot. Going into I did not expect to enjoy it because I generally don't enjoy reading the "classics" but I was surprised to find that I enjoyed this novel much more than I expected. I really enjoyed reading the novel and found that Santiago was a much deeper and likable character than I originally thought. Santiago was an interesting character because of his die-hard nature and how he would not admit defeat to the fish until one of them perished. Another admirable quality of his was the nature of his conflict with the fish. How he viewed him as a brother and an equal was a very noble quality of his that I found added another layer of depth to his character. His voyage back to Cuba was my favorite part of the novel. When Santiago had to fight off the waves of sharks I knew it was imminent that he would not make it back to shore with the fish intact and Santiago was aware of this as well. This knowledge did not stop him however and he tried his very best to keep his catch intact, despite the futility of the situation. I found this part of the novel to be extremely riveting and inspirational. I also enjoyed the nature of the friendship between Santiago and the young boy. I was impressed by how devoted the young boy was to Santiago and and despite the entire village laughing at the old man how he stuck with him through all of his toughest moments. All in all I think that The Old Man and the Sea is a very riveting tale of adventure and struggle of an old fisher man and is worth the read. I would highly recommend the novel to others because of it's short nature and how easy and enjoyable it is to read.