Islands in the Stream

English language

Published Dec. 10, 1997

ISBN:: 978-0-684-83787-1

(2 reviews)

Islands in the Stream (1970) is the first of the posthumously published novels of Ernest Hemingway. The book was originally intended to revive Hemingway's reputation after the negative reviews of Across the River and Into the Trees. He began writing it in 1950 and advanced greatly through 1951. The work, rough but seemingly finished, was found by Mary Hemingway among 332 works Hemingway left behind at his death. Islands in the Stream was meant to encompass three stories to illustrate different stages in the life of its main character, Thomas Hudson. The three different parts of the novel were originally to be titled "The Sea When Young", "The Sea When Absent" and "The Sea in Being". These titles were changed, however, into what are now its three acts: "Bimini", "Cuba", and "At Sea".

2 editions

Caffeinated Book Dragon reviewed Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway

I'm going 0 for 2 so far with Ernest Hemingway...and stopped at page 134 (not giving a star rating)

No rating

I can appreciate Hemingway getting away from the overly-descriptive works that have come before he broke out in his career--pages and pages of descriptions of meadows, skies, trees, houses, etc. He jumps into a little basic info about a character and then there's the dialogue.

I find the dialogue baffling. I mean, some very trivial things are given pages of actual quotations, but could easily be wrapped up in a short paragraph or short broken clusters.

Frankly, the worst thing so far about Hemingway characters is that I could care less about them. They're so bland, like blank slates who never give you a real indication as to what's going on in their head, or what their motivations are.

And this book bored me--all I've seen is how great it is on the back cover blurb, but no hint of the plot. I was looking for a spoiler free plot …

I can appreciate Hemingway getting away from the overly-descriptive works that have come before he broke out in his career--pages and pages of descriptions of meadows, skies, trees, houses, etc. He jumps into a little basic info about a character and then there's the dialogue.

I find the dialogue baffling. I mean, some very trivial things are given pages of actual quotations, but could easily be wrapped up in a short paragraph or short broken clusters.

Frankly, the worst thing so far about Hemingway characters is that I could care less about them. They're so bland, like blank slates who never give you a real indication as to what's going on in their head, or what their motivations are.

And this book bored me--all I've seen is how great it is on the back cover blurb, but no hint of the plot. I was looking for a spoiler free plot blurb to see what the heck this book's about and essentially found more "Hemingway's posthumous publication is genius" notes.

Ugh--I can't get into the characters, and I don't care much about the characters. I was annoyed how I got to the fishing trip with young David and the swordfish, which seemed to be promising, so I kept with it past my 100 page barrier. After 30 pages, he's still got the fish on the line and hasn't gotten it in the boat, still fighting. Yes, I know wrestling a thousand-pound fish on the line is hard work, but heavens--how much of it do we readers need to see? And how nonchalant can the adults be that this kid is trying to hang onto this fish and they're drinking a beer or just waiting around for the kiddo to finish.

Ugh, very little to get excited about for me in this one. Hoping his short stories are better (I've got a book of those now).

Moorlock

rated it

June 9, 2007