Islands in the Stream

Rating:
Summary: Tragic and poignantly romantic -- like Hemingway himself
Review: This book was beautifully bitersweet to me. Thomas Hudson's life (the main character) is a story of tradgedy we've all experienced to one degree or another -- and the flicker of hope that remains when bitterness or despair sets in. As usual, the backdrop for the plot is classic Hemingway: romantic locales, adventure, insight and excellent observations on human character. I'd also like to point out that this is one of the most moving descriptions of fathers and sons (Hudson and his boys) that I've ever read in a novel. In addition there is an incredible sport fishing scene on the Gulf Stream that is the most vivid and exciting fishing account I've read. It will engross the reader totally. Without giving the story away, my only complaint was the second act of the book -- the bitter and nearly defeated Hudson living in Cuba during World War Two. Not to take away from the skill of the storytelling, but Hudson's bitterness during this part of the story is hard to ! ! witness. It left me feeling depressed at times myself. On the other hand it can be argued though that if a story has that sort of emotional effect, then it is successful. And who says stories must always be uplifiting anyways. As Hemingway experienced, as well as the rest of us -- life can be a downer at times. The dark mood of the second half is refreshed though by a dramatic, emotional and introspective ending that left a tear in my eye. I highly recommend this to the fans of Hemingway as well as anyone else -- a well done emotional journey.

Rating:
Summary: A return to form.
Review: This has to be regarded as one of the best Hemmingways books, It is a return to the form of "For whom the bell tolls." The emotion in it is sometimes overwealming and at time tragic and other times comic. The descriptions of action are really the best since FWTBT. And the ending is as truly terrible as it is inevtiable.

Rating:
Summary: Good - Bad Hemingway
Review: This is a good - bad book. The good is the first part, set in Bimini in 1940, and the third part, which describes the hunt for a U-Boat crew off the coast of Cuba. The middle section can be skipped, but admirers of Hemingway will want to read it simply because he wrote it. The work as a whole is an artistic failure but it is moving and (to use a much overused word) unforgettable. One feels that Thomas Hudson is the older Hemingway and that the book is a key to his life, rather like The Garden of Eden, another posthumous work. A skilled editor would have improved this book, but it is still well worth reading, if only for the action scenes and the descriptions of the sea.

Rating:
Summary: A Rollercoaster in Writing
Review: This is a very uneven book, unfinished at the time of Hemingway's suicide. Mary Hemingway and various editors slapped this one together from an on-again, off-again project Hemingway wasn't able to complete during his last decade of life due to his alcoholism, creaping schizophrenia and lack of fire. The sections of the book were meant to be virtually separate books and they read that way. Mark, the Calabrian reviewer, is right- the Cuban section is terrible. I believe Hemingway wrote much of it while drunk. The Bimini section is excellent except, having vacationed in Bimini myself, Hemingway sugarcoats the place. The Bimini he explains to his readers is actually more like Abaco, Green Turtle Cay, Eluethera or, most likely, Key West. The At Sea section is also fine to read. Funny, Islands in the Stream is a case where the movie version (starring George C. Scott) is probably of higher quality than the book.

Rating:
Summary: Islands in the Stream by E. Hemingway
Review: This is an unususal read. It is heavy in conversation versus description and you never know the main character's ex-wife's name even though she is there for part of the book. I found it an easy smooth read with interesting people and things going on.

Rating:
Summary: Mature, intelligent Hemingway
Review: Truly great Hemingway. Wonderful story with the usual Hemingway themes, adventure, love and death. As you read the book you find the title adds much to forming the whole into a comprehensive unit of the writer's art. Long, pleasant rhythms, like life. One of the 2 BEST descriptions in literature of big-game fishing (the other is the short story The Emperor by Frederick Forsyth).

Rating:
Summary: An Unexpected Pleasure, even for Non-Hemingway fans
Review: We can only hope that this was the form Hemingway would have wanted Islands in the Stream to take, as it was published posthumously. However it is, in my opinion, one of his best.The subtlety he employs is matched only in his short stories like "Hills Like White Elephants". If nothing else, read this book for the scene about drinking "daquiris, blended, no sugar" and a drunken argument with a beloved cat. BRILLIANT!!!!

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Hemmingway Novel.
Review: Wonderfully written. Only drawback (?) is that you find yourself constantly fancying a drink.

Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: _Islands in the Stream_ is my favorite novel by Ernest Hemingway. Like most of his works, the prose is relatively sparse but very readable and very entertaining. It is also one of his most definitive novels in terms of revealing his true thoughts on the subject of life, death, and tragedy. Some of this may not be obvious at the onset of the book; the most important events establishing the theme of this novel do not occur until later, culminating in a surprising and disturbing ending. Of course I will not reveal this ending, so I will give you a brief rundown of the initial setting and cast: The novel takes place on the Bimini Islands off the coast of Florida. The main character is a hard-drinking, hard-partying, womanizing landscape painter, the ideal Hemingway character. Also in typical Hemingway fashion, his seemingly idyllic and glamorous existence is marred by heartbreak and tragedy. There is action and suspense when the protagonist embarks on his WW-II era, anti-nazi submarine hunting missions off the coast of Cuba. But the ending is the definitive part of this work. It has much to say about Hemingway's spiritual beliefs, which is rare because much of his mysterious prose is very reserved in this regard. I highly recommend this book to both Hemingway fans and fans of literature in general.

Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: _Islands in the Stream_ is my favorite novel by Ernest Hemingway. Like most of his works, the prose is relatively sparse but very readable and very entertaining. It is also one of his most definitive novels in terms of revealing his true thoughts on the subject of life, death, and tragedy. Some of this may not be obvious at the onset of the book; the most important events establishing the theme of this novel do not occur until later, culminating in a surprising and disturbing ending. Of course I will not reveal this ending, so I will give you a brief rundown of the initial setting and cast: The novel takes place on the Bimini Islands off the coast of Florida. The main character is a hard-drinking, hard-partying, womanizing landscape painter, the ideal Hemingway character. Also in typical Hemingway fashion, his seemingly idyllic and glamorous existence is marred by heartbreak and tragedy. There is action and suspense when the protagonist embarks on his WW-II era, anti-nazi submarine hunting missions off the coast of Cuba. But the ending is the definitive part of this work. It has much to say about Hemingway's spiritual beliefs, which is rare because much of his mysterious prose is very reserved in this regard. I highly recommend this book to both Hemingway fans and fans of literature in general.