The Old Man and the Sea

 

(made by Maxwell)

    Dozens of miles out at sea, where the shores of Cuba have already disappeared over the horizon, there is nothing but salty ocean water as far as one can view. Yet as one looks closer, they can see that this lonely picture is teeming with life. Birds, fish, marlins, dolphins, and sharks, they are all living in this field of view, searching for food, or trying to avoid getting eaten themselves. In the middle of all the wildlife, is an old man, riding a skiff with a fishing rod, hoping desperately to hook something good after 84 days without a single fish caught. But on the 85th day, one massive marlin would give the old man a chance to break this unenviable streak. 

    The old man, and the events surrounding him, are all the making of Ernest Hemingway, in his brisk novella titled The Old Man and the Sea. Despite being only just over 120 pages long and using simplistic language, Hemingway's novella manages to create a complex main character and a unique atmosphere of loneliness that makes this a great read.

    

   In The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway manages to forge an air of loneliness, which makes the book much more engaging to read, as it feels like it is only the old man and his thoughts that are relevant. For one, the only person who interacts with the old man is a boy that he mentors on how to fish. Hence, the only person the old man converses with is the boy and himself. The old man's isolation is compounded by his fishing trip, in which he sails away from all other human life, where the only things left in view are the old man himself, and the sea. This voluntary separation from the rest of society makes the book unique, as the old man is stuck with his thoughts, waiting until he finds a good time to sail back. 

    The pacing of the novella also makes it very fun to read, with large portions of the story being less action-packed, providing time for the old man's mind to wander. This gives us insight to his ideas, his plans, and most importantly, his obsessions on things outside of the present moment. The amount of time that it takes to catch a marlin gives us interludes where we can see what he is musing about, whether it is what his baseball player would do in his shoes, what he wish he had when he came into this fishing trip, or the marine wildlife around him. 

    There are many more reasons that The Old Man and the Sea is a good book, such as the old man's character, the way poverty affects the story, and the ambiance of the sea one can visualize while reading the story. However, what separates this book from the others is in fact the two main points listed above. These qualities make the book enjoyable to read while being able to tell an engaging story, and that is why I recommend that people read this book. 

What Would You Do in a Crunch?

"But now in this second week in a hot July, suddenly shortage wasn't the right word anymore. Shortage would mean there wasn't enough. Instead, there wasn't any. "Vincent hit the nail on the head. "'This,'" he said, "'is a crunch."' This passage accurately describes the situation that the Marrisses are in. Lil, Dewey, Vince, Angus, and Eva, the children of Mr. and Mrs. Marriss all live in this nearly dystopian reality without fuel. Living in New England, the Marrisses own a small farm off of a highway ramp near Elm City. Already living in an unimaginable future, the Marriss children's parents are stuck in Canada because of the Crunch, leaving the children alone at the house to raise two five year old twins, while also taking care of the farm and their father's business. The story details the lives of this family during this difficult time and how it forces them to undergo a lot of character development in learning how to live in a new fuel-less word. The surreal world you are thrown into in Crunch is what makes this one of my favorite books to this day.

Throughout the book we also see how the crunch affects the rest of the world. In just the first few chapters we see that highways are almost completely empty of cars with people and bikes taking its place. The fuel crunch and change in society's transportation sets up many changes and conflicts in the story. One being the new change at the Bike Barn, the family business where the new dependence on bikes as transportation causes a spike in business at the Bike Barn. Vince and Dewey are forced to run the business in its most hectic time ever without the help of their Dad. Society's dependence on biking leads to a new demand for bike parts, which in turn leads to trouble for the Marrisses and their Bike Barn later in the story.

Two themes that are consistently present in the story especially by Lil are responsibility and pride. When her parents are stranded up north, she is forced to take care of the four other children while still trying to pursue her art. Being is eighteen years old, she feels obligated as the oldest child in the family to take care of the rest and is seen as a second mom to the other children causing a lot of responsibility to fall on Lil when the crunch hits. Lil's prideful attitude causes conflict and is shown by her aversion to Dewey's help when he offers to pick her up on a bike when she has to walk home from the city and her aversion to help from others when another family offers to help them cook meals. Throughout the story Lil is forced to find a way to balance her pride with responsibility and taking care of herself and her family. This need to prove herself to her family makes her an interesting character to follow in this coming-of-age story as she learns that only with the help of her family can she pursue her artistic dreams and make it through the crunch.

This book does an incredible job of describing the strange new world of Crunch and how the characters adapt to it as well as hinting at the mystery behind the fuel shortage. Besides being well-told, the story provides incredible imagery that leaves much to imagination in passages like where Dewey bikes down a highway filled with bikes and people rather than cars. This novel is one of my personal favorites and is good for someone looking for a unique and charming book about a quite possible future.

- Kelby