I'm no great fan of Hemingway (frankly, apart from In Our Time, I can't understand the appeal of his work whatsoever), but The Old Man and the Sea was a particular bugaboo. I had to read it no less than 5 times over the course of high school and college, and each time, I wanted to put a bullet in my brain. The narcissistic obsessions of men who've lost sight of everything that makes life worth living don't tend to excite my interest (see also: Dick, Moby).
But part of my issue with Old Man is that like Santiago, the writing, too, is lifeless. Add to that the fact that every creative writing professor I ever had in college insisted that the only correct way to write fiction is to model oneself on Hemingway's style (aka bloodless and devoid of beauty), and you have all the makings of an Oncoming Hate.
But this, this is beautiful. A German film-maker turns the story into 4 minutes of stop-motion gorgeousness. Watch and marvel.
the old man and the sea from Marcel Schindler on Vimeo.
Old man and the sea is over rated (lol felt exactly the same way in HS), but the video was great...thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one who feels that way!
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