I say this as a major fan of Hemingway too. It is absolutely insane to me that the man wrote 39 endings for this otherwise incredible book and then chose the one that borderline ruins it. I know some will disagree, but to me, this completely random, nihilistic, cringily edgy ending sucks. It almost reduces the message of the book to “randomly bad things happen when you least expect them, and life is meaningless suffering.” Wow, what a cutting edge, nuanced message. It’s not like every 15 year old on the internet has come up with that one.
I much prefer the ending to the old man and the sea which is negative in the sense that the sharks eat the marlin but is positive in that Santiago finds some sort of final victory in the act of struggling for greatness. Now that’s a good, nuanced ending, even if it’s a little depressing. A farewell to arms on the other hand? Miss me with that.
by bigben1234567890