While the descriptions are impressive, the book lacks action. I kept on hoping something will actually happen before the last page... ( )

This book was strange in that I very much liked it but apparently for no good reason. Hemingway doesn't seem to make any big point with Islands in the Stream, although certainly this is excusable since it was published after the author's death and was never properly edited by him. The novel is enjoyable solely on the merit of Hemingway's moving characters, namely the protagonist, fictional American painter Thomas Hudson. Parts of the story drag while some moments are overly-macho (yes, even for Hemingway), but more often than not the writing is very good. I would recommend this book to anyone, but I would suggest reading A Farewell to Arms or For Whom the Bell Tolls first; this shouldn't be your first taste of Hemingway. ( )

This is the book of Hemingway's that I have reread the most times. It has beauty and simplicity. It is the book he never finished, and I think his maturity shows.

It is written from the viewpoint of a man that has lived life to the full and found the rest he had been seeking. War intervenes, but his experience of it is still appreciative of beauty and value.

This book should get a lot more credit than it does. ( )

One of the most touching Hemingway novels I have read, he really lets his guard down in this one, possibly even more so than in A Moveable Feast. If you read this book, I can almost guarantee that: A. You will cry; and B. You will NEVER forget it! ( )

Story of an unhappy man in Cuba in WW2 and his struggles to reconcile with his sons. ( )