If you loved The Old Man and the Sea, you also just might like The Lonely Crossing of Juan Cabrera. Different author, same writing style. Different sotry, same ocean. TLCoJC centers around the journey three men embark on, trying to get from Cuba to Florida on a tiny raft. Ultimately, as the name implies, Juan finds himself alone on his trip and this solitude forces him to face the lies he has told in order to fit in in Communist Cuba. The plot itself seems secondary to two things: description of the crossing (the ocean, the birds, the fishing, etc) and a comparison between Cuba and Miami. I found it to be interesting as a cultural study, but it was definitely not a real page-turner. This surprised me because several teachers have read it with their classes and claim it was a huge success. I enjoyed the description of the seas, and even the hurricane. As a Floridian, I found it easy to picture (and appreciate)the scenes the author painted, but outside of that I thought it was a bit of a snooze-fest and unbelievable to boot. Seriously, they made it through a huge hurricane on two inner tubes? A sand shark tore Jose in half and then ate him? Eh... I'm skeptical.
Every year I think that this will finally be the year I read this book with my classes, but every year my laziness and inertia get the better of me. After reading this and hearing your description the other day, I will happily avoid it for years to come.
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