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. Books > Reviews

 

Blue Road to Atlantis


by Jay Nussbaum
Entertaining story


This fine little tale tells the reverse side of Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. While Hemingway took the Old Fisherman’s perspective, this story tells the history of the Grand Old Fish (a powerful swordfish). The narrator of the story is Fishmael, a remora that has lived his life as a companion to the old fish.

There is a red tide killing fish in the sea. The swordfish is asked to go to Atlantis and find out the secret to stopping the tide. A back-story is introduced explaining that the Grand Fish lost the love of his life to the Old Man years ago. Now, to save a young fish, the swordfish is hooked by the Old Man.

The story is a parable for essentially a Taoist/Buddhist way of looking at life and death. It’s well written and I came to empathize with the fish characters and their plight. They have a fun encounter with a catfish that is supposed to be wise, but turns out to be full of gibberish.

There are a few clichés (we encounter another tiring Rastafarian who speaks in simplistic platitudes that are supposed to contain wisdom) and the story can be a bit long-winded, but otherwise it was very good. I like the ending which, though predictable, matched the emotional core of the story.

Dan Rahmel
Author: "Nuts and Bolts Filmmaking"