Take that, english teachers everywhere!

So it's really a long winded way to say "It is what it is" then

My english teacher (who was a native english speaker and looked a lot like the young Hemingway) said it was just a way too long book about an old man catching a way too big fish, but it was canonical to read then. Apparently the whole novel was based on a short newspaper article telling the entire story in two dozen lines. The teacher sort of said it's so bland, it makes a perfect projection screen for mawkish old geezers.