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Summary: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Review: The Old Man and The Sea is a book about Santiago, an old fisherman living in a coastal fishing town. He is a poor man, but with a richness of character that is recognised and admired by his friend, a young boy named Manolin. Manolin has much faith in Santiago, which is mentioned on page 12. "He hasn't much faith." "No." the old man said. "But we have. Haven't we?" "Yes," the boy said. Santiagois down on his luck, he hasn't had a catch in 84 days, and on the 85th day Santiago decides that he will not return home without a catch, to break his losing streak. On the 85th day, alone in the boat, he manages to hook an enormous marlin, the biggest fish he's ever seen in all his life. The fish is larger and stronger than Santiago. Santiago's experienced fishing skills and his will to catch and survive push him to pursue the fish for many days, and many miles out to sea. Santiago loves this fish, he respects it for its beauty, its size, and its power. Pg. 49, "Then he began to pity the great fish he had hooked. He is wonderful and strange and who knows how old he is, he thought." Still Santiago must demonstrate his own power over the fish, for the sake of his pride. After an incredible and exhausting fight, the fish is his. He must now get it back to shore. After killing the fish, he ties the fish to the skiff. The marlin fish he catches is as big as the struggle he has yet to face after his catch. And so his next battle begins. Sharks appear and start to feed on the defenseless carcass of the marin fish. Santiago tries to defend the great fish, he tries to defend its beauty, its dignity, as well as his own triumph over the fish. He tries to defend his prize, his joy, and make it back to shore. Read to find out the conclusion to The Old Man and The Sea. Hemingway's language is simple and profound and he touches us, enabling us to feel Santiago's emotionts, experiences and struggles. His sentences are full of detail but at the same time are very clear. The author delves into the mind of the old man, and we experience the pain and suffering that Santiago endures through trying to catch his fish. There are four reocurring themes that the author presents in The Old Man and The Sea. The first theme that Hemingway presents is the idea that you shouldn't keep wishing you would have this thing or that, do what you can with what you have. " I wish I had a stone for the knife," the old man said after he had checked the lashing on the oar butt. "I should have brought a stone." You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man. Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is." The next theme Hemingway presents is the idea that something is too good to be true, or that something is so good that you must be dreaming. Pg 97, "He could see the fish and he had only to look at his hands and feel his back against the stern to know that this had truly happened and was not a dream. At one time when he was feeling so badly toward the end, he had thought perhaps it was a dream." Then he mentions, " Now he knew there was the fish and his hands and back were no dream. Another of Hemingways many themes is the idea that man is not to be defeated. In this story, full awareness of defeat is contrasted with an unwillingness to be destroyed. Pg. 101, " But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." One of the most important and most reocurring themes in this story is the power struggle between man and nature or what we call man vs. nature. On page 66, the old man is talking about how he will show the fish what man can endure, he says, "Although it is injust, he thought. But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures." The old man also shows respect for nature,and calls the fish his brother. The old man says, "It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers." I highly recommend this book. It is a sad but extremely beautiful book. I enjoyed reading about Santiago and his struggle with catching the big fish. It reminds me of the struggles we face in our daily life. This book is about the human spirit and the struggles we face in our lives with ourselves and nature.
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Summary: Forget Lullabys... read hemmingway!
Review: When I found out I had to read this book for school I was actually pretty happy! It only has about 150 pages! but then before I sarted reading it my friend say the book in my poseesion and siad,"That book is the esence of the devil!" I was like- yea, sure it can't be THAT bad! Boy, was i wrong!! I (usually) am a super- fast reader! a 400 page novel MAY take me 2 days if its good but Old Man and the Sea took me over a month! I put it on my chair in my bedroom and left it there! I would read it at 12 ot night just to make me tired! At least it was good for something! So- unless you can't get yourself to sleep at night- DONT READ THIS BORING BOOK!...
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Summary: Incredible - a masterpiece of American literature
Review: First of all, I admit I'm biased here. I am a tremendous admirer of Hemingway's writing style. The language - unbelievably minimal, declarative, free of any irrelevance - is absolutely intoxicating. This, by itself, makes Hemingway a joy to read. Every sentence is so tight, so compact, yet they all say so much and create as vivid a picture in your mind as a photograph. Hemingway's writing at its worst is amazing.However, "The Old Man and the Sea" is one of Hemingway's finest novels, fully deserving of the Nobel Prize. The story is simple and may seem boring to some, but the beauty of the old man's struggle with the marlin is heartbreaking and encouraging at the same time. Hopelessness and full awareness of defeat are contrasted with perseverance, determination, and an unwillingness to be destroyed. "The Old Man and the Sea" brings home all of mankind's failures and all of mankind's successes in every sentence. I can't recommend this book more highly. Read it and stand in awe, both at Hemingway's astonishing command over the English language and at the dignity he brings to the failed in mankind. Brilliant in every sense of the word.
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Summary: Have Not, if it's all the same to you
Review: I am no fan of The Old Man and the Sea, but it's worth publicising more widely the little-known story of its genesis. The Old Man and the Sea was actually an allegory of Hemingway's doomed attempts at wooing Norma Jean Baker (Marilyn = marlin: geddit?). He saw himself as the "evolved" being of man against the "shark" of his contemporary Arthur Miller who nipped and nipped and was the ultimate victor of her affections.
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Summary: ". . . what a man can do and what a man endures."
Review: Ernest Hemingway's short novel "The Old Man and the Sea" received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953, and undoubtedly played a role in his being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. The book tells the story of an elderly Cuban fisherman and of his epic struggle with a gigantic marlin. This is a simple, straightforward story of courage and endurance. For most of the book, the old man is totally alone (aside from the animals he encounters) on his boat. Hemingway fills the book with memorable details about marine life and the fisherman's trade. An interesting touch is the invocation, throughout the book, of U.S. baseball player Joe DiMaggio as an iconic figure. Hemingway's style has been justly celebrated over the decades, and his writing in this book is remarkable. In "The Old Man" he achieves a purity, clarity, and stark beauty that remind me of the poetry of Stephen Crane. This book is an enduring classic, and Hemingway's old man is one of the most memorable characters in American literature. If you like this book, also try "The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
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Summary: The Human Spirit Soars.
Review: What an incredible story. I read this in less than two hours (it is a novella) and upon completing this simple story, I had a incredibly overwhelming satisfaction toward the ferocity of the human spirit. Yes, this book is all story but the main idea is all spirit. Those that can't see the incredible battle within are not READING the story, just the words. As a simple by-product, this book led directly to Ernest Hemingway's receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1954. This story features three main characters: the old man (Santiago), a young boy (Manolin), and the human spirit. Santiago takes on the once-in-a-lifetime catch of a prize marlin which is described and portrayed in a manner to draw out the challenge facing each individual, both physically and emotionally. Santiago hasn't had a catch in 84 days. On day 85, he decides that, no matter what, he'll not return with a catch. Indeed, that was his fate. Santiago experiences physical pain, emotional pain, spiritual pain, and the pain of being alone with the elements. Yet, he continues on, creating hope where there is none. Before this story reaches it conclusion, getting right with life, Santiago decides it is he or the marlin. This story is incredible. It deserves(d) all the critical acclaim received. Once again, those who didn't find this story touching their soul didn't read the story.
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Summary: The most boring book ever, but ...
Review: I must say that at the time that I read it, this was the most boring book I have ever read. 120 pages of mush on paper. It was so boring and it took me so long to read it that I got really frustrated and threw the book against the wall. But now that I have read it again, being older and more mature, I can recognize the book for its literary value. I still wouldn't reccomend this book as a free read to anyone who isn't really interested or a die hard Hemmingway fan.
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Summary: it was a big fish...
Review: i read this when i was in college, not for a class, just something on my own...hemingway could actually make the reader "feel" a story, put you right in the middle of the action. it's a sad book, but extremely beautiful. i wonder if when joe dimaggio was alive, did he ever read it? hemingway pays a sweet tribute to him here...the only pulitzer prize winner i felt that actually deserved it...
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Summary: A Masterpiece Novella!
Review: This is Hemingway's masterpiece novella! It is rare to find any novella that is even really good, but this one is great. The novella is a difficult thing to write, and even more difficult to publish. This is the story of an old man at sea, who catches a Marlin, and struggles and struggles to get it back to shore. The reader is RIGHT THERE with that old man, the entire way. And that is the genius of this work. There is no place where the reader does not feel this story, as a participant. Written with repetition of simple words, minimal use of adjectives, and gorgeous, hypnotic images that reveal great insight, this book is a timeless masterpiece, and I highly recommend it to everybody.
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Summary: Hemingway is a literary master
Review: The old man and the sea is just one example of what an extrodinary writer Ernest Hemingway was. This book was clearly written after Hemingway had reached his prime, and it's still excellent. The deceptively simple story of an old man fighting for his place back into society. It's filled with powerful emotion and description.
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