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Summary: Old Man and the Sea is a book to appreciate
Review: Actually, i am one of the few people that found this book to be not so good or not so great, but its a great classic. I found it a bit dry at times, like when he was trying to catch that marlin and spent 2+ days following that stupid fish. It didnt have much action in it, and it was very short. It took me about 2 1/2 hours total to read it. Yet his person vs. nature is very interesting. I dont know why this book is so popular still today, but it is a pretty good book. I dont know, maybe i'll appreciate it more when i get older.
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Summary: A Sublime Masterpiece
Review: What a glorious work. Not a wasted word. Not a single distraction. Stripped of all artifice and affectation. He leaves only the very essence - of art, of life, of creation.In reading the various reviews, it seems that many young people have read this work as part of their class curriculum. It pains me to see how so many of them have had their perception of it directed - no, constrained - to the wrong things. Their teachers should be ashamed of themselves. They have taken something exquisite and eloquent and unadorned, and coated it, suffocating its splendour with "symbolism" and "interpretation". The Old Man and the Sea is not about symbolism. It's not about Christ parallels, or communing with Mother Earth, or the price we pay for ambition. It TELLS us, clearly and poignantly, what it's about. And we must have the humility to take it at its word. It's about struggle, and courage, and pity, and proving something to the only two beings that really count in the end - our Maker and our Self. There's nothing complicated in any of this. And Hemingway strives to reflect these simple, yet powerful truths in language that is likewise simple and powerful. He succeeds beyond measure. To properly understand this work, we must actually oppose modern teaching. We must resist the temptation to analyse. We must strip away bombastic complexity and artifice. This is a story about essences. It is set away from civilisation, in the majestic vastness of the sea, precisely so that there can be no distraction, no adornment, no artifice. Adding such elements does not further the understanding; it only pollutes. As is true of all great works of literature, this one is not for everyone. If your depth extends no further than low-rent thrills, then don't bother. You will find this book boring. Similarly, effete intellectuals need not apply. There's nothing here that appeals to cheap cynicism, nor to cowardice masquerading under the guise of sophistication. This story is a great man's parting gift to you and me. It speaks with pity and a deep sorrow to those lonely acts of courage, large and small, about which no one will ever know. Only our Maker and our Self. What a masterpiece.
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Summary: Hemingway in Decline
Review: I've read just about everything by Hemingway I think, but never this one. I believe in the back of my mind I was saving it; keeping it in reserve, so to speak, so that there would always be something to look forward to. But I finally picked it up. I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I was when I saw the size of the type, which is huge--like a child's book--and realized the book was only 140 pages long. I read ten pages and almost didn't pick it up again. But I did and I'm glad I did because this is really a terrific book. The plot is pretty simple: it's the story of an old Cuban fisherman who hasn't had any luck in 84 days, and finally, on the 85th, experiences the catch of his life. It is typical Hemingway: the taut prose style, thorough understanding of human emotions, plot tension, and superior knowledge of his subject matter are all here. Thematically it is also superb. The struggle of man against nature, the need we have for one another, the sad decline of all of us as we age, and our eternal hope that tomorrow will be better, no matter how awful today is, are just a few of those represented. I thought the Christ symbolism near the end was layed on a little heavy, but this is only a minor complaint. This is an excellent, moving novel. But it is simple, and Hemingway was clearly past his prime. It is remarkable that just a little more than ten years after writing the unbelievably complex For Whom the Bell Tolls, he was reduced to this. But, a good book nevertheless. Read it to your kids.
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Summary: The Crazy Old Man
Review: I actually saw the movie years ago but decided to read the book out of shear curiosity of the legend himself, Earnest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea is a classic tale of hardship described in terms that only Hemmingway knows how to do. The book is about an old Cuban fisherman who has had an 84 day streak of bad luck. The old man is respected, but has become a kind of bad luck symbol to the local fisherman of Cuba. The old man fish's day in and day out searching for the one fish that is going to break his unlucky streak and boy does he find it. Positive points: The struggle seems real, as if I was in the boat with him. I got the feeling that man and animal are one and the same, both the old man and the fish were after the same thing, survival. It's a story about beating the odds during the hard times of life (and it demonstrates this well). Negative points: The story is overly simplistic, which makes it extremely easy to read; however, there are some parts of the book that drag on a bit. I found myself thinking, "Come on old man, catch the dam fish already." Conclusion: Worth the read, if you have the time.
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Summary: The Old Man And The Sea book review
Review: I read the book The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway. The main character is an old man named Santiago. He is from a Cuban village where fishing is life. He didn't catch a fish for 84 days. The man is very old and not respected. A good thing the author did was to give a hopeful ending. With all the bad luck Santiago is having something good has to come out. The problem is the man catches no fish. This means he gets no money and the people in the village find him to be a waste. The kind of people that would like this book is middle aged people. The book tells of a bond between a boy and an old man who is struggling to prove his worth anymore. The authors style was good. The book had a good lead up and was well detailed. I liked the book because it showed there was hope. The old man goes out on a 3 day fishing voyage to prove he is not bad luck. Will he come out succesful or return a useless old man? To find out the suspensful ending read The Old Man And The Sea yourself.
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Summary: a bad author's best book
Review: If he had been able to deal with his desire for men, instead of eating a shotgun (either oblivious to, or beyond caring about, the obvious symbolism of his act), Ernest Hemingway might be celebrating his 100th birthday today, July 21, 1999. While one has to acknowledge that stylistically he was one of the most influential authors of the Century, it seems to me that his literary reputation really rests on Old Man and the Sea and the Nick Adams stories, everything else is just psychosexual, faux macho, posturing. That said, you could do a hell of a lot worse careerwise than produce one of the best novellas and several of the best short stories ever written. The Old Man and the Sea is another one of those texts that you were assigned in 8th or 9th grade, largely as a function of the author's stature and the brevity of the book (see also Of Mice and Men, Orrin's Grade: A+). And, of course, your teacher analyzed all the Christian symbolism, from the bleeding palms to the marlin carcass as Cross. Allow me to take a little different tack. I recently had the great displeasure of reading The Affluent Society (John Kenneth Galbraith)(Grade: F). Mr. Galbraith argued that as Western society reached the novel stage of being affluent, that is producing enough goods to meet the subsistence needs of every member of society, we would inevitably rebel against the notion of work, our work hours would dwindle, people would demand four or even three day weeks and many would opt out of the workplace all together. We now realize of course that this was the idle prattle of an effete twit. Instead, the past fifty years have seen the massive entry of women into the workplace (as a form of liberation no less) and folks working well past retirement age and the past five years have seen the government demand that even the chronic unemployed get jobs or lose benefits. How could Karl Marx and Galbraith and all those liberal thinkers have been so wrong about what motivates people? It is quite simply a function of their dependence on materialism. This blinded them to cultural and spiritual influences on mankind and they failed to reckon with these forces. Hopefully, nobody who has ever read The Old Man and the Sea could possibly fail to understand that, for most people, doing a job well, even, or especially, a physically taxing job, provides an abiding sense of gratification and self worth. Most of us are not alienated from our labor, we are challenged by it. Because of the dignity and grace that the old fisherman, Santiago, demonstrates in rising to face the challenge--his exhibition of hard won skill and his determination in the face of overwhelming odds--this book reaffirms the indomitable human spirit and reminds us of the possibility of encountering the sublime in every day life and in the most lowly of labors and laborers. There is more insight to the soul of man in the scant 127 pages of this book, than in all the volumes of Marxist/Socialist pablum spewed forth in the past 100 years. It is a fitting tribute, on the Centennial of Hemingway's birth, that we remember him for this great tale. GRADE: A+
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Summary: Old Man and the Sea
Review: I liked the book Old Man and the Sea. It was interesting, fairly well written, and easy to read. The theme of this book i8s that sometimes you can get caught up in something that may not be good for you, and you don't even realize how much it's affecting you until it is too late. The main character in this book is an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago.He is very stubborn and set in his ways, and he often forgets to eat.The other fishermen look down on him and thoink he is rather eccentric, but his best friend and former fishing partner, a young boy named Manolin, remains loyal to him and often comes to bring him food and support. Santiago views the boy with tenderness, and has no harsh feelings for the other fishermen.Baseball is his favorite thing, and his hero is Joe DiMaggio.During the course of this book, he begins to appreciate his homemore, as well as the boy and the other fishermen. He realizes the importance of having people to help him, and the value of friendship. The climax is when he catches the marlin and brings it home. The conflict is man vs. nature, and it is resolved when he returns.
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Summary: More than just a fish story
Review: This is a nice, terse novella that is one of the few "classics" of the 20th century which can, in fact, be read in a sitting or two. It is also nice that it is by the un-intimidating prose of Hemmingway. You don't have to worry about ending up in the never-never land of T.S. Eliot, William Faulkner & Ford Maddox Ford (although visiting never-never land isn't always a bad thing). "The Old Man And The Sea" is an age-old struggle between man and Nature. The persona is a fisherman who spends most of his time either mulling over his lost youth or vicariously re-living the prime of his life thru the baseball exploits of Joe Dimaggio. I think it was Charles Degaulle who said that old age was a shipwreck; this story is indeed emblematic of that. At base, this is a classic story of what Joseph Campbell describes as a hero's journey. I would recommend you join the old man on his heroic quest.
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Summary: Mrs. STEWART... PLEASE READ!
Review: The Old Man and the Sea Hemmingway PLOT: The conflict is between a fisherman and his self-respect. The climax: Santiago struggling to catch and bring home a fish, teaches Santiago great respect for himself. Santiago is an old Cuban fisherman. He is very poor and he lives a very solitary life. His one friend is a boy who he used to work with. Santiago is both physically and mentally strong. He is old but very smart. He lives his life alone and learns a lot about himself, and triumph on this fishing trip. The theme of this book is that you can still win in the face of tragedy. I thought this was a good book. But it was short. It is very well written! I enjoyed reading this book and would certainly recommend it to a friend.
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Summary: The Old Man and the Sea
Review: The book that I read was the Old Man and the Sea. This book is a novel written by Ernest Hemingway. The conflict is the old man struggling with the fish, the climax is sharks eat the fish, and it is resolved when the man gets home. The major character in this book was the old man. His name was Santiago. He was an old, weathered fisherman who was skinny and not very attractive to look at. He was always very determined and very strong. He never gave up hope and he always saw the good in things. He didn't have many friends; in fact, he only had one- the boy. Others thought that he was a stupid old man because he usually didn't catch anything and he was very poor. Over the course of the novel, he changes in the way that he realizes that people aren't always lucky, and that sometimes you just can't win. The theme of this book was that you will get defeated, but don't give up hope. I personally didn't care for this book. It was very boring and uneventful. It did, however, make me feel some emotion- I felt very sorry for the fisherman- so it did get me into the book in that way. Other than that, thought, I did not like this book.
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