Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, Hemingway's magnificent fable is the tale of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. This story of heroic endeavour won Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature. It stands as a unique and timeless vision of the beauty and grief of man's challenge to the elements. (19980904)
The Old Man and the Sea
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Here, for a change, is a fish tale that actually does honour to the author. In fact The Old Man and the Sea revived Ernest Hemingway's career, which was foundering under the weight of such post-war stinkers as Across the River and into the Trees. It also led directly to his receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1954 (an award Hemingway gladly accepted, despite his earlier observation that "no son of a bitch that ever won the Nobel Prize ever wrote anything worth reading afterwards"). A half century later, it's still easy to see why. This tale of an aged Cuban fisherman going head-to-head (or hand-to-fin) with a magnificent marlin encapsulates Hemingway's favourite motifs of physical and moral challenge. Yet Santiago is too old and infirm to partake of the gun-toting machismo that disfigured much of the author's later work:
"The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords."Hemingway's style, too, reverts to those superb snapshots of perception that won him his initial fame:
Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin. He saw it first when it jumped in the air, true gold in the last of the sun and bending and flapping wildly in the air.If a younger Hemingway had written this novella, Santiago most likely would have towed the enormous fish back to port and posed for a triumphal photograph--just as the author delighted in doing, circa 1935. Instead his prize gets devoured by a school of sharks. Returning with little more than a skeleton, he takes to his bed and, in the very last line, cements his identification with his creator:
"The old man was dreaming about the lions."Perhaps there's some allegory of art and experience floating around in there somewhere--but The Old Man and the Sea was, in any case, the last great catch of Hemingway's career. --James Marcus --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
It is unsurpassed in Hemingway's oeuvre. Every word tells and there is not a word too many (Anthony Burgess )
A quite wonderful example of narrative art. The writing is as taut, and at the same time as lithe and cunningly played out, as the line on which the old man plays the fish (Guardian )
A quite wonderful example of narrative art. The writing is as taut, and at the same time as lithe and cunningly played out, as the line on which the old man plays the fish (Guardian )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Blackbeard
Format:Hardcover
This isn't the exact copy I have, but it is the closest so it will have to do. If you have never read anything by Hemingway, this might be the best place to start. It is short, simple, and without any of the brutality or serious depressive atmosphere of most of his other books, but it still has the same masterful prose style as everything else he wrote. This has never been one of my favourites of his, but it is wonderful to read, and I think I enjoyed it more this time than any other. Hemingway was one of the very few people in history who really knew how to write. He wrote about what he knew well, and he was able to transfer what he perceived with his keen senses onto the page in such a way that someone completely ignorant of the subject could still see and feel what he was describing. And not only could he describe things so clearly and distinctly, but also so beautifully that through his words there always flows emotion - usually melancholy in nature, it's true, but nonetheless pure, poignant emotion. Most writers would give their right arms to be able to conjure up emotion in such a deceptively simple way, but most will never be able to do it. Cormac McCarthy, I have noticed, tries to write more and more like Hemingway, and does fairly well at it, but he will never surpass the master, and most writers who admire him never even attempt to copy his style. Because what seems so simple is anything but, and another one of his many admirable qualities is that he knew what to leave out as well, which is something almost every author needs to learn better. I think most writers would think that this book needed to be longer, and would have tried to fill it out with non-essential material (more characters, side story, back story, lost love, etc.), which would have taken something away from it rather than adding to it, as he well knew. But enough gushing - simply put, if you haven't read this, you should.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are enough good reviews here, which leaves me little to add except that this book figures in my top ten favourite reads of all time. I've read it on and off since I was twelve or thirteen (I'm now thirty-seven), and it still never fails to capture the imagination and pull you right into the story. It's a beautifully crafted masterpiece suitable for all ages. Great stuff!
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By bennyben80
Format:Paperback
I'm going to keep this review directly proportional to the size of this book. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is wonderful, brilliant, moving, profound, riveting and noble. It's 100 pages of beautiful, robust writing, where every word counts.
From reading an epic like War and Peace (still ongoing) this was a revelation as an exercise in how to convey so much emotion and meaning with so very few words.
I've read it five times, and it never loses any of it's charm or magic. Hemingway has written some amazing novels; full of powerful, hardy and noble characters, but none for me come close to Santiago the fisherman and his struggle against nature in this lyrical and poetic little book.
I'll say no more. Read this book.
From reading an epic like War and Peace (still ongoing) this was a revelation as an exercise in how to convey so much emotion and meaning with so very few words.
I've read it five times, and it never loses any of it's charm or magic. Hemingway has written some amazing novels; full of powerful, hardy and noble characters, but none for me come close to Santiago the fisherman and his struggle against nature in this lyrical and poetic little book.
I'll say no more. Read this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Hemingway...
I purchased this because I'm obsessed with Hemingway, and it's one of his greatest works. You cannot beat the price of this item! Read more
Published 2 days ago by spongebobtwin
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too many typo's
A classic tale that deserves top marks but I did find that in this version my reading experience was severely lessened by the number of sloppy typo's in a book that has been... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Ed209
1.0 out of 5 stars
Product Description spoils entire book!
I was going to purchase this for my Kindle but then I read the Amazon product description. It describes what happens throughout the novel and explains the conclusion in detail,... Read more
Published 22 days ago by S. Finnie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally
Finally got around to reading this and it was joyous. A definite must read to all. Deserving of 5 stars.
Published 23 days ago by Michael Burns
5.0 out of 5 stars
What to say: Hemmingway
very popular book even in German. So do not miss to read it, it is more than great and it opens your eyes for more than this
Published 1 month ago by Wozniak
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very exciting read
From cover to cover , this I think is one of Hemingways best books, just gripping all the way through.
Published 1 month ago by Rich
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Old Man and the Sea
I remembered reading this book as a child at School, still enjoyed reading it again, after more years than I care to remember. Would recomend this book to any age group.
Published 1 month ago by Sue Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars
THe Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a beautifully written tale about an old fisherman's battle to kill a great swordfish far out to sea. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Paula H. A. Levey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Captivating
Loads of drama,twists & turns. Really feel for the fisherman & the fish.far better than the film! Must read some more Hemmingway!
Published 1 month ago by barrynjeans
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glad there are more to read!
This is the first Ernest Hemingway story that I've read and it certainly won't be the last.
The writing is well crafted and has you hooked to the story from the first... Read more
The writing is well crafted and has you hooked to the story from the first... Read more
Published 1 month ago by C. Lockhart
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