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The Old Man and the Sea

3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 · rating details · 225,556 ratings · 6,965 reviews

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway’s most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the fac...more

Hardcover, 93 pages

Published June 10th 1996 by Scribner (first published 1952)

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May 16, 2012 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, 6-star-books, all-time-favorites, easton-press, classics-americas, water-logged, 1930-1953, novellas, life-changers, literature

My very first time reading Papa and I absolutely LOVED IT. Sometimes the experience you have with a book can be effected by many things beyond the narrative itself, and I think that is certainly the case here. While I believe I would have loved this story regardless, there is no doubt that the stars aligned themselves perfectly to make this a singularly special read for me.

Let me explain...

Last year, I was in Napa with my wife and two of our best friends celebrating my (oh shit!!) 40th birthday...more

153 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2013 Will Byrnes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

UPDATE - 1/5/13 - at bottom

It is intimidating to offer a truly critical look at such a classic, so we will ease into it with a few images.

The GOP has offered us a ready-made item to begin this list, and yes, I know that John Stewart already snagged this one and threw it back.

I turned up a visual art concept that fits in, for a restaurant based on EH themes:

Although I did not sit for this photo, the resemblance is indeed striking

And, of course

The Old Man and the Cee Lo.

I ~~suppose~~ am certai...more

36 likes · like · see review

May 13, 2012 Garima added it

Reading this book is like reading one of those lessons from your English school books which you always find boring but nevertheless you need to answer the questions giving at the back of the chapter. From there on you would realize the answers that particular lesson demands are with reference to ideas or experience you never thought about while reading it. So this story is about an Old Man, a sea and his fishing expedition. I became interested in Hemingway after watching Midnight in Paris in whi...more

24 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: anyone-fiction

Oh, my good lord in heaven. Cut your line, land your boat and go to McDonald's! Just as in the case of The Great Gatsby, I understand the book. Yes, I know it changed the way American writers write. I also understand that it celebrates the ridiculous American idea that you're only a REAL man if you've done something entirely purposeless, but really dangerous, in pursuit of making yourself look like the bull with the biggest sexual equipment. Get over it, already! Go home and clean out the refrig...more

114 likes · like · see review

Aug 17, 2007 Greg rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: the literate in the broadest sense.

Sad book. Read it, but know it is sad.
This is probably written at about a 4th grade reading level, and the audience is at least that broad.

I'll spare you the christ imagery chit-chat.

Why did Ernest Hemingway cross the road?

To die. In the rain.

37 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2012 Moira Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, childhood

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff...more

32 likes · like · see review

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Moira Russell Audra (Unabridged Chick) wrote: "Shameful confession: I have never read this!!"

Oh man, I dunno if you would like it. No women*, allll about fishing, a...more Audra (Unabridged Chick) wrote: "Shameful confession: I have never read this!!"

Oh man, I dunno if you would like it. No women*, allll about fishing, and some stuff about the sainted Great DiMaggio and the like that is really just embarrassing (Hemingway: not a 'primitive,' and never at his best when trying to portray 'primitive' people, either. Well, Pilar is something else. But she's not 'primitive'). (For all his glorious reputation as a master of dialogue - which is pretty much true - EH was SO AWFUL at trying to convey the thoughts/speech of non-English speakers.) But there are really amazing bits, like this one that I've remembered nearly all my life:

During the day he had taken the sack that covered the bait box and spread it in the sun to dry. After the sun went down he tied it around his neck so that it hung down over his back and he cautiously worked it down under the line that was across his shoulders now. The sack cushioned the line and he had found a way of leaning forward against the bow so that he was almost comfortable. The position actually was only somewhat less intolerable; but he thought of it as almost comfortable.

The story really is just odd, because it portrays this fucking devastating defeat, but there's this whole "A man can be destroyed but not defeated" BS which is so typical of Hemingway and in fact why I love him (all that machismo and braggodoccio was whistling in the dark, and it's right there in all the work) and it's so....weird, in contrast to the long, terrible struggle and even longer drawn-out defeat after victory. It's this very flat ending, almost, like the end of Farewell to Arms but without the complete heartbreak the flatness stands for there. I think that's why people call it sentimental. It isn't really. The ending is pretty awful, and the beginning isn't that much better either. But the whole story - about the old man (EH) bringing in the great fish (his stories) and being unable to fight off the sharks tearing them apart (really, that doesn't need explicating) - is pretty amazing.

*I misremembered, at the end there's one turista white woman who says something SO DUMB that reveals her absolute ignorance of fish, fishing, life the universe and everything. THANKS, ERNESTO

**Also I kind of love this bit: With his mouth shut and his tail straight up and down we sail like brothers. Then his head started to become a little unclear and he thought, is he bringing me in or am I bringing him in? If I were towing him behind there would be no question. Nor if the fish were in the skiff, with all dignity gone, there would be no question either. But they were sailing together lashed side by side and the old man thought, let him bring me in if it pleases him. I am only better than him through trickery and he meant me no harm. The fish bringing him in - that's great.(less)
updated May 24, 2012 03:58am

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Mar 06, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviews, favorites, classics

The wolves will come...

I started this in high spirits as my updates show: "fifth re-read, how thrilling it is to plumb new depths in old wells of wisdom..."

But, as I read on towards the last few pages, I couldn't shake the feeling that this is Moby Dick set in an alternate universe.

In this alternate universe:

The Giant Leviathan is a noble, unseen fish - steady and without malice.
Captain Ahab is transformed into a gentle, wise old zen master. Santiago - a humble fisherman with no legendary crew t...more

47 likes · like · see review

Jul 18, 2012 Ian Graye rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviews, reviews-5-stars

The Old Man and the Allegory

This book might just be an allegory of Darwinist Capitalism and the survival of the most aggressive and hungry in the world of corporate enterprise and rivalry.

Hey, What's the Big Idea?

It describes what it feels like to have one big idea or to invent something for which the market is not ready.

You struggle and wrestle with your "big fish" for ages, until in your mind you have caught it and perfected the way to reel it in, nobody is watching when you start the journey...more

33 likes · like · see review

May 19, 2008 Jessica marked it as aborted-efforts

Shelves: dicklits

I was very surprised when I finally tried to read this, and discovered that it bored the living crap out of me. I just couldn't get into it, I don't know why, maybe it was just my mood or something....? I mean, I do like Hemingway. I love the sea, and baseball. I am relatively fond of both old men and little boys (not like that, you fool).... and this is supposed to be really terrific and all, but I just.... I mean, I could've finished it of course, it's short, and it wouldn't have been like tor...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Luana rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Scrivere di Hemingway e del romanzo breve che gli fruttò il premio Nobel nel 1954 con la sua facciona barbuta che mi guarda dall'edizione 'Classici moderni' Mondadori non è facile, sopratutto perché, nonostante io abbia 20 anni, mi sento peggio del vecchio Santiago che lotta, a largo, con il suo enorme pesce. Non è mai facile dare un giudizio al libro quando l'emozione oscura l'occhio critico; dunque l'ho letto doppiamente questo romanzo, una volta con il cuore, un'altra con l'occhio giudice, ma...more Scrivere di Hemingway e del romanzo breve che gli fruttò il premio Nobel nel 1954 con la sua facciona barbuta che mi guarda dall'edizione 'Classici moderni' Mondadori non è facile, sopratutto perché, nonostante io abbia 20 anni, mi sento peggio del vecchio Santiago che lotta, a largo, con il suo enorme pesce. Non è mai facile dare un giudizio al libro quando l'emozione oscura l'occhio critico; dunque l'ho letto doppiamente questo romanzo, una volta con il cuore, un'altra con l'occhio giudice, mai troppo clemente. Insomma, oltre a penetrarmi sotto la pelle dandomi una fortissima carica umana, posso dire che, se avessi fatto parte della commissione svedese del 1954, mi sarei umilmente stata zitta quando si decideva di assegnarlo a lui, il Grande Saggio, questo così tanto ambito premio. Hemingway non andò mai a ritirarlo, mettendo così in evidenza quanto per uno scrittore sia più fondamentale scrivere, che star sotto i riflettori (nella realtà egli non andò a ritirarlo perché stava troppo male, ma io me l'immagino così, poco propenso alla più grande delle adulazioni letterarie che uno scrittore possa ricevere).

Santiago è un pescatore, è un pescatore vecchio, che, nel titolo, così come nel romanzo, così come nell'immaginario comune, perde il pescatore, per rimanere solo vecchio, in quella fase della vita che più spesso viene ammutinata, e che invece dovremmo venerare in quanto, il più delle volte, la fase più saggia, quella che ha più da parlare, ma non a vanvera, quanto con cognizione di causa.
Come tutti noi ci troviamo, un giorno più o meno lontano, più o meno vicino, a far fronte ai problemi della vita, così Santiago si trova, spinto in là negli anni, ormai solo, a lottare con un grande pescecane, un enorme sfida che serve da riprova che ancora vale la pena lottare, che ancora vale la pena mettersi in gioco, prendersi sul serio e mettere in campo le proprie forze.
Tra barche, esche, lenze addugliate, si riversa il senso della vita di un uomo che ha voluto lasciare in queste poche pagine ciò che ha imparato. E ciò che ha insegnato a me è che bisogna lottare in vista non tanto di quanto si guadagna, ma perché è fondamentale battersi, avere la consapevolezza di dire, terra a terra, 'almeno ci ho provato'. Una lotta, una sfida ponderata, consapevole, pensata con pazienza e con intelligenza, non una lotta suicida che non ha né capo né coda, che più che un escursione per raggiungere la vetta dell'Himalaya somiglia ad una rattristante arrampicata sugli specchi. In fondo, che importa riportare il pesce a casa? Ciò che conta è averlo pescato ed averlo difeso sino alla fine, sino allo stremo delle forze ciò che si è guadagnato nel continuo aggrovigliarsi di vita e morte, di paura e coraggio.

Estremamente di poche parole, più settoriale, che umano, ma intensamente commovente questa lotta tragica tra un pescatore ed un pesce, tra l'uomo e la natura, tra il lottatore ed il suo nemico, tra tutto ciò che ci fa paura e ciò che dobbiamo sconfiggere, o almeno che dobbiamo provare a sconfiggere.

Consigliato ad eventuali universitari che, come me, stanno affrontando la sfida di non abbandonarsi anche se di questi giorni, laurearsi, nonostante tutti gli sforzi, non è una garanzia. Insomma, la mia è una chiave di lettura molto personalizzata, ma a 20 anni mi ha suggerito questo e, ciò che ancor più mi ha fatto amare questo libro è la consapevolezza che, magari tra altri 10 anni, mi suggerirà qualcos'altro.

La riprova che, quando si è bravi a scrivere come Hemingway, bastano poche parole a comunicare sempre qualcosa di nuovo, di più grande e di immenso.(less)

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May 16, 2012 Tanu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-eternal-quest, serious-literature, overrated

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated. ”
Beautiful story.

8 likes · like · see review

Nov 28, 2007 Matt rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mermaids

Shelves: overrated, sucked, school-forced-me-to-read-this

Worst book ever.

Just throw the fucking fish back in. Fuck.

162 likes · like · see review

Apr 25, 2013 Kirstine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

So... Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for a book about an old man in a boat chasing a fish. Impressive.

I tried to analyze it while reading it, but I found it way too exhausting, because it's so simple, and to crack open simplicity to unearth something complex is just... hard work.
And to be honest I'm not convinced Hemingway didn't just write a book about a man and a boat and a fish. Which is enough, amazingly.

The story made me incredibly sad and I felt immediately sorry for the old man. I'm...more
So... Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for a book about an old man in a boat chasing a fish. Impressive.

I tried to analyze it while reading it, but I found it way too exhausting, because it's so simple, and to crack open simplicity to unearth something complex is just... hard work.
And to be honest I'm not convinced Hemingway didn't just write a book about a man and a boat and a fish. Which is enough, amazingly.

The story made me incredibly sad and I felt immediately sorry for the old man. I'm not sure why. Because he doesn't feel particularly sorry for himself. It was probably his unwillingness to admit how bad things were - and that isn't a thing to pity, is it? But we do. And the boy does, and that's why he takes care of him, because he wants him to have a better life, even when he is himself too stubborn to admit it.

The old man just wants to fish, he was born to be a fisher, and yet he chases/gets chased by a fish beyond the point where it's sensible. Which is only something a man deeply discontent and frustrated with life would do. It's not about coming back in; it's about catching the fish. Once the fish is caught, he gains hope, he lights up, once it's gone he collapses and everything returns to where it used to be, more or less.

"'But man is not made for defeat' he said. 'A man can be destroyed but not defeated.'"

What is he then, in the end? Destroyed or defeated?
It would be the ultimate humiliation if he isn't destroyed, but defeated. Perhaps not being destroyed is defeat; his lack of destruction is his defeat. He stops fighting, thus ruining his chance of being destroyed - and then comes defeat.

I have no idea what it all means, really.
But I understand why it is his most well-known work, and why plenty of people must utterly loathe it. I liked it, though.
I like how it can be read as exactly what it is and nothing more, or as something layered and complex. I particularly love how I can most assuredly re-read it in a few years and get something completely different out of it.

What you read into it says more about you than the book. That was at least the case with me, everything I have just said, well, that's how I feel about life right now. And for that to happen, you need a strike of genius in the author. Well done, Hemingway. (less)

11 likes · like · see review

May 29, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who want to be healed of mental scarring after reading Man Vs Fish epic Moby Dick

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list and victoria wagtail

Shelves: 1001-books, bookcrossing-books, clear-unparalleled-genius, read-in-2011

The blurb on the back of this book states that it is " a relentless and agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the gulf stream" and when I found out this was a Man VS Fish story my thoughts immediately turned to Moby Dick, undoubtedly the most famous of all (can anyone actually think of another one?) literary Man VS Fish encounters.

And this, frankly, almost made me chuck the book out of the window and run for the hills. I tried to read Moby Dick when I was about fifteen and can only des...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this as a young man and was disappointed. It didn't work for me. I thought it was about a crazy old man gone off the reservation, picking a fight with an innocent fish while ranting about the New York Yankees ("I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing. They say his father was a fisherman...").

I picked it up again, after the passage of some years, and found it incredibly poignant.

It's a simple story. There's an old man, Santiago, who is a fisherman fallen on hard times. He is cared...more I read this as a young man and was disappointed. It didn't work for me. I thought it was about a crazy old man gone off the reservation, picking a fight with an innocent fish while ranting about the New York Yankees ("I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing. They say his father was a fisherman...").

I picked it up again, after the passage of some years, and found it incredibly poignant.

It's a simple story. There's an old man, Santiago, who is a fisherman fallen on hard times. He is cared for by a young boy, Manolin, who no longer works on his boat. Santiago goes into the Gulf and engages in the fight of his life with a giant marlin. What follows is a dream-like, stream-of-conscious meditation as the old man matches strength and wits with the great fish.

After 84 days of no fish, Santiago takes his skiff far out to sea. He drops his line and hooks a marlin. He can't pull it in, so he takes hold of the line, beginning the back and forth: when the marlin runs, he gives the line slack; when the marlin is still, he pulls the line in. The old man's hands are cut by the rope. His muscles strain. He has no food or water. Yet he doesn't give up. The obsession has shades of Moby Dick, except at the end of this novel, I didn't feel the need to dig up Melville and punch him in the skull:

I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars. Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. . . . Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. . . . There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity. I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.

Eventually, the marlin is hauled in and killed. The old man attaches him to the boat, and begins to row towards shore. Of course, the marlin is dripping blood, so if you've seen Jaws or read James and the Giant Peach, you can imagine that his dreams of hitting it big with this fish are probably not going to come to pass.

Age teaches you a lot of things. You start to realize that you might never be the person you thought you'd be as a child. Days go by, you start to lose more and gain less. I thought about this as I thought about the old man, raging like Dylan Thomas against the night; an old man nearing the end of his days fighting against nature, time, death, a fish, able to boil all things down into one climatic struggle on the high seas. At the end, he did not succeed, at least not in the manner he'd foreseen, but he was, in an inimitable way, victorious.

'You did not kill the fish only to keep alive and to sell for food,' he thought. 'You killed him for pride and because you are a fisherman. You loved him when he was alive and you loved him after. If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?'

(less)

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Aug 05, 2011 Angus rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: radcliffes-rival-100, pulitzer-prize, reviewed-and-blogged, nobel-laureates

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

Intro

This is a tough one for me mostly because I am forcing myself to write and I haven’t slept for the last 30 hours. I doubt if I can think good enough. My fingers are getting more and more prone to dyslexic typing. Nausea has been threatening me since lunch time and I feel that my head is going to fall off my neck. And yet, I am still trying to write today’s post.

Hey, I just feel like that old man fishing in the sea. Santiago. That’s the name, yes. He kept tryin...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Ranee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Old Man and the Sea
Perseverance. Will. Experience. Spirit. There is much to be known about this classic. And I was not pertaining to fishing.

"The sea is life and I am one with it"

There is an overwhelming calmness in the middle of the sea. Waves are quieter, they lull you unlike its sisters on the shore, they lash you ever so often that it makes you wonder if it were the same water it was carrying. Much is like aging. You start feisty, full of yourself, lashing out each day. And as you grow wrin...more Old Man and the Sea
Perseverance. Will. Experience. Spirit. There is much to be known about this classic. And I was not pertaining to fishing.

"The sea is life and I am one with it"

There is an overwhelming calmness in the middle of the sea. Waves are quieter, they lull you unlike its sisters on the shore, they lash you ever so often that it makes you wonder if it were the same water it was carrying. Much is like aging. You start feisty, full of yourself, lashing out each day. And as you grow wrinkles on your forehead, so as the finding of solitude with your mind, everything slows down, gets more settled. Calmer. The currents does not deter, it only takes up more space. Wisdom, so they call it. Life is like that, you start out shallow but as you go day by day you find yourself farther from the shore, you reach the deeper part of the sea, the deep recesses of your mind.

Santiago has reached the point of his life where the body could not catch up with the vigor of his spirit. The lines of his forehead shows this. But whatever the body exudes, the spirit does not seem to care. It does not also bother that he is poor and that a coffee could be called a meal that would last the whole day. One does not also hear any complaints when rubber slippers are replaced by the callous in his feet.
Here he goes with his unfaltering spirit, noticing kindness amongst his peers but not taking in their pity, he borrows but not beg. Because he knows, as long as he breathes, the sea shall provide for him. He holds on hi s oar and his fishing skills. His boat, a friend he relies on. Like him, his boat does not show that its wood is weathered by both the wind and the salt of the sea. And how many Barracudas were needed to lambast this man out of his wits? A hundred maybe. Three or four of these sharks cannot shake this man off his boat much out of his will.

And so goes the steady build of this story. There is a lulling quality innate to the first portion of the book. I found myself asking this question- what is so exciting with fishing? My first Hemingway and he is boring me. The structure of the story was there. I picture his fishing village, almost sympathetic with his favorite baseball team. Aah, yes, steady but sloooow. It was only after I've reached the half when things started to pick up. Finally, some action with the fish! (Now I wonder why it was not called the old man and the fish instead).

Like the young fisherfolks of this sleepy village, I gained respect for this man who did not give up no matter how far apart the odds were. In the end, I learned that not all things are taken down by brute force, experience fares better. I guess it is true, with age comes wisdom, so as a good wine.(less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, re-read-list

The sparse and simple prose can make this a read that does not stir much within some readers. There is though another angle to this story in that it is one mans challenge and struggle with his will to win, with stubbornness or pride, to be not be defeated.
The narrative covers well in the ins and outs of fishing, the feeling of old age and the wanting and reminiscing of youth.

“He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women, nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of s...more

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May 27, 2008 Rick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone living their life and anyone that has tested themself in some way

I liked this book because it has something to say about life and people. I'd agree with any interpretation that compares the marlin to our ambitions and accomplishments in life. They might be big, but in the end they are a skeleton of memories and then not even that. For me the character of the boy meant most that we help give each other's lives meaning. I agree with the Sparknotes analysis that pride will make us drive ourselves mercilessly to make what we want of our lives. The old man's battl...more

20 likes · like · see review

Jul 28, 2009 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Katya, Gio, Ruzz, Marcicle, Los, Te

Shelves: faves, classic, pulitzer

I was very near to finishing Mr. Midshipman Hornblower when we were on our way to the hospital the other night, and I knew I was going to need something else at some point over the next few days. I was passing by the computer on the way to the door, and I decided to grab The Old Man and the Sea. I'd been using it as a mouse pad because the Scribner trade paperback edition is a perfect size with a slick, matte-laminated cover that the mouse glides across with no fuss. So the book was handy, I nee...more

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Dec 28, 2007 Vanja Antonijevic rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The story:

(old) Man vs. Nature.

A down-in-luck old man becomes truly desperate after going for 84 days without a catch. Soon, he hooks the catch of a life-time. The rest of the novel describes the man and fish (a marlin) in their struggle that lasts for days. Don't worry, at this point, I will not give away the ending (not that it is that thrilling).

This story, of course, has deeper symbolic implications. Although the exact symbolism may be debated, the story seems to have certain motifs, such a...more

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Dec 19, 2007 Hager rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them.

To die, to sleep--

No more--and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to.

'Tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--

To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,

For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuf...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jul 14, 2010 Madeline rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-list, assigned-reading

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

18 likes · like · see review

Jun 15, 2008 Amber rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really really hate Hemingway's writing. And this book epitomizes every element of my hatred. At least it is short. It's got that going for it.

18 likes · like · see review

May 18, 2011 Anh rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic, liked, fiction, read-in-school

As I recall, it was a ridiculously cheap paperback, and at the time I first laid my hands on it, was already a very old copy with a tattered cover, yellow pages, faded lines (at some points it was completely guesswork) and curling corners. A typical secondhand book. Although, to give the previous owner(s) some credits, there was not a page missing and the spine was still pretty firm. It smelt moldy. The front cover was dark blue, perhaps there was a drawing of that famous swordfish, but I'm not...more

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Jul 09, 2008 Michelle rated it 1 of 5 stars

I know this is supposed to be some great classic bit of American literature but I hated it. I get that it is supposed to be written in the voice of the uneducated Santiago but to me it just reads like a Dick and Jane primer. I was ready to sell my soul for a multisyllabic word or a complex sentence.

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Jan 12, 2012 Menna Emad rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, روايات-وكتب-أجنبية

لا أعرف هل البحار رمز للإنسان والسمكة رمز للدنيا
يظل الإنسان يجذب في السمكة والسمكة تسحبه ورائها
حتى إذا ظن الإنسان أنه تمكن منها ضاعت منه كلها وخسر كل شيء ولم يعد كما كان من قبل

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Dec 18, 2012 Martinc rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

At first glance this book doesn't seem like much. An old man goes out to sea to catch a fish. However, the beauty of the story is in striking and concise use of language as it details the courage of the old fisherman as he braves the ocean and its inhabitants in an arduous effort to make a catch and do what he's always done.

The book begins by introducing the titular old man, whose name is Santiago. He is a Cuban fisherman from Havana who has apparently run out of luck, not having caught a singl...more At first glance this book doesn't seem like much. An old man goes out to sea to catch a fish. However, the beauty of the story is in striking and concise use of language as it details the courage of the old fisherman as he braves the ocean and its inhabitants in an arduous effort to make a catch and do what he's always done.

The book begins by introducing the titular old man, whose name is Santiago. He is a Cuban fisherman from Havana who has apparently run out of luck, not having caught a single fish in eighty-four days. There is a young boy who used to fish with the old man. But once the old man no longer caught any fish, the boy's parents made him join a different, more lucky boat. However, the boy still affectionately cares for the old man, providing him with nearly all necessities, ranging from food and drink to baits and simple companionship. Then, the old man makes the decision that his bad luck has come to an end and that he will go out to sea again. The following day, he leaves in his boat, without the boy. He goes out to sea much further than he used to and casts his lines. After some waiting a fish finally bites one of the lines. This fish, however, soon proves to be the old man's greatest adversary. Instead of being pulled in, the fish pulls the fisherman's boat through the ocean. This leads into a battle of endurance which lasts through most the story. Throughout it, the old man expresses his great admiration for the majestic and strong fish, which turns out to be a marlin, all the while having his weathered body faced against the strain of the pulling of the fish. After much toil, the fish is finally caught and the old man is ready for the return journey with the fish securely strapped to the side of his boat. Then sharks attack. Attracted by the blood of the marlin, they quickly come in ravenous hoards, wanting to devour the old man's catch. He must now fight off shark after shark with any tools at his disposal, despite severe exhaustion. In the end, the old man safely arrives in Havana. He then only wants one thing: Sleep.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this novella. It was very comfortable to read and its narration flowed smoothly and at just the right tempo. At the same time, it described the old man's journey in great and concise detail and it especially highlighted his seemingly superhuman resistance and endurance against the strongest of strains. It beautifully expressed the affectionate relationship between the old man and the boy, who apparently is a big reason for why the old man is still even alive. It also outlines an abstract, yet intense relationship between the old man and the marlin. It is quite obvious why this book had such a great literary impact. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind great literature. (less)

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Feb 23, 2012 Jay F rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-united-states

What to say about a Hemingway classic that won a Pulitzer Prize (1953) and contributed to his winning a Nobel Prize (1954)? It is his last great work published during his lifetime and which came after he had sustained disillusioning criticism for To Have and Have Not (published in 1947) and Over the River and Into the Trees (published in 1950).

It is a jewel. On the surface, a simple story of an aged fisherman and his battle with a marlin, it holds for many readers more intricate and deeper meani...more

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May 31, 2012 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, anne-booklady-105-books-in-2012, classics, coffee-n-books-105-in-2012, great-literary-fiction, permanent-library, spring-2012

10 Stars to my All-time Favorite Book and Author

After winning the Pulitzer in 1953, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA received special recognition in the citation that accompanied Ernest Hemingway’s 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. And the Panel recognized “[Hemingway’s] powerful, style-forming mastery art of narration” that has captured men and women’s imaginations for several generations.

"He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eight-four days now without taking...more 10 Stars to my All-time Favorite Book and Author

After winning the Pulitzer in 1953, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA received special recognition in the citation that accompanied Ernest Hemingway’s 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature. And the Panel recognized “[Hemingway’s] powerful, style-forming mastery art of narration” that has captured men and women’s imaginations for several generations.

"He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eight-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky…It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like a flag of permanent defeat.

The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. 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. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.

Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color of the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”

Santiago was born a fisherman and simply loved to fish. He happily awakens from his dreams of lions on a beautiful African beach each day with the hope that on this eight-fifth day he will get a fish. He rows out before the sun starts to rise above his beloved sea. As the sun breaks over the horizon he decides to go far out, farther than he should without the boy. He sees the bird circling and knows where to get his elusive fish. And his sticks slightly quiver. A fish at last! Now the battle between the old man and the fish begins. ”Then, with his right hand he felt the difference in the pull of the line before he saw the slant change in the water. Then, as he leaned against the line and slapped his left hand hard and fast against his thigh he saw the line slanting slowly upward.

“He’s coming up,” he said. “Come on hand. Please come on.

The line rose slowly and steadily and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out. He came out unendingly and water poured from his sides. He was bright in the sun and his head and back were dark purple and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it, smoothly, like a diver and the old man saw the great scythe-blade of his tail go under and the line commenced to race out…

He is a great fish and I must convince him, he thought. I must never let him learn his strength not what he could do if he made his run. If I were him I would put in everything and go until something broke. But, thank God, they are not as intelligent as we who kill them; although they are more noble and more able.

The old man had seen many great fish. He had seen many that weighed more than a thousand pounds and he had caught two of that size in his life, but never alone. Now alone, and out of sight of land, he was fast to the biggest fish he had ever seen and bigger than he ever heard of, and his left hand was still as tight as the gripped claws of an eagle.”

On the third day Santiago finally wins the battle, but not before he has suffered. His hands are torn, his back and legs roil in pain, and he is suffering sun sickness. But he has endured to achieve his personal best. But the sharks finally defeat him. He rows into his home harbour with a gigantic skeleton. Only the great Marlin’s tail is intact. The boy weeps for the old man. But Santiago never complains that he is now 87 days without a fish. He did his job but his personal best was not good enough. He goes home and sleeps dreaming of lions. He will get up the next morning and he and the boy will go out together and fish. He knows life’s bitterness and sweetness: strength of character, endurance, and the importance in defeat. He did his best to bring the Marlin to Market, though his best wasn’t enough on the 87th day. Perhaps the 88th day his best will be enough. And tonight, I too will sleep dreaming of lions frolicking in the sand on an African beach.
(less)

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About Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collec...more Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economical and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. He published seven novels, six short story collections and two non-fiction works. Three novels, four collections of short stories and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Many of these are considered classics of American literature.

Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school he reported for a few months for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to enlist with the World War I ambulance drivers. In 1918, he was seriously wounded and returned home. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. In 1922, he married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives. The couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent, and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s "Lost Generation" expatriate community. The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway's first novel, was published in 1926.

After his 1927 divorce from Hadley Richardson, Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from Spanish Civil War where he had acted as a journalist, and after which he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. They separated when he met Mary Welsh in London during World War II; during which he was present at the Normandy Landings and liberation of Paris.

Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952, Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in two plane crashes that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida, and Cuba during the 1930s and 1940s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961.(less)

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Quotes from The Old Man and the Sea

“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated. ” — 493 people liked it

“Let him think that I am more man than I am and I will be so.” — 163 people liked it

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