A timeless and gripping piece about grit, determination, survival, respect, and comradeship. ( )

Read again today; I've done this a few times in my life now. It is such a great read, one can never really get tired of it. Beautiful tale of a man facing life's difficulties with bold resolve, even in the face of failure. It is a lesson for us all.

The story is spare and simple, yet the characters have such strength and love. ( )

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I confess: I read it because it was the shortest of Hemmingway's books I could find. Totally worth it, though. ( )

I just don't know. Seriously, I can not tell how I feel about this book. On the one hand, it is such a simplistic story and told with such plain prose that it is not tremendously exciting or interesting. On the other hand, the story moved me. I felt for the old man; I admired his courage, I felt his pain as the fishing line cut his hands, and I mourned with him over his losses. So, because of my confusion, let's start with a list:

What I Enjoyed
The strength of character shown by Santiago
The love between the young boy and Santiago
Some of the descriptions of animals were rather poignant

What I Didn't Care For
My inability to truly picture what was happening
The sadness inherent in the plotline and in the characters
The ending

Overall, I have to admit that I don't really see the major appeal of the book. I'm glad I read it...twice...but I don't ever think I'll have a burning desire to read it again. I would however, like it to be made into a movie, ala Cast Away, but I think this is just so I can have a clear visual.

Memorable Scene: At one point, Santiago sees a bird circling a school of flying fish, but the flying fish are being chased by a school of dolphins. The way the scene is set up the reader relates to the bird who has no chance of catching his dinner with the dolphins so close. I couldn't stop thinking about the flying fish though who are being pursued to their deaths by two separate animals. They are not safe above or below the surface.

Memorable Quote: "Do not think about sin, the thought. There are enough problems now without sin. Also I have no understanding of it...and I am not sure that I believe in it. Perhaps it was a sin to kill the fish. I suppose it was even though I did it to keep me alive and feed many people. But then everything is a sin...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 hime 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?" ( )

There are enough reviews here that I don't need to repeat the story other than to say this is great classic literature. It's much more than a story of a man and a great fish. It's the story of life itself and the battle we all face. Hemingways prose wastes no words and the reader bonds with the old man and his struggle. I liken this story to Steinbecks The Pearl. A very good read for all ages. ( )

My first Ernest Hemmingway book and I found his simple style refreshing.

My favorite line: "Fish, I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends."

The author endears you to the boy and the old man in many ways ie by the respect the boy carries for the old man, references to baseball and Joe DiMaggio.

The heaviness of gulit the old man felt was a weight on myself as the reader. Hemmingway's characters emotion was very real to me.

Why did the old man want the big fish so badly? I have many possible answers.

Not a book just about an old man and a big fish or maybe... it was. ( )

Those who have not seen the elephant and lack the courage to go looking for it have no right to criticize Ernest Hemingway, who set out as a young man to find the elephant and get a good long look at the Beast, and then describe it for the rest of us. As a young man he did not yet realize that few people are as brave and as honest as he.

He went. He saw. He wrote. He told us all about it -- and scarcely anyone believes him. Those who don't tell the few who do that Papa was a fool and a bad man. So it is in life as it was in "The Old Man and the Sea." Now that the big fish is dead, little ones come to savage the corpse.

Nobody who has the least thing to lose has a true friend in this life. Those who have nothing may yet find a friend. Papa knew.

Not in the least intimidated by the physical and philosophical heft of 'Moby-Dick,' 'The Old Man and the Sea' stands next to Melville's triumphal door-stop and dares to ask which is the ultimate fish story. This writer, being a coward, chooses 'The Old Man and the Sea' on technical grounds: Moby-Dick was not a fish. Thus thoughtful readers are left to decide for themselves. ( )

I gave this book to my cousin to read, thinking it would make a change from the romance and the chick-lit. You know what she said? She said, 'Hm. I don't get it. It's boring. It's about a bloke who catches a fish.' And yes, I suppose that's probably a succinct way to summarise the book, but for me this book ... this fable ... is so much more. I have read it many times and each time it has left me feeling moved, and in awe of such steady and faultless prose. Not a surplus word and not a word out of place. So yes, it's a book about a bloke who catches a fish. But it's also a book about pathos, determination, courage, loyalty, friendship, struggle, loss, pride, exclusion ...

Dan Smith's Official Web Site ( )

Author: Ernest Hemingway
Review: October 01, 2009
Edition: 1995 printing (0-684-80122-1)
Pages: 127
Overall Rating: 4/5 [Good]
Synopsis: An old fisherman having gone an unlucky amount of time without catching anything decides to pursue a fortune; thus he goes out to sea, further than any of the other fisherman, to make his greatest catch.
Strengths: Consistent writing, thoughtful.
Weaknesses: N/A.
Further Review: I've always loved the flavor of this story; it's different from many of the other classics introduced in high school English, which made it stick out for me when I was younger. It's a very introverted novel rather than a story of society, and this makes the experience valuable to me, personally. The prose is accessible; it's very clean and very precise, but somehow still pretty with a comfortable rhythm, and despite the use of ordinary words there is something poignant in the presentation. Even though it's been six or seven years since I last read this book, I very vividly remember the old man Santiago's dreams of the African coast and the lions. Although there are more intensely or more beautifully written scenes, these few paragraphs have stayed with me for quite a long time (although I cannot pinpoint why!). Perhaps it's just that he remembers the coast so clearly himself, or perhaps while I could never understand any symbolic meaning behind Africa (perhaps there is nothing more to it than a sentimental attachment?).
He was asleep in a short time and he dreamed of Africa when he was a boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches, so white they hurt your eyes, and the high capes and the great brown mountains. He lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through. He smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of Africa that the land breeze brought at morning.
Even in its simplicity, there is clearly a strong, underlying theme going on that is applicable to respectfully doing one's work---that we must succeed and do well because we must be as noble as the work we are performing, because it's what we're born to do, because it is just what we do. The old man does not necessarily understand why he feels so connected with his fish, whether or not he has sinned in killing it, and his thoughts shift from these unanswerable questions back to the act of his work.

I do somewhat prefer Hemingway's short stories overall; in some ways this book feels like an over-extended short story itself, primarily in the execution of its focus; although The Old Man and the Sea does qualify as a novella (a format I'm ill-apt to judge, to be honest...), so perhaps this plays in some. Overall, this is a beautiful, bittersweet story the emphasizes the journey over the destination, the importance of being present in each moment rather than giving in to defeat, which I will probably revisit a few more times in my life!
... I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars. ( )

I began reading this after I read part of the foreward of Vonnegut's Timequake. In it, he described how The Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's metaphor for himself. You write the one big book and the critics rip it apart like sharks until there is nothing left. All the toil and effort mean nothing to a hungry shark. One of Hemingway's best. If you hate Hemingway, you will still love this battle. This is everyone's story. Everyone's battle in life. My favorite quotes:"Every day is a new day. It is better to be lucky. But I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready." p. 15"I'll kill him though", he said. "In all his greatness and his glory." Although it is unjust, he thought. But I will show him what a man can do and what a man endures. " I told the boy I was a strange old man," he said. "Now is when I must prove it." The thousand times that he had proved it meant nothing. Now he was proving it again. Each time was a new time and he never though about the past when he was doing it." p. 35"But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." p. 58"I should have some luck. No, he said. You violated your luck when you went too far outside. "Don't be silly," he said aloud. "And keep awake and steer. You may have much luck yet. "I'd like to buy some if there's any place they sell it," he said. What could I buy it with? he asked himself. Could I buy it with a lost harpoon and a broken knife and two bad hands? "You might," he said. "You tried to buy it with eighty-four days at sea. They nearly sold it to you too. p. 66 ( )

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 face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952, this hugely successful novella confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Synopsis of this novella is from the back cover of the Scribner trade paperback edition and is copyright Simon and Schuster ,1995

The first time I read Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea, I was an 8th grade student looking for adventure. The second time I read this book - much more recently - I read it to study Hemingway's style which, I must say, I greatly admire. Hemingway provides plenty of adventure, characterized by short, declarative sentences that, in the wrong hands, could be deadly to a written piece. Yet, Hemingway uses that base to build strong characters and an action-filled story every bit as well developed as some 400 page novels in a much smaller space. The key to a good story is to let the characters and their actions carry the main load of telling the story. Hemingway knew this well. He provided just enough clear and concise description to allow his characters to come alive in your mind and then lets those characters do the job he created them to do.

If you are a female who prefers to read about female protagonists, then Hemingway's stories might not be your cup of tea. However, if you sample this one, don't forget to appreciate the strength of the characters and the brevity of the writing before you move on to something more feminine. If you are a wanna-be writer, you could do far worse than to study this masterful storytelling style; clear, concise prose is an asset to any writing. If you're looking for adventure, you can find it in this novella, which I recommend to readers ages 14 and up.

This review was previously published on Dragonviews ( )

The main characters of this famous novella are an old man and his protege, a teenager, so there is some YA connection. Nature herself is a character of sorts. I thinks boys more than girls might enjoy the hunting and manly comeraderie of baseball talk over beers .

However, the themes are universal, and the beauty of the writing can be enjoyed by anyone willing to listen to its music, or breathe the tropical night breeze.

The old man hasn't caught anything in a while and he is looking washed up. The boy who he taught to fish works on a luckier boat as per parental mandate, but he still beleives in the old man as living legend in his own mind. He is kind and generous to his old mentor.

The old man says he "has tricks and resolution" near the beginning of the story when asked if he can still pull in a giant marlin. He tests his courage and resolve in the face of overwhelming defeat like a good Hemingway protagonist. He is a hunter predator. You get the feeling that in Hemingway's mind he is like the lions. Hunters kill to survive, but the death is a ritual of nature. The hunter and prey are intertwined in a relationship that is adversarial, but at the same time harmonious.

The shifting from consistent third person narration to switching first and third person in the out to sea scenes is an interesting discussion point. I 'll have to look up the literary critics to see what that's all about.

I have to remember to read this book with my students prior to and during a whale-watching field trip.

The old man sails out alone. Is it his last trip?
Does he catch anything? I don't think I'm spoiling it by telling you he catches something, because, as you fisherman know, hooking the fish can be just the beginning of the struggle.

poetic novel. a true classic like the pearl by steinbeck. you can go fishing now. ( )

The Old Man and the Sea, and For Whom the Bell Tolls, are two of my most favorite Hemingway novels. Like so many books that I have read, the mental imagery painted by the author plays a very important roll in whether I like a book or not. Hemingway was a true romantic, philosopher, and a poet ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1273159...

It is very good. Hemingway must be rather easy to pastiche - those sentences that have two or more clauses linked by 'and', moving from statis to dynamic: 'Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.' But somehow he gets it just right; as I sat in the garden reading, I was very much out on a small boat in the Gulf of Mexico, wrestling with the marlin, exhaustedly accepting the victory of the sharks. This is, believe it or not, the first Hemingway I have ever read, but it won't be the last. ( )

"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" p3
So begins this beautiful, elegantly written fable. Finally, on the eighty-fifth day, Santiago's luck changes for the better when he hooks a giant marlin. The strength of this majestic creature is immense, for he tows the boat far out to sea. For days, the old man bides his time, ignoring his pain, getting by with minimal sleep and food, gradually reeling him in. Once he succeeds in harpooning him, he is so huge that he has to be lashed to the side of the boat. But by now he is some days sailing away from home and these are shark infested waters. Indeed, the journey back is nothing short of heroic.........

This wonderful, mesmerizing short story is simply and exquisitely told. Hemingway fails to put a foot wrong. Although it is barely two hours worth of reading, this delightful tale will remain in your memory for years to come. ( )

So far, of the three Hemingway novels that I've read, every time I had a period in the middle when I thought the book was boring. But every time towards the end I managed to think to myself that the book was actually really good. This is how I felt about The Old Man and The Sea. I don't need to elaborate on how great this piece of work is. It's got loads of wonderful quotes and lines, and just an over all thought-provokingly great literary idea.

I am sure I'll go back and reread this one. Just to discover/rediscover all its treasures. ( )

The story of an old man who goes to sea, trying to catch a really big fish, and the trouble he goes to in order to catch it.

I was pretty disappointed. "Hemingway" is such a household name when referring to examples of great authors, but having read this book as my first Hemingway, I have trouble seeing how that came to be.

It wasn't a bad book, but I wouldn't ever read it again, even though it was extremely short. If it had been much longer, I may have written it off as not worth reading at all, but due to its brevity I don't feel cheated out of my time. I felt that the writing itself was less than par, and wondered at how somebody could become so famous but be so lacking in eloquence. On top of that, although I admire certain aspects of the story, the story as a whole was less than incredible to me.

I can only hope the next Hemingway I read will be more in keeping with his reputation, but that being said, it wasn't the worst book ever. ( )

Beautifully written book. ( )

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a geriatric Cuban man alone at sea while fishing for a long duration of time? Then this book is great for you!

Otherwise, you may still enjoy this book, as it provides an interesting narrative in Hemingway's trademark style, all while providing a bit of allegory for the author's life.

And to top it off, it's not that long!

So, if you're looking for a quick read, or want to pick up some more fishing tips (note, you may not actually pick up any fishing tips), then this book is perfect for you!

Recommended for fans of Hemingway, Steinbeck, or Fitzgerald. ( )

Not much to say about it. I read it and it was all right. ( )

This is a compelling and quick read with the singular focus of the old man, Santiago, trying to prove once more that he is the best fisherman. He is proud, and willing to take on nature to the point of death--the point being, I suppose, that it is better to die giving it your all than to give up. Because of its focus, the story sticks in your brain. Recommended. ( )

While I definitely did not hate this book by any means, it just seems extremely simplistic without much reward. Yes, I understand all the different interpretations people have taken with it and it does seem to have merit, I just feel like it's been done better and with a better story. This is my second Hemingway book I've read(the first being A Farewell to Arms), and I can't help but wonder that this is an exception to most of his books. ( )

An epic tale of man versus fish that grips from the start - we really get into the mind of the old fisherman - Hemingway tells it like it is.

After nearly three months without a proper catch, Santiago finally hooks a giant marlin. It takes all his years of skill and knowledge of their behaviour and several days to reel it in only for the sharks to devour its flesh robbing him of his earnings. But bringing the carcass home he regains the respect of his peers. ( )

Not a bad little book. But why do all 'classics' seem to have to end with suffering? What is the deal with that? Once again the main character was just so close to greatness... ( )