  "We must kill our brothers", 2005-08-11
really enjoyed the movie (1990) with Anthony Quinn as Santiago. So I decided it was time to read the book. Well I found the book and the movie paralleled pretty well. How ever I was getting bored with the book it seemed a bit repetitive. The old man kept going on and on about Joe Dimaggio's bone spur.
There were a few places that made me squeamish. One such place is when he gutted a dolphin and had his face stuck in it.
The story is too short to go into detail without revealing the surprises; however it is about (you guessed it) an old fisherman, that should be over the hill, going out to sea from Cuba to catch fish. He has 84 days of bad luck and with any luck this is about to change (or is it?)
The Old Man and the Sea, 2007-10-07
This is probably the best book ever crafted of this length. It is short, but extremely elegant. Hemingway's terse style truly shines through in this book and the imagery is outstanding. The story keeps you as hooked as the fish on the old man's line and you feel the frustrations and triumphs as keenly as he does. Simply beautiful and one of the best examples of why Hemingway is loved so. Well worth a go.
What Is Defeat?, 2004-07-31
The Old Man and the Sea is Ernest Hemingway at his simplest, and most powerful, as a story teller. The sentences are short. The meaning is clear. The cadence of the prose advances your sense of what is happening.An old man goes out fishing alone from Cuba and hooks the fish of a lifetime. This fish could make a lifetime of disappointments and setbacks all worth while. After an incredible and exhausting fight, the fish is his. Now all he has to do is get it back to shore. Then the struggle really begins! The Old Man and the Sea lets us see our own lives more clearly, by experiencing the challenge to and empathizing with the fisherman in this classic tale of man versus nature and man versus himself that explores the true nature of human nobility. What does life mean? What is striving for? From what do we gain our dignity? Anyone who thinks that he who dies with the most toys wins will can learn a great deal from this story. Even if the story was not so compelling and universal in its appeal and themes, the book is worth the trip just for the writing. Simple words combine into simple sentences that build into metaphors that pile on top of metaphors in order to make for a magnificent vista and experience for you. Seldom has so much complexity been portrayed with such simplicity. What's even more astonishing is how short this novella is. Amazing! Just to let you know how much I love this book, I often use the techniques and concepts in The Old Man and the Sea in my own writing. Miscommunication is what people have the most trouble with in cooperating with each other. Any time you run into that stall, think about how Hemingway would have solved the problem. Tell a story like this one that makes the point you want to share. Then tell the story again and again. Thirty times or more, and everyone will begin to get it. When your listeners start telling the story thirty times to others, you have made an important first step. Read this book, reread this book, learn from it each time, and enjoy ... enjoy ... enjoy!
Simply elegant, 2008-04-02
When my father recommended this book to me, I pulled a face: the title did not sound appealing to me. A book suitable for a child, I thought. But he bought it for me anyway and quite timely I should add.
I read it last night being "almost" bedridden due to a bad fall yesterday. I have to say it is such a wonderfully elegant book to have when you need something light and simple yet, entertaining - 100 pages long.
It is a story of life: the sacrifices we make to gain what we want, and the times when what we have earned (marlin) can be taken away in a split second despite having given every ounce of strength, sweat and blood.
I love the excellent use of characters, the simplicity of the style of writing that tells a simple but great tale of a fisherman (Santiago) and his one and only friend, Manolin. The conversations Santiago has between himself when he is out in the Gulf is often the conversations we have with ourselves when we have done something we are proud of or are embarrassed about.
Although a few might consider this over-analysing the hidden story of this book, I prefer to defer. Was that not Hemingway's intention? In his own words:
"No good book has ever been written that has in it symbols arrived at beforehand and stuck in. ... I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things."
Greatest, 2000-07-18
This is possibly the greatest story of the century and Hemingway worked so hard at his prose that it glistens with his sweat. A perfect, pared-down, profound masterpiece. Salutations, Papa, wherever you are.
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