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... (show more)
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. (show less)
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Recently I've been reading a lot of nonfiction economics works and I've often remarked that these are the books that are changing the world, but 'T... (show more)
Recently I've been reading a lot of nonfiction economics works and I've often remarked that these are the books that are changing the world, but 'The Old Man and the Sea' truly changed my soul. In just a dozen or so pages I learnt humility, compassion and reverence for all things living.
Hemingway tells a story which inspires such emotion that I was literally panting, as though I was there, wrestling the fish. By the end of the story I honestly fell in love with Hemingway and with the protagonist- I even fell in love with the fish.
This book was just indescribable. It's as though he took the very ocean and crafted a book out of it. I was literally lost to the world. When I had to use the bathroom, I was wrenched out of that other place Hemingway fashioned and it was disorienting to see that the world I was just embedded in was crafted in black and white on 2D sheets of paper. Surely some magic shimmers the text into that world which reels you in irrevocably.
That magic is Hemingway.
If you like fiction in anyway shape or form, read it! You will be bedazzled. (show less)
Cant still even think how people love books like these....read this in class 10th and this used to be the most hated book at that time....half the ... (show more)
Cant still even think how people love books like these....read this in class 10th and this used to be the most hated book at that time....half the class used to sleep and the other half used to while their time around.... only the teacher seemed to be most interested in reading aloud the novel to the walls (as if the teacher were to give the exams)...
The english of the short novel is simple and the plot is boring.....although the novel is a 100 pages or so, it is one big nightmare(tho on the outside it looks to be compact and nice).....
The novel is the story of an old loser(fisherman) who doesnt do much as far as i can remember except peeing outside his shack on the cold winter mornings.....except that theres this boy who goes on fishing with this old man....its quite simple that the author wanted to show that at the end of the novel the old man has won something or he has proved a point.....
but the elements which capture the readers interest are totally missing.....firstly u dont sympathise with the characters and secondly u cant even remember them after u read it.... the novel totally fails to charm the reader(atleast the young generation)..... (show less)
Such a gem of a book, in its' simplicity and accessibility. A requirement in high school English, I recently found a copy at my local library sale and decided to reread. So much has been said about Hemingway's work, and this book is perhaps one of his most read, that I hardly feel I can do it justice here.
I love this novella for its dualities: Vast and intimate at the same time. Visceral and transcendent. Sparse and yet rich.
The Old Man and the Sea is like a modern-day Aesop's fable.... (show more)
Such a gem of a book, in its' simplicity and accessibility. A requirement in high school English, I recently found a copy at my local library sale and decided to reread. So much has been said about Hemingway's work, and this book is perhaps one of his most read, that I hardly feel I can do it justice here.
I love this novella for its dualities: Vast and intimate at the same time. Visceral and transcendent. Sparse and yet rich.
The Old Man and the Sea is like a modern-day Aesop's fable. I would love to read this book aloud to a child someday, because it has instilled in me the same sense of wonder I remember having about the world as books did when I was a child, at how enormous and powerful the natural world really is, and yet despite how tiny we are in comparison, how we are enormously powerful creatures as well. (show less)
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Much has been said about the symbolism in this novella. The old fisherman Santiago is seen as an allegorical Christ figure whose suffering during his struggle with a giant marlin parallels that of Jesus.
For me, however, this was primarily a story of man against nature and man *being* nature. It captured the tension we find ourselves in of admiring the beauty and majesty of nature on the one hand, and of fighting for our own place in it on the other hand - even fighting for our lordship over... (show more)
Much has been said about the symbolism in this novella. The old fisherman Santiago is seen as an allegorical Christ figure whose suffering during his struggle with a giant marlin parallels that of Jesus.
For me, however, this was primarily a story of man against nature and man *being* nature. It captured the tension we find ourselves in of admiring the beauty and majesty of nature on the one hand, and of fighting for our own place in it on the other hand - even fighting for our lordship over it.
Santiago speaks of the giant marlin in the most awed tones - as if it were a person of greater beauty and power than himself - at the same time as he thinks about how he may conquer it. But his conquering and final loss do not denote a loss of awe. Instead his awe mixes with a deep sadness of the dignity that has been lost.
In that way, the marlin almost becomes a mirror of Santiago himself. He, too, is nature. He, too, has dignity. And he, too, has to struggle and ultimately lose. He is both strong and frail, like the marlin, and he is never entirely safe of the many sharks that may come his way.
It is in this sense that the old man Santiago had symbolic value to me: Out there, alone in his boat, he symbolized all humans in this struggle on earth. He was a picture of myself, being nature and yet being against nature, standing in awe of nature and yet attempting to subdue it.
A short and worthwhile read. (show less)
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Kiemen?
Ist das mit den Kiemen so elementar für dich? Ich meine, ich studiere Biologie (so was ähnliches zumindest), aber das hätte mich jetzt nicht wirklich gestört ...
*g* Ich hab das Buch aber auch nur als "leichte Lektüre für Zwischendurch" gesehen ...und dafür hat es gut gepasst!
Roman Scamoni about 1 year agoThis book has been added to these lists:
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