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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1421 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
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

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Synopsis
Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, Hemingway's magnificent fable is the story of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. It was The Old Man and the Sea that won for Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature. Here, in a perfectly crafted story, is unique and timeless vision of the beauty and grief of man's challenge to the elements in which he lives.

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Customer Reviews

Old Man And The Pile Of Crap
Perhaps the most over-rated book of all time. A book that boasts absolutly no substance and is sure to kill anyone who has even the slightest slither of personality. For me this book exemplifies everything wrong with the critical world; distinctly average and even poor books and films etc. are hailed as materpieces due to the alledged 'body of thourght' behind them. I can assure you there is no 'thought' here, at least none above the mundane and enfantile.
I am fully aware of the 'messages' such as 'material gain is worthless', however these values are extremly rudimentary and are learnt as a child. Essentially, 'The old man and the sea' tells us nothing that we didn't already know and, perhaps more impotantly, is just a crap story.
This stole nearly 3 months of entertaining, if only mildly, english lessons away from me. During that 3 month period I would describe this book as 'the bain of my existence'. To summerise:
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, unless your hobbies include watching hours upon hours of riveting box assembly and/or cutting yourself in the face with very long sharp knives, in which case this is the book for you.


By Tom K

The Old Man And The Sea - Dreary, Boring twaddle.
I appreciate the deeper meanings of this book, but ultimately get distracted by the very absurdity of the book. There are nearly 100 pages about an old man on a boat by himself who talks to his own hand. The story is well-written and laced with the simplistic prose Hemingway is known for, but so much time is spent rambling, the story gets bogged down with pointless chitchat.

This story does show 'victory in defeat', but is so dreary it becomes unbearable.

Inspiring
The Old Man and the Sea is one of the best short stories I have ever read. Despite its short length, it somehow manages to take the reader on the same emotional journey as a full length novel.

The 'old man' of the title is a Cuban fisherman and the story is mostly concerned with his efforts to catch an 18 foot long fish despite the odds being stacked against him. It doesn't sound like a fascinating subject, but it becomes representative of the very human condition. The writing is perfect, no words wasted, and I found myself on the edge of my seat with tension.

The fisherman's determination and refusal to let his spirit be dampened down is inspiring and refreshing, and anyone who has undergone an endurance test of some kind, physical or emotional, will be able to relate to it.

Overall, a beautiful piece of prose and worth reading even if you do not normally enjoy short stories.