book review on old man and the sea

Book Review: ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway published ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ in 1952, and it was to be his last major work. It is easy to see the parallels between the old man in the novel, called Santiago, and Hemingway. Santiago suffers from bad luck in his old age despite being a great fisher in his youth. Hemingway had been trying to reclaim the literary success of his older books, such as “The Sun Also Rises” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Even though Santiago could have success in the easier, nearer patches of water, he hunts for a bigger fish further out. Hemingway too searches for a big success and writes this ambitious project.

Santiago’s run of bad luck continues for the 85th day; he hooks a marlin, but the marlin is too smart to panic and die quickly. Santiago must wait for the marlin to get hungry and jump out of the water. In this waiting game with the marlin, he verges onto the point of insanity, brought about by hunger, thirst and a lack of sleep. And yet he never lets go of the fishing line that connects him and the marlin. You, as the reader, as a bystander to this madness, at this point implore Santiago to let go and head back to shore, thinking to yourself “Why doesn’t he just let go?” in frustration. Santiago, on the one hand completely oblivious to your protestations, but also completely aware of them at the same time, does not let go.

Santiago wonders about this connection that he has made with this marlin. The marlin has seen him, and he has seen the marlin. He thinks that the marlin is far more dignified, far more beautiful and is ultimately far more deserving of life than him, with his old, decrepit body, abject poverty and the curse of bad luck that hangs over him. The marlin seems to also know this, seeing its reluctance to give up. And so Santiago must come up with a reason to justify his own survival. And he points to two things: his will and his intellect. In his moments of madness, he must rely on reason to come to a judgement of how things must be, and then bring about this outcome through his will. Because he can do this, and the marlin cannot, Santiago judges that he should live and the marlin should die; at this point, Santiago is playing at God, and promptly whispers some catechisms, asking the Lord to forgive him.

The marlin is far more dignified, far more beautiful and is ultimately far more deserving of life than him.

The stream of consciousness that Hemingway uses reflects Santiago’s way of coping with his madness. He ultimately asks 3 questions in this battle: “Who am I? Why am I here? What is it about me that deserves to live?” His response to the first question comes with his memories, which are, by definition, personal. His mind drifts to baseball, to the market stalls and to the fields of Africa, where he spent his youth. He traces who he was, and how he has got here. The second question is answered by the fact that he remembers that he has been fishing his whole life, and that fishing has essentially become the sole purpose of his life. All of his fishing experience has led him to this triumph. The third question is answered with a final moment; Santiago relates the story of when he arm-wrestled a man for 2 days in order to win. He identifies himself through his will. Even though this mission is suicide, giving up and letting go would also be a sort of suicide, because he has betrayed who he sees himself as. Time has taken away his body and his fortune, and so, his will is his last stand against time and it is the only thing that he will not relinquish. By extension, he cannot not relinquish the fishing line in his hand.

Santiago’s story is ultimately one of failure and his run of bad luck continues. The marlin’s blood has entered the ocean and the marlin’s corpse, strapped to the side of the boat, is eaten by sharks. He comes back after several days and all there is to show for it is a skeleton. Yet he has succeeded. Not only did he return alive, he also never betrayed his principles or his will. And so he lives to fish another day, whereas the marlin does not.

Even though this mission is suicide, giving up and letting go would also be a sort of suicide, because he has betrayed who he sees himself as.

Yet the ending is not depressing or demoralising. Santiago goes to bed, has some food when he wakes up and then goes fishing again, to repeat the whole process. Santiago has reaffirmed who he is in his old age; he has justified that he does not need to change. Resolute, unyielding and unchanging. This is what, Hemingway argues, it means to be a man.

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THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA

by Ernest Hemingway ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 1952

A long short story and worth the money in quality of the old Hemingway of Men Without Women days — though in quantity it can't bulk to more than a scant 150 pages. A unique fishing story — as old man Santiago determines to try his luck in the Gulf waters off Cuba for the eighty fifth day. Surely his luck will change, he assures his faithful young friend whose parents wouldn't let him fish any more in such an ill-fated boat. So the boy goes along in imagination with the old man, pretending that there is enough food in the shanty- and supplementing the lacks from his own table; pretending that bait could be found- and bringing him sardines; planning for getting some warmer clothes for him and lugging water from the village pump; talking gaily of the great "DiMag" and of the game the Yankees are sure to win. And then the old man goes out — beyond the other fishing boats — and drops his lines in the way he has always done, and baits the hooks so that his hoped for great fish could smell and taste. The miracle happens — and the fish, a giant marlin, is bigger than any fish dreamed of. And the old man is alone....The story of that battle, that carried him out to sea and lasted through two days and two nights, is one of the miniature modern classics of such writing. And the story of the sailing back to port, as little by little the scavengers of the sea stripped what was to have been his livelihood for months to come, down to the skeleton, is grim and heartbreaking. A miracle tale, told with such passionate belief that the reader, too, believes. There's adventure here and Hemingway's old gift for merging drama and tenderness gives it a rare charm.

Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1952

ISBN: 0684801221

Page Count: 132

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1952

GENERAL FICTION

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A LITTLE LIFE

by Hanya Yanagihara ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 2015

The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.

Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.

Yanagihara ( The People in the Trees , 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.

Pub Date: March 10, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8

Page Count: 720

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015

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PERSPECTIVES

THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen ) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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Great Books Guy

Reading the classics.

1953 Pulitzer Prize Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

“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” (opening line).

The Old Man and the Sea is a rich and deep novella about an old fisherman named Santiago and his Herculean efforts to overcome a dry-spell of fishing. Much like the book’s protagonist, Ernest Hemingway was also going through a dry-spell of his own at the time. The Old Man and the Sea was written at a time when Hemingway was believed to be a writer in decline. His last critically praised work was published over a decade prior ( For Whom The Bell Tolls in 1940 – read my reflections on For Whom The Bell Tolls and its Pulitzer controversy here ). Hemingway had published Across The River And Into The Trees in 1950, his first post-World War II book, and it was mostly panned by critics. By the time The Old Man and the Sea was released, it too was met with skepticism from certain critics. In a word, The Old Man and the Sea was not unlike a great fish captured by an old fisherman only to be torn apart by sharks and dragged into the harbor.

Hemingway dedicated The Old Man and the Sea “To Charlie Scribner And To Max Perkins,” his old friends. Charlie Scribner was the President of the famous New York publishing house Charlie Scribner & Sons, and Max Perkins was Hemingway’s editor (Mr. Perkins was also the editor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, and other famous writers). Both Scribner and Perkins had passed away before the publication of The Old Man and the Sea . Hemingway’s new editor at Scribner was Wallace Meyer. After the lukewarm reception of Across The River and Into The Trees , Hemingway wrote to Mr. Meyer with the hope of reviving his reputation with a new book. When finished, Hemingway said it was “The best I can write ever for all of my life.” After some initial mixed reviews, The Old Man and the Sea elevated Hemingway’s literary reputation to new unparalleled heights. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 and in 1954 Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In his acceptance speech, which was delivered by John M. Cabot, U.S. Ambassador to Sweden, Hemingway offered a terse assessment of the life of a writer – a solitary experience which compels one to stretch out beyond known horizons. He dedicated his Nobel Prize to the Cuban people, but instead of giving his medal to the Batista government (the military dictatorship in Cuba) Hemingway donated it to the Catholic Church to be placed on display at the El Cobre Basilica, a small town outside Santiago de Cuba.

Hemingway first mentioned the idea for The Old Man and the Sea as early as 1936 in an interview with Esquire Magazine . The inspiration for the story was likely based, in part, on Hemingway’s own fishing boat captain, Gregorio Fuentes, a blue-eyed Cuban fisherman who led a storied life on the ocean. A portion of The Old Man and the Sea was initially published in Life Magazine and even these small snippets became wildly popular. After it was officially published, Hemingway won a string of accolades. The Old Man and the Sea was made into a 1958 movie starring Spencer Tracy ( click here to read my review of the film ). In later years, a miniseries was aired in the 1990s and a stop-action animation version was also released. It won an Oscar in 1999. I recently watched the animated film and was struck by its beautiful, impressionistic re-telling of the story.

The short novella reads like a fable. Unlike Captain Ahab’s fiendish and maddeningly obsessive quest in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick , Hemingway’s old man, Santiago, is a sympathetic character. He is hopeful but down on his luck. He is a staunch fan of baseball, and regularly compares himself to the ‘Great Dimaggio,’ or Joe Dimaggio, the famous center fielder for the New York Yankees (1936-1951). Santiago remains undeterred and steadfast in his support of the Yankees even if they lose a game. His commitments are unwavering. He believes in the power and mythos of the ‘Great Dimaggio.’

The other fishermen of Cuba generally do not respect Santiago so he befriends a young boy named Manolin, but Manolin’s parents prevent him from fishing with Santiago because of Santiago’s bad luck. Santiago has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish, branding him unlucky (or a salao , the worst form of unluckiness). Santiago is “thin” and “gaunt” with speckled brown skin and deep blue eyes:

“Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated” (10).

Santiago is a reader of newspapers (there are many references to newspapers and baseball games throughout the story). In the story, we are offered little glimpses into Santiago’s upbringing. As a young man, Santiago spent time along the “long golden beaches” of Africa. He now dreams of lions who hunted along those beaches –a memory of his early years growing up along the Canary Islands.

Santiago awakens early in the morning on the eighty-fifth day without a fish and he takes his little skiff out to sea –he loves the sea. He follows a circling bird outward until a huge fish catches his line. Santiago wrestles with the fish (a marlin) for two days and nights as it drags him eastward out to sea. He watches it through the water and cannot believe how big it is (we later learn the fish is 18-feet long). However, unlike Ahab, Santiago has no antipathy toward his catch. In fact, he respects the marlin and refers to him as a brother. Exhausted, he finally catches the marlin by piercing it with a harpoon. As he tows the marlin back to harbor, he also battles and kills several sharks who strike at the best meat of the fish. One wounded shark takes Santiago’s, while the other sharks are struck by Santiago’s knife and oar. When he finally arrives back in the harbor, Santiago’s marlin has been mostly eaten except for his head and tail.

Santiago, sore and fatigued, trudges back to his shack and collapses. The boy, Manolin, awakens Santiago in the morning with coffee and a newspaper. The boy cries at the sight of Santiago’s injured hands. He describes how the townsfolk searched for Santiago when he did not return after two days. Once rested, Santiago decides to donate the head of the marlin to Pedrico, another fisherman, and he offers the skeleton to Manolin so that he may fashion a spear. Nearby, a group of tourists at a cafe gaze upon the great marlin still attached to Santiago’s skiff and they mistake it for a shark. At the end, Santiago falls sleep again and he dreams of the lions on the beaches of Africa.

Notable Quotations:

“The clouds over the land now rose like mountains and the coast was only a long green line with the gray blue hills behind it” (35).

“It was considered a virtue not to talk unnecessarily at sea and the old man had always considered it so and respected it. But now he said his thoughts aloud many times since there was no one that they could annoy” (39).

“He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm. The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea” (60-61).

William Faulkner, at the time Hemingway’s greatest literary rival, praised The Old Man and the Sea in the following single paragraph review published in Shenandoah Magazine (a major literary magazine of Washington and Lee University):

“His best. Time may show it to be the best single piece of any of us, I mean his and my contemporaries. This time, he discovered God, a Creator. Until now, his men and women had made themselves, shaped themselves out of their own clay; their victories and defeats were at the hands of each other, just to prove to themselves or one another how tough they could be. But this time, he wrote about pity: about something somewhere that made them all: the old man who had to catch the fish and then lose it, the fish that had to be caught and then lost, the sharks which had to rob the old man of his fish; made them all and loved them all and pitied them all. It’s all right. Praise God that whatever made and loves and pities Hemingway and me kept him from touching it any further.”

Ernest Hemingway’s Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

Below is a copy of the text of Hemingway’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech in 1954 (delivered by the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden on account of Hemingway’s poor health):

“Having no facility for speech-making and no command of oratory nor any domination of rhetoric, I wish to thank the administrators of the generosity of Alfred Nobel for this Prize.

No writer who knows the great writers who did not receive the Prize can accept it other than with humility. There is no need to list these writers. Everyone here may make his own list according to his knowledge and his conscience.

It would be impossible for me to ask the Ambassador of my country to read a speech in which a writer said all of the things which are in his heart. Things may not be immediately discernible in what a man writes, and in this sometimes he is fortunate; but eventually they are quite clear and by these and the degree of alchemy that he possesses he will endure or be forgotten.

Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer’s loneliness but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day.

For a true writer each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

How simple the writing of literature would be if it were only necessary to write in another way what has been well written. It is because we have had such great writers in the past that a writer is driven far out past where he can go, out to where no one can help him.

I have spoken too long for a writer. A writer should write what he has to say and not speak it. Again I thank you.”

To read my notes on reading The Paris Review’s famous interview with Hemingway (1958) click here .

On the 1953 Pulitzer Prize Decision

The Fiction Jury in 1953 consisted of Roy W. Cowden, an English and Creative Writing Professor from the University of Michigan; and Eric P. Kelly, a Dartmouth English professor and author of children’s books –most notably The Trumpeter of Krakow (1929), winner of the Newbury Medal.

Roy W. Cowden (1883-1961) was a professor at the University of Michigan where he serves as Director of the Avery Hopwood Prize Program from 1935 to 1952, a cash prize series of creative writing awards in fiction and poetry. Today, there is an award in his name at the University of Michigan.
Eric P. Kelly (1884-1960) was a professor of English at Dartmouth College and briefly a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He won the 1929 Newbery Medal for his children’s book, The Trumpeter of Krakow .

Again in 1953, Kelly and Cowden were split in their report to the Pulitzer Advisory Board. Kelly supported Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea , while Cowden was for Carl Jones’s Jefferson Sellek . They both listed numerous other options in the jury report. With a Pulitzer Prize being long overdue for Hemingway, especially after the snub of For Whom The Bell Tolls , the Board’s choice was easily made. Apparently, Professor Cowden was greatly displeased with this award, and so he departed the Fiction jury for the following year.

While Hemingway never had a word of reproach for his prior Pulitzer Prize denial, upon winning for The Old Man and the Sea , he wrote to Charles Poore of The New York Times stating “…I had never understood the Pulitzer Prize very well but that I had beaten Tony Pulitzer shooting and maybe it was for that.”

In 1953, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, after serving a leave of absence in order to head NATO forces in 1951 and running for President of the United States, officially vacated his position as President of Columbia University. He was succeeded by Grayson Kirk, a portly, pipe-smoking man who previously served as an advisor to the State Department and as a key leader in the formation of the United Nations. During his tenure, he oversaw a period of extraordinary growth for Columbia University as well as considerable cultural tumult that arose in the 1960s. Kirk drew the ire of students for deciding to construct a gymnasium in Morningside Park (which was seen as a symbol of the university’s distance from the Harlem community and its interests); he was attacked for his membership in the Institute for Defense Analyses (a consortium of universities conducting research for the government); and also for taking a controlling interest in a cigarette corporation whose sale would bring revenues to Columbia; and finally, he mishandled the explosive student demonstrations in 1968 which brought widespread criticism and negative press coverage. Kirk served as President of Columbia University from 1953-1968 (he resigned abruptly following his fateful decision to call up the police to quell student protests in 1968). He then assumed the role of President Emeritus in order to continue raising funds for the university, and he also continued to serve on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Association of American Universities before passing away in 1997. At any rate, 1953 was Grayson Kirk’s first official year as President of Columbia University, which included oversight of the Pulitzer Prize Board, though he had technically served as Acting President since 1951.

Also, in 1953-1954 journalist John Hohenberg began his long tenure as Administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes (technically, he replaced Frank Fackenthal who resigned from Columbia University in 1948, though since that time Dean Ackerman served in the role in an unofficial capacity). Mr. Hohenberg served as Administrator until he resigned in 1974, though he remained onboard for an additional two years as “emeritus administrator” thereafter. By 1976, he had helped to transform the Pulitzer Advisory Board into an autonomous award-granting body (henceforth known as the Pulitzer Prize Board), among a flurry of changes and transformations to the Pulitzer Prizes.

In his fourth year as a Columbia University journalism professor, John Hohenberg was invited to attend a meeting of the Pulitzer Advisory Board by his Dean, the ailing Carl W. Ackerman who was nearing retirement. According to Hohenberg’s The Pulitzer Diaries , Dean Ackerman invited him along to the board meeting by suggesting, “maybe you can help me by taking a few notes.” At the time, Ackerman had been serving as secretary of the Advisory Board, and he carried with him an armful of manila folders filled with various Pulitzer jury reports, and a large book entitled “Minutes of the Advisory Board on the Pulitzer Prizes.” The Board met in the World Room at Columbia University’s School of Journalism (in the earlier days of the Pulitzer Prizes, from what I can tell, the Board met in the Trustees Room in the Low Memorial Library).

Typically, I include a brief biography of the author in my Pulitzer Prize reviews, however I have written extensively on Ernest Hemingway’s biography elsewhere. Click here to read my notes on the epic life of Ernest Hemingway.

Film Adaptation:

Director: John Sturges
Starring: Spencer Tracy

Literary Context in 1952-1953:

Nobel Prize for Literature (1953): awarded to Winston Churchill “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.”
National Book Award (1953): Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
Per Publishers Weekly, the top bestseller in 1952 was The Silver Chalice by Thomas B. Costain. The second The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (the prior year’s Pulitzer Prize-winner), followed by East of Eden by John Steinbeck. Other books on the list that year was My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, Giant by Edna Ferber, and The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
The works of André Gide were placed on the Catholic Church’s Index of Forbidden Books by Pope Pius XII.
Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting For Godot was published.
Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap debuted in London. She also published three novels in 1952.
John Steinbeck’s East of Eden was published.
Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano was published.
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man was published.
Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea was first published (it was to win the Pulitzer Prize the following year).

Did The Right Book Win?

1952 was a fairly extraordinary year for American letters. The Old Man and the Sea was a top-tier selection for the Pulitzer Prize, perhaps a mea culpa after the infamous snub of Ernest Hemingway for For Whom The Bell Tolls . However, novels like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden would have been equally worthy of consideration for the prize.

Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea . New York, Scribner’s and Simon & Schuster, 2003.

'The Old Man and the Sea' Review

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" The Old Man and the Sea " was a big success for Ernest Hemingway when it was published in 1952. At first glance, the story appears to be a simple tale of an old Cuban fisherman who catches an enormous fish, only to lose it. There's much more to the story -- a tale of bravery and heroism, of one man's struggle against his own doubts, the elements, a massive fish, sharks and even his desire to give up.

The old man eventually succeeds, then fails, and then wins again. It's the story of perseverance and the machismo of the old man against the elements. This slim novella -- it's only 127 pages -- helped to revive Hemingway's reputation as a writer , winning him great acclaim, including the Nobel Prize for literature.

Santiago is an old man and a fisherman who has gone for months without catching a fish. Many are starting to doubt his abilities as an angler. Even his apprentice, Manolin, has abandoned him and gone to work for a more prosperous boat. The old man sets out to the open sea one day -- off the Florida coast -- and goes a little farther out than he normally would in his desperation to catch a fish. Sure enough, at noon, a big marlin takes hold of one of the lines, but the fish is far too big for Santiago to handle.

To avoid letting the fish escape, Santiago lets the line go slack so that the fish won't break his pole; but he and his boat are dragged out to sea for three days. A kind of kinship and honor develop between the fish and the man. Finally, the fish -- an enormous and worthy opponent -- grows tired, and Santiago kills it. This victory does not end Santiago's journey; he is still far out to sea. Santiago has to drag the marlin behind the boat, and the blood from the dead fish attracts sharks. Santiago does his best to fend off the sharks, but his efforts are in vain. The sharks eat the flesh of the marlin, and Santiago is left with only the bones. Santiago gets back to shore -- weary and tired -- with nothing to show for his pains but the skeletal remains of a large marlin. Even with just the bare remains of the fish, the experience has changed him and altered the perception others have of him. Manolin wakes the old man the morning after his return and suggests that they once again fish together.

Life and Death

During his struggle to catch the fish, Santiago holds on to the rope -- even though he is cut and bruised by it, even though he wants to sleep and eat. He holds onto the rope as though his life depends on it. In these scenes of struggle, Hemingway brings to the fore the power and masculinity of a simple man in a simple habitat. He demonstrates how heroism is possible in even the most seemingly mundane circumstances.

Hemingway's novella shows how death can invigorate life, how killing and death can bring a man to an understanding of his own mortality -- and his own power to overcome it. Hemingway writes of a time when fishing was not merely a business or a sport. Instead, fishing was an expression of humankind in its natural state -- in tune with nature. Enormous stamina and power arose in the breast of Santiago. The simple fisherman became a classical hero in his epic struggle.

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The Old Man and the Sea

By ernest hemingway.

'The Old Man and the Sea' is one of the most important books of 20th century American literature. The novella highlights the strength of its protagonist's spirit and mirrors Hemingway's own struggles at the time it was written.

About the Book

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway is the last of Hemingway’s great fiction books. This short novella was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and is often cited as one of the defining factors (along with several near-death experiences) in Hemingway’s selection for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The story follows Santiago, a poor Cuban fisherman who is suffering from a long streak without successfully catching anything. He hooks an enormous marlin , the biggest he’s ever seen and the majority of the novella follows him trying to reel in this gigantic fish.

Key Facts about The Old Man and the Sea

Title: The Old Man and the Sea
When/where written : 1951 in Cuba
Published: 1952
Literary Period: Modernism
Genre: Parable
Point-of-View: Third-person omniscient, mostly limited to Santiago
Setting: 1940s, Cuban fishing village, the Gulf of Mexico
Climax: When Santiago finally catches the marlin
Antagonist: The sharks and the marlin

Ernest Hemingway and The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is one of his most popular novels. The story is moving, endearing, and emotional . His direct style of writing is suited perfectly to the life and death situation that Santiago finds himself in. During the period of time in which Hemingway wrote The Old Man and the Sea, he was living in Cuba. It was the 1940s and he spent a great deal of time on the water, fishing off his boat The Pilar . He lived in Cuba for almost 20 years and became an important figure, well-known through Havana. Hemingway lived much more luxuriously than Santiago, the main character of The Old Man and the Sea, but he was well acquainted with hardship. He’d been part of the First World War as a war reporter and was even present on D-Day during WWII. It was his exposure to the realities of life and death as well as his knowledge of the Cuban people that helped this novel become the success that it was and still is. Some scholars have also suggested that the solitude, struggle, and desperation that Santiago experiences in the novella mirror the same emotions in Hemingway’s life at the time he wrote the story . His writing career was at a low point, and he was relatively isolated from his contemporaries while living in Cuba.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Digital Art

Books Related to The Old Man and the Sea

While Hemingway is almost always associated with Cuba , he also spent a good deal of time in Paris. While there, he became part of the “lost generation” of writers. This is a term used to refer to Americans who moved to Europe after WWI. Others included Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein with whom Hemingway was well acquainted. Works by these authors, as well as those by F. Scott Fitzgerald are similar in style and technique to Hemingway’s novels. His books and stories often rebel against ideas of patriotism and express the same disillusionment with tradition that can be found in Pound’s poetry. Novels of adventure and determination can also be counted as similar to The Old Man and the Sea. These include The Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and Hemingway’s own The Sun Also Rises.

The Lasting Impact of The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea is a memorable novel. Love it or hate it, it sticks with you. It is a story of hardship, perseverance, and the indomitable nature of the human spirit. It is a book about suffering and accepting that suffering as part of one’s life–it is inescapable. When readers make their way through this novel, it’s emotionally turbulent . At one moment it’s desperately sad and at the next, triumphant. Much like life, Santiago’s quest to end his 84-day streak without catching a fish doesn’t go as planned.

Additionally, just as this novel works as a metaphor for Hemingway’s life, it can also be applied to any reader’s personal struggle. These struggles don’t have to be as physical as Santiago’s but they can be just as trying. Today, the novel is regarded as one of the finest examples of American literature, of any period.

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Words & Dirt

Review: ernest hemingway’s “the old man and the sea”, by miles raymer.

It’s been a long time since I read anything by Ernest Hemingway, and even longer since I first read The Old Man and the Sea in my teens. This time around, the book proved both more and less impressive than I remember. Hemingway’s prose, although clean and efficient, rings somewhat hollow for me now. I think this was always true, but I wouldn’t have admitted it as a young literati who felt obligated to revere Hemingway due to his position in the American canon. But even if the language left me wanting, the existential depth of this novel came through loud and clear in a way I didn’t recognize years ago.

The Old Man and the Sea is a simple tale. Santiago, our “old man,” is an aged fisherman daunted by a spell of bad luck–– “eighty-four days now without taking a fish” (13). Though befriended by a youngster known only as “the boy,” Santiago is a solitary person with a worldview that doesn’t cast a net much farther than the next catch or baseball game results. His intense focus and persistence make him a formidable character and a winning protagonist.

Santiago’s story unfolds over the course of a single fishing expedition. Before leaving, he refuses the boy’s company, striking out on his own with only his determination as companion. As he makes his way into the ocean, his observations vary from stoic to impassioned. He expresses affection for some sea creatures by calling them “brothers,” and seems to revile others, at one point referring to a man-of-war as a “whore” (32). These hostile streaks in Santiago’s consciousness, combined with a vaguely racist reminiscence of beating a “negro” at arm wrestling earlier in life, make The Old Man and the Sea feel dated in some parts (55-6). However, the novel’s timeless message is ultimately strong enough to overshadow these anachronistic elements.

At its core, this is a narrative of negotiation with two basic layers: Santiago’s negotiation with the ocean itself, as personified by a giant marlin, and his negotiation with his own weathered but resilient body. The fish, which promises to break his streak of bad luck should he succeed in besting it, pushes Santiago to his physical and mental limits. For a long time it seems that their wills are equally matched, with Santiago holding on as the marlin steadily drags his skiff farther and farther out to sea: “I can do nothing with him and he can do nothing with me” (41).

Santiago understands this battle as both an indication of his superiority as a fisherman, but also a humbling reminder of humanity’s place in the greater cosmos:

He lay against the worn wood of the bow and rested all that he could. The first stars were out…and he knew soon they would all be out and he would have all his distant friends. “The fish is my friend too,” he said aloud. “I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him.”…I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers. (59-60)

This feeling of being in place, right where one belongs, covers this novel like a warm blanket. Santiago’s archetypal greatness comes from his equanimity, which holds steady even through great pain. His desire to outlast the fish––and the ocean itself––is tempered by his understanding that he is subject to the rules of a grand pageant over which he has no control.

Santiago also bargains fiercely with his own flesh. His body is the enabling factor in his struggle and also his greatest obstacle:

He felt faint again now but he held on the great fish all the strain that he could. I moved him, he thought. Maybe this time I can get him over. Pull, hands, he thought. Hold up, legs. Last for me, head. Last for me. (69)

As any expert laborer must be, Santiago is intimately in touch with the needs of his body, and makes great efforts to keep his strength up during the battle with the fish. Repeatedly he honors the capacities of his physique while lamenting its limitations:

He could feel the steady hard pull of the line and his left hand was cramped. It drew up tight on the heavy cord and he looked at it in disgust. “What kind of a hand is that,” he said. “Cramp then if you want. Make yourself into a claw. It will do you no good.” (48)

As the novel closes, Hemingway reminds us that nature––unwilling to sacrifice a single sardine for the toils of humanity––is not a fair negotiator. In this era of climate change, the lesson is deeply necessary and stings with a special cruelty. But Santiago, reunited finally with the boy on shore, indicates that he is not vanquished, and perhaps cannot be. Better still, he accepts the boy’s offer to take to the sea together once more, showing that he has opened himself again to the boons of brotherly cooperation. Triumph awaits, perhaps, with the next fish, but the dignity of hard work is everlasting.

Rating: 7/10

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The old man and the sea.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 2 Reviews
Kids Say 6 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Man vs. marlin story a challenging, introspective read.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 12+?

There is a fair amount of graphic description of gutting and butchery of fish, i

Santiago and Manolin drink beer; some of Santiago's reminiscences involve ba

Mild invective, e.g. "whore."

It's the early '50s in Cuba. Santiago makes much of the fact that he doe

Any Positive Content?

Besides being fine (if sometimes jarringly macho) writing by a Nobel- and Pulitz

Santiago is a veritable icon of tenacity and refusal to give up; his young assis

Perseverance, resourcefulness, and the ability to make the best of existing circ

Violence & Scariness

There is a fair amount of graphic description of gutting and butchery of fish, including one scene of killing a female marlin as her mate looks on from outside the boat.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Santiago and Manolin drink beer; some of Santiago's reminiscences involve bars.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

It's the early '50s in Cuba. Santiago makes much of the fact that he doesn't have a radio on which to listen to baseball.

Educational Value

Besides being fine (if sometimes jarringly macho) writing by a Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, The Old Man and the Sea offers gorgeous descriptions of marine and animal life in the exotic regions where Hemingway spent time and where he has Santiago visit in his youthful travels. It also offers a window on village life in pre-Castro Cuba, and economic realities of fishermen's lives in developing countries that have probably not changed much in the interim.

Positive Role Models

Santiago is a veritable icon of tenacity and refusal to give up; his young assistant Manolin, who cannot defy his parents to accompany Santiago fishing, nonetheless remains loyal to him by helping his longtime mentor in many small ways.

Positive Messages

Perseverance, resourcefulness, and the ability to make the best of existing circumstances are all core values here, as well as the loyalty of the boy Manolin to Santiago despite much adversity.

Parents need to know that context and the teacher's skill will influence how well their kids relate to this reading-list staple. Widely regarded as Hemingway's masterpiece, it won the Pulitzer Prize and had much to do with his winning the Nobel. It's packed with epic struggles (man vs. nature, man vs. himself), eternal issues (love, survival, teaching the next generation, tenacity against the odds) and strong writing. It's also about three days in a boat in which most of the action takes place in the title character's head, punctuated by graphic descriptions of, say, the gutting of fish. It's also somewhat fraught with a late-in-life perspective that may be largely lost on young readers. Readers young and old are rarely ambivalent about this book -- it's either love or hate, often mixed with a hefty dose of parody (Hemingway at times writes like a macho parody of himself). To nudge kids in the love direction, you may wish to check out Alexander Petrov's 1999 Oscar-winning animated film adaptation.

Where to Read

Parent and kid reviews.

Parents say (2)
Kids say (6)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Old man and the sea

What's the story.

After 84 days of catching nothing, Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, sets out alone in his small skiff into the Gulf Stream in search of better fortune and soon hooks what proves to be the fish of a lifetime. As he spends the next three days on the high seas being towed by the colossal marlin, sleeping and waking, he ponders his strategy, struggles with the mighty fish, and reflects on his life.

Is It Any Good?

Not everyone, especially among the young, is prepared to engage with a plot that's largely waiting and introspection, punctuated by description and reminiscence, however beautifully written. Generations of critics and readers have showered this book with praise; generations of other readers, particularly those required to read it in school, have blasted it as the worst book they ever read, when they admit to getting through it at all, despite its brevity. Whether the particular class for which your kid is reading the book intends to focus on Hemingway, symbolism, heroic struggle, marine life, pre-Castro Cuba, or baseball in the Eisenhower era, it might be helpful to get a few bearings before sending him or her out on the high seas in this book.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what Santiago won and lost from his quest, and whether the reward was worth the effort.

What do you know about Joe DiMaggio, who Santiago finds so admirable? This might be a good time to talk about the era when baseball teams had spring training in the Caribbean, and the cultural ramifications.

Early on, Santiago says, "Fish, I love and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends." Santiago spends a great deal of the book talking about killing what he loves, in which he is probably speaking for the author, who made something of a career of killing big game on several continents. Is killing what you love a tenable position?

Why do you think The Old Man and the Sea is often required reading in school?

Book Details

Author : Ernest Hemingway
Genre : Adventure
Topics : Adventures , Ocean Creatures
Book type : Fiction
Publisher : Scribner
Publication date : May 28, 2011
Publisher's recommended age(s) : 12 - 18
Number of pages : 128
Last updated : July 12, 2017

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The Old Man and the Sea | Ernest Hemingway | Book Review

PLOT: 4.5/5 CHARACTERS: 5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 CLIMAX: 5/5 ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4.5/5

“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.” ~ Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

One of the bookish resolutions that I took in 2018 was to read 10 classics. My progress wasn’t noteworthy but I am determined to change it in the coming years.

I picked up The Old Man and the Sea because I am participating in an Instagram readathon in which the prompt was to read a book that is a part of a “100 books to read in a lifetime” list.

Needless to state, The Old Man and the Sea frequently graces many such lists and was a good option.

What is the book all about and what to expect?

The Old Man and the Sea is a classic novel written in 1951 by Ernest Hemingway . It is considered to be the last major work by the eminent author to be published while he was alive.

The book is a short read (under 100 pages) which is set in Havana, Cuba. The story tells us the tale of an old fisherman, a young boy and a beautiful and brave fish.

What is the story like?

Santiago is an old fisherman who has gone 84 days without fishing. He has now been termed as “salao” by the local people, which means that he is suffering from the worst form of unluckiness.

Once a sturdy and healthy man, he was great at his job and would always catch the best fish. Now, he is an old and poor man with nothing much to keep his days and mind occupied.

Even the boy whom he loves dearly and had trained well is now forbidden by his parents to work with the old man because of his unlucky strike.

Manolin, the young boy, however, loves Santiago and cares for him. He often brings him food and tea and they talk about all things under the sun especially Santiago’s favourite – the American baseball.

Determined to change his luck and bring home a catch big enough to get the town talking, the old man sets out on the sea on the 85 th day. He goes out into the Gulf Stream and his bait soon gets taken by a big fish which he supposes is a Marlin.

But, the fish will not relent so easily. The old man is also determined and won’t let go easily. What follows is a fight for life with both sides being equally brave and determined.

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

How good are the characters?

The characters are one of the most honest and brave ones that I have come across in a book in recent times.

Santiago, the old man is . Though his body is weakened by the number of years he has seen, the same cannot be said about his resolve. That he is old in his manners and in his treatment of elements only adds to his charms. Unlike, many younger fishermen he respects the sea and calls her La Mar, a term of endearment.

“But the old man always thought of her as feminine and as something that gave or withheld great favours, and if she did wild or wicked things it was because she could not help them. The moon affects her as it does a woman, he thought.”

Santiago, for me, was a character that cannot be . His respect for the Marlin is also noteworthy. Though he is determined to prevail, he still respects the fish and apologizes to it profusely. He calls it noble and and sometimes laments about the futility of such an existence, which makes people do such horrible things to nature’s beautiful creatures.

The author’s writing style

I consider myself quite incompetent to comment on the author’s writing style. The author chooses a very simple story and turns it into a masterpiece. If that is not wonderful, I don’t know what else is.

I also liked the way a non-human i.e. the Marlin plays such an important role in the book.

The life lessons which the old man teaches while battling for his own existence is also something to look forward to in this book.

What I absolutely loved?

Undoubtedly, the climax is the best part of the book but more about that in the following paragraphs.

What did I not like?

The Old Man and the Sea is a difficult read for somebody who isn’t familiar with all the fishing jargons, methods, techniques and equipment. This is probably one of the reasons most readers find it difficult to finish the book.

It also means that once you are through the book you emerge as a more informed reader. I personally found myself googling for a lot of information throughout the course of the book, and that is something that really makes me happy.

What about the climax?

The climax is what makes this book a winner. The magic of The Old Man and the Sea lies in its tragic ending and that is what elevates the book to its classic status.

The climax is and, in the end, if you are a sensitive and emotional reader like me, you cannot help but shed a tear or two for the old man Santiago and his undying spirit.

How good was the entertainment quotient?

The book, though a short read, is not an easy one. It takes time for the reader to get into it and it is also perceptibly slow towards the middle, but that doesn’t take away the entertainment quotient.

Finishing the book does require some effort but, in the end, it is worth every minute that you spend reading it.

Pick up the book if

The book is often featured in the “100 books to read in a lifetime” list, do you need any other reason apart from that?

Skip the book if

Skip the book if you don’t like slow reads and if classics are not your cup of tea.

Watch the video here

Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of The Old Man and the Sea from the link below.

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About the Author

Sankalpita singh.

Meet Sankalpita, the bookworm extraordinaire! With an insatiable appetite for reading (over 100 books annually!), she started her blog, bookGeeks, in 2013. Now India's top-tier book blog, it attracts 700,000 monthly readers. She also runs a popular YouTube channel, inspiring a passion for Indian literature in all ages. Her ultimate goal? "To serve a nation through literature." With a passion for Indian literature, she's on a mission to ignite the reading spark in both kids and grown-ups alike.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

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👌👌👌I love this book and Ernst Hemingway…. and daiquiri 🙂

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I really liked this book, too … such a tight focus on a scenario — just an old man on a boat — and the story still manages to bring interest to the reader.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Analysis and reception

When did American literature begin?
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Table Of Contents

The Old Man and the Sea , short heroic novel by Ernest Hemingway , published in 1952 and awarded the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It was his last major work of fiction. The story centres on an aging fisherman who engages in an epic battle to catch a giant marlin .

The central character is an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago, who has not caught a fish for 84 days. The family of his apprentice, Manolin, has forced the boy to leave the old fisherman, though Manolin continues to support him with food and bait. Santiago is a mentor to the boy, who cherishes the old man and the life lessons he imparts. Convinced that his luck must change, Santiago takes his skiff far out into the deep waters of the Gulf Stream , where he soon hooks a giant marlin . With all his great experience and strength, he struggles with the fish for three days, admiring its strength, dignity, and faithfulness to its identity; its destiny is as true as Santiago’s as a fisherman. He finally reels the marlin in and lashes it to his boat.

Young woman with glasses reading a book, student

However, Santiago’s exhausting effort goes for naught. Sharks are drawn to the tethered marlin, and, although Santiago manages to kill a few, the sharks eat the fish, leaving behind only its skeleton. After returning to the harbour, the discouraged Santiago goes to his home to sleep. In the meantime, others see the skeleton tied to his boat and are amazed. A concerned Manolin is relieved to find Santiago alive, and the two agree to go fishing together.

The Old Man and the Sea contains many of the themes that preoccupied Hemingway as a writer and as a man. The routines of life in a Cuban fishing village are evoked in the opening pages with a characteristic economy of language. The stripped-down existence of the fisherman Santiago is crafted in a spare, elemental style that is as eloquently dismissive as a shrug of the old man’s powerful shoulders. With age and luck now against him, Santiago knows he must row out “beyond all people,” away from land and into the Gulf Stream , where one last drama would be played out, in an empty arena of sea and sky.

Hemingway was famously fascinated with ideas of men proving their worth by facing and overcoming the challenges of nature. When the old man hooks a marlin longer than his boat, he is tested to the limits as he works the line with bleeding hands in an effort to bring it close enough to harpoon . Through his struggle, Santiago demonstrates the ability of the human spirit to endure hardship and suffering in order to win. It is also his deep love and knowledge of the sea, in its impassive cruelty and beneficence, that allows him to prevail. The essential physicality of the story—the smells of tar and salt and fish blood, the cramp and nausea and blind exhaustion of the old man, the terrifying death spasms of the great fish—is set against the ethereal qualities of dazzling light and water, isolation, and the swelling motion of the sea. And through it all, the narrative is constantly tugging, unreeling a little more, and then pulling again, all in tandem with the old man’s struggle. It is a story that demands to be read in a single sitting.

The Old Man and the Sea was an immediate success and came to be regarded as one of Hemingway’s finest works. It was cited when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. A hugely popular film adaptation starring Spencer Tracy was released in 1958.

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The Old Man and the Sea (1952)">William Faulkner’s Review of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

in Books | March 13th, 2019 3 Comments

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In the mid-20th century, the two big dogs in the American literary scene were William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway . Both were internationally revered, both were masters of the novel and the short story, and both won Nobel Prizes.

Born in Mississippi, Faulkner wrote allegorical histories of the South in a style that is both elliptical and challenging. His works were marked by uses of stream-of-consciousness and shifting points of view. He also favored titanically long sentences, holding the record for having, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest sentence in literature. Open your copy of Absalom! Absalom! to chapter 6 and you’ll find it. Hemingway, on the other hand, famously sandblasted the florid prose of Victorian-era books into short, terse, deceptively simple sentences. His stories were about rootless, damaged, cosmopolitan people in exotic locations like Paris or the Serengeti.

If you type in “Faulkner and Hemingway” in your favorite search engine, you’ll likely stumble upon this famous exchange — Faulkner on Hemingway: “He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” Hemingway: “Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?” Zing! Faulkner reportedly didn’t mean for the line to come off as an insult but Hemingway took it as one. The incident ended up being the most acrimonious in the two authors’ complicated relationship.

While Faulkner and Hemingway never formally met, they were regular correspondents, and each was keenly aware of the other’s talents. And they were competitive with each other, especially Hemingway who was much more insecure than you might surmise from his macho persona. While Hemingway regularly called Faulkner “the best of us all,” marveling at his natural abilities, he also hammered Faulkner for resorting to tricks. As he wrote to Harvey Breit , the famed critic for The New York Times , “If you have to write the longest sentence in the world to give a book distinction, the next thing you should hire Bill Veek [sic] and use midgets.”

Faulkner, on his end, was no less competitive. He once told the New York Herald Tribune , “I think he’s the best we’ve got.” On the other hand, he bristled when an editor mentioned getting Hemingway to write the preface for The Portable Faulkner in 1946. “It seems to me in bad taste to ask him to write a preface to my stuff. It’s like asking one race horse in the middle of a race to broadcast a blurb on another horse in the same running field.”

When Breit asked Faulkner to write a review of Hemingway’s 1952 novella The Old Man and the Sea , he refused. Yet when a couple months later he got the same request from Washington and Lee University’s literary journal, Shenandoah , Faulkner relented, giving guarded praise to the novel in a one paragraph-long review. You can read it below.

His best. Time may show it to be the best single piece of any of us, I mean his and my contemporaries. This time, he discovered God, a Creator. Until now, his men and women had made themselves, shaped themselves out of their own clay; their victories and defeats were at the hands of each other, just to prove to themselves or one another how tough they could be. But this time, he wrote about pity: about something somewhere that made them all: the old man who had to catch the fish and then lose it, the fish that had to be caught and then lost, the sharks which had to rob the old man of his fish; made them all and loved them all and pitied them all. It’s all right. Praise God that whatever made and loves and pities Hemingway and me kept him from touching it any further.

And you can also watch below a fascinating talk by scholar Joseph Fruscione about how Faulkner and Hemingway competed and influenced each other. He wrote the recent book, Faulkner and Hemingway: Biography of a Literary Rivalry .

Note: An earlier version of this post appeared on our site in July 2014.

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The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: Book review

Published - September 01, 2018 04:01 pm IST

Last month, an old, unpublished story by American writer Ernest Hemingway surfaced. ‘A Room on the Garden Side’, written in 1956, is set in a Paris hotel he loved, the Ritz. The Strand Magazine , a quarterly which has published it, includes an afterword by a board member of The Hemingway Society, Kirk Curnutt. He said the piece “contains all the trademark elements readers love in Hemingway” and though “the war is central... but so are the ethics of writing and the worry that literary fame corrupts an author’s commitment to truth.” Hemingway ended his life in 1961.

Struggling souls

He wrote about war, Paris, boxers, bullfighters and soldiers, many of whom were lonely souls struggling to eke out a living. The epitome of this struggle was showcased in his 1952 novella, The Old Man and the Sea . In fact, in 1954, when the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Hemingway, the citation picked out the book for special mention. The Nobel academy said it was honouring him “for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style.”

The story begins with the narrator saying that the old man “who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream,” had gone 84 days without catching one. In the first 40 days, a boy he was very fond of, and vice-versa, had been with him. But the boy’s parents, much to his annoyance, told him “that the old man was now definitely and finally salao , which is the worst form of unlucky.” He was ordered to go on another boat, which caught three good fish the first week. He missed the boy who looked out for him.

A pot of yellow rice

On most of the days the old man came in empty-handed, the boy guided him home. “What do you have to eat?” the boy would ask. “A pot of yellow rice with fish,” the old man replied. “May I take the cast net?” “Of course.” “There was no cast net and the boy remembered when they had sold it. But they went through this fiction every day. There was no pot of yellow rice and fish and the boy knew this too.”

So, on the 85th day, the old man set sail with bait (sardines, which the boy got him) and little else to net a fish. “And the best fisherman is you,” the boy told him. The old man hopes no fish will come along that will prove the boy wrong. The rest of the novella is the story of the old man's struggle with nature, a huge fish (swordfish) and himself. As the duel goes on, the old man thinks aloud: “I wonder if he has any plans or if he is just as desperate as I am?” He won’t give up and fights against all odds — “...man is not made for defeat... A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

The writer looks back at one classic each fortnight.

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Book Review

The old man and the sea.

Ernest Hemingway
Drama , Historical

Readability Age Range

Scribner Book Company, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Nobel Prize in Literature, 1954; Award of Merit Medal for the Novel from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1954; Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1953

Year Published

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

Santiago, an old fisherman, hasn’t caught anything in 84 days. He’s discouraged. His friend and former sailing mate, Manolin, longs to help him, but Manolin’s parents refuse because of Santiago’s poor fishing record. On day 85, Santiago feels a tug he knows to be the fish he’s been looking for. But the fish is so enormous and strong that for several days it pulls him farther out to sea. Hemingway details the valiant struggle between man and fish, lauding the old man for his perseverance despite the fact that sharks ultimately eat his prize fish.

Christian Beliefs

Santiago has religious pictures on his wall. He questions the purpose of sea swallows, birds that are really too weak and delicate to survive against harsher sea birds. Santiago tells God he isn’t religious, but that he would say “Hail Mary” and “Our Father” prayers and make a pilgrimage if he catches the fish. He follows this with additional prayers that are more repetitive than heartfelt. Santiago contemplates whether it is a sin to kill the fish. Hemingway employs a fair amount of crucifixion imagery throughout the book to portray Santiago as a Christ figure who transcends death and defeat.

Other Belief Systems

The old man talks quite a bit about luck concerning fishing. Manolin’s parents are happier now that he is working with a “lucky” boat.

Authority Roles

Santiago is Manolin’s hero. Santiago teaches Manolin a great deal about fishing. However, Manolin keeps a close eye on Santiago to make sure Santiago gets the nourishment and care needed. At times, Santiago is under the authority of both the sea and his great fish. At other moments, he masters them with his skill and perseverance.

Profanity & Violence

Phrases like “God knows,” “Christ knows” or “God help me” appear; few, if any, are an intentional misuse of the Lord’s name. In demonstrating his passionate faithfulness to the old man, Manolin uses the words d–n and h—.

Sexual Content

Santiago calls the dangerous Portuguese man-of-war invertebrate a whore. He later talks about the same animal heaving and swinging as though “the ocean were making love with something.”

Discussion Topics

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

Other issues: The boy buys the old man a beer. (There is no clear indication as to whether the boy has one himself.) When the old man asks if he’d steal some sardines, the boy says he will, but he doesn’t.

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Ernest Hemingway New York: Charles Scribner�s Sons, 1952 127 pages.

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COMMENTS

The Old Man and the Sea Review: Hemingway's Masterpiece
Book Title: The Old Man and the Sea. Book Description: The Old Man and the Sea is a short novel that tells the story of an old Cuban fisherman, Santiago. The novel focuses on his poverty, determination, and incredible spirit as he battles to reel in the biggest fish he's ever seen. Book Author: Earnest Hemingway.
Book Review: 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Ernest Hemingway
Hemingway published 'The Old Man and the Sea' in 1952, and it was to be his last major work. It is easy to see the parallels between the old man in the novel, called Santiago, and Hemingway. Santiago suffers from bad luck in his old age despite being a great fisher in his youth. Hemingway had been trying to reclaim the literary success of his older books, such as "The Sun Also Rises ...
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Share your opinion of this book. A long short story and worth the money in quality of the old Hemingway of Men Without Women days — though in quantity it can't bulk to more than a scant 150 pages. A unique fishing story — as old man Santiago determines to try his luck in the Gulf waters off Cuba for the eighty fifth day.
1953 Pulitzer Prize Review: The Old Man and the Sea ...
The Old Man and the Sea is a rich and deep novella about an old fisherman named Santiago and his Herculean efforts to overcome a dry-spell of fishing. Much like the book's protagonist, Ernest Hemingway was also going through a dry-spell of his own at the time. The Old Man and the Sea was written at a time when Hemingway was believed to be a ...
"The Old Man and the Sea" by Ernest Hemingway Review
James Topham. Updated on July 01, 2019. "The Old Man and the Sea" was a big success for Ernest Hemingway when it was published in 1952. At first glance, the story appears to be a simple tale of an old Cuban fisherman who catches an enormous fish, only to lose it. There's much more to the story -- a tale of bravery and heroism, of one man's ...
The Old Man and the Sea
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 2 August 2024. 1952 novella by Ernest Hemingway This article is about the novella by Ernest Hemingway. For other uses, see The Old Man and the Sea (disambiguation). The Old Man and the Sea Original book cover Author Ernest Hemingway Language English Genre Literary fiction Publisher Charles Scribner's ...
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea is a memorable novel. Love it or hate it, it sticks with you. It is a story of hardship, perseverance, and the indomitable nature of the human spirit. It is a book about suffering and accepting that suffering as part of one's life-it is inescapable. When readers make their way through this novel, it's emotionally ...
Review: Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea"
These hostile streaks in Santiago's consciousness, combined with a vaguely racist reminiscence of beating a "negro" at arm wrestling earlier in life, make The Old Man and the Sea feel dated in some parts (55-6). However, the novel's timeless message is ultimately strong enough to overshadow these anachronistic elements.
The Old Man and the Sea Book Review
Old man and the sea. The Old Man and the Sea is an elegant work by a legendary author. The reader follows the fishing trip of Santiago, an old man who hasn't caught a fish in many months. There is no need to be a fan of fishing to like this book. Hemingway is such a great writer than any reader can easily be "reeled in" by this book.
A Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. I wouldn't feel right about my pursuit to be well-read and an accomplished author if I didn't make time for the classics. Ernest Hemingway is one of the most esteemed authors of the modern era, and his Nobel Prize-winning novel, , is often cited as his greatest work.
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a classic novel written in 1951 by Ernest Hemingway. It is considered to be the last major work by the eminent author to be published while he was alive. The book is a short read (under 100 pages) which is set in Havana, Cuba. The story tells us the tale of an old fisherman, a young boy and a beautiful and brave fish.
BOOK REVIEW: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
BOOK REVIEW: The Old Man and the Sea. by Ernest Hemingway. This novella is a masterpiece of American literature. The story is straightforward, but visceral and provocative. Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, has been having the dry spell of all dry spells, having not returned with a fish in over eighty days. Santiago recently lost his assistant ...
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway in Havana. Awards And Honors: Pulitzer Prize. The Old Man and the Sea, short heroic novel by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1952 and awarded the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. It was his last major work of fiction. The story centres on an aging fisherman who engages in an epic battle to catch a giant marlin.
IN DEPTH BOOK REVIEW The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
An in depth book review of the Old Man and the Sea, the novella which earned Hemingway the Nobel Prize for literature. This classic book review explores the...
William Faulkner's Review of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea
When Breit asked Faulkner to write a review of Hemingway's 1952 novella The Old Man and the Sea, he refused. Yet when a couple months later he got the same request from Washington and Lee University's literary journal, Shenandoah, Faulkner relented, giving guarded praise to the novel in a one paragraph-long ...
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: Book review
So, on the 85th day, the old man set sail with bait (sardines, which the boy got him) and little else to net a fish. "And the best fisherman is you," the boy told him. The old man hopes no ...
The Old Man and the Sea
Santiago, an old fisherman, hasn't caught anything in 84 days. He's discouraged. His friend and former sailing mate, Manolin, longs to help him, but Manolin's parents refuse because of Santiago's poor fishing record. On day 85, Santiago feels a tug he knows to be the fish he's been looking for. But the fish is so enormous and strong ...
Book review -- Ernest Hemingway THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA
Ernest Hemingway New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952 127 pages. Once again I return to the work of Ernest Hemingway after an almost 50 year hiatus. The Old Man and the Sea is a magnificent story. At one level it is the tale of a man and a fish, at another, a story of man versus nature, at yet another, the story of the culture of manhood ...

Book Review: ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway

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1953 Pulitzer Prize Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

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