The Old Man and the Sea
Last week, I popped my Hemingway cherry with The Old Man and the Sea. I’ve had an earnest desire to read Ernest for quite some time and this was a short, easy starting point, as my copy is only 127 pages. Additionally, this particular novel received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and led to Hemingway’s Nobel Prize in Literature. Thankfully, he was a very gentle author for my first time.
The Old Man and the Sea is about an old man and the sea. Specifically, it revolves around a weathered fisherman named Santiago as well as a big ass fish. Santiago is a simple man, shockingly disciplined and well versed in his trade. Seriously, his determination to successfully catch and reel in this big ass fish is astonishing. Santiago admires these majestic creatures. He says, “‘Fish…I love you and respect you very much. But I will kill you dead before this day ends’” (Hemingway, 54). Clearly Hemingway hadn’t seen Finding Nemo; this poor guy is probably just headed to P Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney to find his son.
The book barely has to work to characterize Santiago. Instead, it modestly presents a main character whose endurance is tested and lets us sit back and see how he reacts. Sometimes, it is painful to see the man’s agony; at others, it is heartening to witness his resilience. The sea is his home and the fish are his brothers, which is a hippie-esque vibe that speaks to me and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He also sees the sea as a woman, capable of both beauty and capriciousness. Perhaps that reflects Hemingway’s own relationship with females, seeing as he plowed through 4 wives and never really mastered the whole marriage thing.
Hemingway was a minimalist who often employed the “Iceberg Theory”--a writing style that exposes *just the tip* of an event without explicitly giving away too much. Consequently, you won’t find any overt discussion of what the man’s struggle against the sea and its inhabitants means. Open-ended novels are good for the soul because they force you to reflect.
Overall, It didn’t disappoint me but it also didn’t wow me. This was a pleasant and poignant story that unfortunately did not fully resonate with me despite its timeless voice. That being said, I appreciate his writing style, and I’m happy I gave him a chance. Overall, I give it 3 out of 5 flames. So short and easy to read that there’s no excuse to pass it by, but don’t immediately hit up Amazon and capitalize on their one-click ordering system. Actually, do that. Buy it through my link so that I can get a cut…
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