The Old Man and The Sea

Summary:

Ernest Hemingway’s final novel which tells the story of a fisherman who is down on his luck after not catching any fish for over 84 days. The fisherman perserveres through the hardship with the help of a young man who used to apprentice for him and proves that the human spirit is hard to break.

Review:

This is the first Hemingway novel that I’ve ever read. I believe when I was in high school I read part of For Whom The Bell Tolls, but I don’t count that. I have known that Hemingway is a well loved author for a long time, but just haven’t found the desire to read him until now.

This book is very short. I’d actually wager it would be classified as a novella by current standards, but when it was written in 1952, it was labeled as a novel. I was able to read the entire story in one sitting, just shy of two hours.

The first thing I noticed was how lean and beautiful his prose is in this story. It feels like every single word was specifically chosen and none of them were fluff. This lean feel gave the story a sense of realism and at times it almost felt more like memoir than fiction.

I was also quite impressed with how he was able to keep me engaged and interested in a story that takes place in a single boat with a solitary old man and his thoughts. The descriptions of the sea, the fish, the weather, the man’s thoughts, etc. were all so well done that I never felt bored.

He also wrote a protagonist that I wanted to root for almost from page one and even more so when he really struggled at sea for three full days with no supplies and sheer determination. It reminded me that humans are far more capable than we think we are at handling hard situations.

I don’t know that I’m going to read all of his works, but I definitely have a newfound respect for Hemingway that is rooted in his writing rather than the lore I’ve heard about him.

If you’re also Hemingway curious, I’d say this is a great book to start with. It’s a quick read and I’ve heard that it’s widely regarded as a fan favorite.