Book Review: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Last Christmas, I was truly thrilled when I received this very thoughtful gift from a great friend: a first edition of Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea (1952).
I'm sure this book has been reviewed countless of times in the past, including compulsory reviews in Literature classes. So I am not going to write a detailed one, but instead I will focus on the experience of reading an old print, which had stirred dormant memories and made me nostalgic.
The book, with its tattered cover leaf, its smell reminiscent of old libraries, and its large font size, transported me back to my childhood weekends of scavenging through old chests or the bottom rung of our bookshelf, in hopes of finding interesting reads. Sometimes I would be rewarded with great finds, including a hard-bound book of bedtime stories (one of the earliest books I've read independently), and over time the great finds started to include the likes of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'Catcher in the Rye', etc. But sometimes too my search was not as fruitful and I'd end up with books I didn't truly enjoy but would read on anyway, like the genre fiction that my older brothers would rave about--I realise I was reading Ludlum, Forsyth, Follett, Le Carre before I could truly understand the many things happening in their novels. Unfortunately books don't carry PG signs! and my mother was preoccupied with many other things. Perhaps being a voracious reader herself, she was just too happy that I was into reading, which for many people is a sign of intelligence ;-). In any case I was also reading Nancy Drew around this time :-) But regardless of the find, I must have been so thrilled with this weekend activity that I had expanded my "treasure hunting" to the bigger houses of my relatives who had kindly indulged me in this hobby; one aunt would let me bring out books from her neatly stacked shelf. This was where I discovered a biography of Imelda Marcos where she related about being pranked out of her shoes as a child--we all know what happened next. I would quietly pore over the books in one corner while my aunt was deeply engrossed with her TV serials. Another memorable time was when relatives moved back home, and tons of books came with them, literally filling up one room of their house. For a time, that was a happy place for me, and I would go check out the pile whenever I could. I think this was where I first discovered Sidney Sheldon, which I am happy to say I had soon outgrown. Eventually I graduated to doing my treasure hunting in bookshops near my school--I think I had skipped quite a few lunches back in high school just so I could buy some books I had been drooling over (I don't remember buying any kikay/girly stuff, but I remember having stacks of magazines and books I'd saved up for back then). Book hunting became more frequent in university when I discovered the second-hand bookshops near my dorm, not to mention the books and comics (mainly Archies) rental "shops" that some entrepreneurial dorm mates set up in their rooms. It was around this time that I started reading Kundera, Neruda, Marquez, etc. which might be an improvement over the genre fiction I used to read mindlessly.
Back to Old Man and the Sea. The subject of this novel is Santiago, an old fisherman who has seen his better days. Now an octogenarian, he is going through a dry spell, not having found any good catch in more than 80 days. Earlier there was a boy who had been accompanying him but has stopped doing so upon the instruction of the boy's father--who had concluded that Santiago is now an "unlucky" fisherman.
On the 85th day, Santiago again sets out to the harsh open sea, alone and without provisions, in a quest that has become more about redeeming himself than the usual economic reasons. A long day of solitude under the scorching sun has not turned in anything, as with the dark night that follows. It is the same story the next day and night. On the third day, he finally sees a marlin that could potentially be the biggest catch of his life. While the opportunity has presented itself, it is not clear if Santiago is capable of rising to the occasion. For one, he is not well-equipped to catch such a big fish; without proper food, he is also now physically weaker, a weakness that sometimes threatens his mental fortitude; and the boy is not there to assist him. These are just some of the many obstructions. Santiago nonetheless musters all courage and ultimately throws the bait. The fish bites in, albeit not immediately. The man then realises that the fish is even bigger than initially thought and he cannot immediately reel it in for fear that it might pull and capsize the boat. There is no guarantee too of the hook remaining embedded as a fish this size can easily loosen it up and throw the hook out. Decades at sea reminded him to wait patiently for that one opportune moment when he could tighten the line and drive the hook hard enough to puncture the fish's most vital organ.
But the fish is as much of a veteran as the old man; aside from its extraordinary size, the marlin too has been through a lot of battles evidenced by the many scars around its mouth. And perhaps because of the many battles it has overcome, the magnificent marlin is as proud as the old man. A fierce and protracted battle of wills then ensues between man and the magnificent fish. At times it is not clear who is leading the boat, the fish or the man? As with any duel though, only one wins. For the victor though, it is not clear whether the victory is sweet, or could it be a pyrrhic one? I won't spoil the fun for those who want to read this at some point :-)
Style-wise, Hemingway is clearly not a Fitzgerald (though it is said that at some point they moved in the same circle along with Gertrude Stein who was his mentor) nor a Faulkner (another great of that era known for having written the longest sentence in literature). His trademark sentences are distinctly short and deceptively simple (they are highly metaphorical) though I know he had written other stories with long and graceful sentences. But Old Man's simplicity and brevity is a boon for younger readers (one day one of them might just "scavenge" an old copy!) who can easily read this story, undoubtedly a fantastic read and a short one at that with just 27,000 words. It is considered Hemingway's best, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and eventually helping secure his Nobel Prize.
#Hemingway #OldManAndTheSea #MigsReads2015
I'm sure this book has been reviewed countless of times in the past, including compulsory reviews in Literature classes. So I am not going to write a detailed one, but instead I will focus on the experience of reading an old print, which had stirred dormant memories and made me nostalgic.
The book, with its tattered cover leaf, its smell reminiscent of old libraries, and its large font size, transported me back to my childhood weekends of scavenging through old chests or the bottom rung of our bookshelf, in hopes of finding interesting reads. Sometimes I would be rewarded with great finds, including a hard-bound book of bedtime stories (one of the earliest books I've read independently), and over time the great finds started to include the likes of 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'Catcher in the Rye', etc. But sometimes too my search was not as fruitful and I'd end up with books I didn't truly enjoy but would read on anyway, like the genre fiction that my older brothers would rave about--I realise I was reading Ludlum, Forsyth, Follett, Le Carre before I could truly understand the many things happening in their novels. Unfortunately books don't carry PG signs! and my mother was preoccupied with many other things. Perhaps being a voracious reader herself, she was just too happy that I was into reading, which for many people is a sign of intelligence ;-). In any case I was also reading Nancy Drew around this time :-) But regardless of the find, I must have been so thrilled with this weekend activity that I had expanded my "treasure hunting" to the bigger houses of my relatives who had kindly indulged me in this hobby; one aunt would let me bring out books from her neatly stacked shelf. This was where I discovered a biography of Imelda Marcos where she related about being pranked out of her shoes as a child--we all know what happened next. I would quietly pore over the books in one corner while my aunt was deeply engrossed with her TV serials. Another memorable time was when relatives moved back home, and tons of books came with them, literally filling up one room of their house. For a time, that was a happy place for me, and I would go check out the pile whenever I could. I think this was where I first discovered Sidney Sheldon, which I am happy to say I had soon outgrown. Eventually I graduated to doing my treasure hunting in bookshops near my school--I think I had skipped quite a few lunches back in high school just so I could buy some books I had been drooling over (I don't remember buying any kikay/girly stuff, but I remember having stacks of magazines and books I'd saved up for back then). Book hunting became more frequent in university when I discovered the second-hand bookshops near my dorm, not to mention the books and comics (mainly Archies) rental "shops" that some entrepreneurial dorm mates set up in their rooms. It was around this time that I started reading Kundera, Neruda, Marquez, etc. which might be an improvement over the genre fiction I used to read mindlessly.
Back to Old Man and the Sea. The subject of this novel is Santiago, an old fisherman who has seen his better days. Now an octogenarian, he is going through a dry spell, not having found any good catch in more than 80 days. Earlier there was a boy who had been accompanying him but has stopped doing so upon the instruction of the boy's father--who had concluded that Santiago is now an "unlucky" fisherman.
On the 85th day, Santiago again sets out to the harsh open sea, alone and without provisions, in a quest that has become more about redeeming himself than the usual economic reasons. A long day of solitude under the scorching sun has not turned in anything, as with the dark night that follows. It is the same story the next day and night. On the third day, he finally sees a marlin that could potentially be the biggest catch of his life. While the opportunity has presented itself, it is not clear if Santiago is capable of rising to the occasion. For one, he is not well-equipped to catch such a big fish; without proper food, he is also now physically weaker, a weakness that sometimes threatens his mental fortitude; and the boy is not there to assist him. These are just some of the many obstructions. Santiago nonetheless musters all courage and ultimately throws the bait. The fish bites in, albeit not immediately. The man then realises that the fish is even bigger than initially thought and he cannot immediately reel it in for fear that it might pull and capsize the boat. There is no guarantee too of the hook remaining embedded as a fish this size can easily loosen it up and throw the hook out. Decades at sea reminded him to wait patiently for that one opportune moment when he could tighten the line and drive the hook hard enough to puncture the fish's most vital organ.
But the fish is as much of a veteran as the old man; aside from its extraordinary size, the marlin too has been through a lot of battles evidenced by the many scars around its mouth. And perhaps because of the many battles it has overcome, the magnificent marlin is as proud as the old man. A fierce and protracted battle of wills then ensues between man and the magnificent fish. At times it is not clear who is leading the boat, the fish or the man? As with any duel though, only one wins. For the victor though, it is not clear whether the victory is sweet, or could it be a pyrrhic one? I won't spoil the fun for those who want to read this at some point :-)
Style-wise, Hemingway is clearly not a Fitzgerald (though it is said that at some point they moved in the same circle along with Gertrude Stein who was his mentor) nor a Faulkner (another great of that era known for having written the longest sentence in literature). His trademark sentences are distinctly short and deceptively simple (they are highly metaphorical) though I know he had written other stories with long and graceful sentences. But Old Man's simplicity and brevity is a boon for younger readers (one day one of them might just "scavenge" an old copy!) who can easily read this story, undoubtedly a fantastic read and a short one at that with just 27,000 words. It is considered Hemingway's best, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and eventually helping secure his Nobel Prize.
#Hemingway #OldManAndTheSea #MigsReads2015
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| Double sensation: vintage fonts and vintage smell :-) |
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| An accompanying book-of-the-month leaflet |
#Hemingway #ErnestHemingway #BookReview #MigsRead2015 #Books #OldManAndTheSea
