- Hardcover: 246 pages
- Publisher: Blooms Literary Criticism; New edition (July 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1604131470
- ISBN-13: 978-1604131475
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 544 g
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Here, for a change, is a fish tale that actually does honor to the author. In fact The Old Man and the Sea revived Ernest Hemingway's career, which was foundering under the weight of such postwar stinkers as Across the River and into the Trees. It also led directly to his receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1954 (an award Hemingway gladly accepted, despite his earlier observation that "no son of a bitch that ever won the Nobel Prize ever wrote anything worth reading afterwards"). A half century later, it's still easy to see why. This tale of an aged Cuban fisherman going head-to-head (or hand-to-fin) with a magnificent marlin encapsulates Hemingway's favorite motifs of physical and moral challenge. Yet Santiago is too old and infirm to partake of the gun-toting machismo that disfigured much of the author's later work: "The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords." Hemingway's style, too, reverts to those superb snapshots of perception that won him his initial fame:
Just before it was dark, as they passed a great island of Sargasso weed that heaved and swung in the light sea as though the ocean were making love with something under a yellow blanket, his small line was taken by a dolphin. He saw it first when it jumped in the air, true gold in the last of the sun and bending and flapping wildly in the air.If a younger Hemingway had written this novella, Santiago most likely would have towed the enormous fish back to port and posed for a triumphal photograph--just as the author delighted in doing, circa 1935. Instead his prize gets devoured by a school of sharks. Returning with little more than a skeleton, he takes to his bed and, in the very last line, cements his identification with his creator: "The old man was dreaming about the lions." Perhaps there's some allegory of art and experience floating around in there somewhere--but The Old Man and the Sea was, in any case, the last great catch of Hemingway's career. --James Marcus --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Description
Ernest Hemingway took great pride in using an economy of carefully measured words and tightly wrought phrases in his writing. Nominated for Grammy, this recording of The Old Man and Sea is perfect example of Hemingway's precision and is read here in its entirety by Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston.
A novella, The Old Man and Sea tells the story of an old fisherman, Santiago, and his long lusty struggle isn't so much over one fish, but the act of living--living fully, actively, robustly. Charlton Heston is marvelous in this recording with his voice adding a quality and texture to Hemingway's words that will engage listeners completely.
--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The sea giveth...and the sea taketh away, Oct 21 2008
By R. Nicholson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Old Man and the Sea (Hardcover)
"The Old Man and the Sea" was Ernest Hemingway's last important work. Written in Cuba in 1951 and when published, it became one of his most recognize pieces. The work won him the Pulitzer prize in 1953 and the Nobel prize in literature in 1954.*SPOILER*
This is the story of Santiago, a poor, humble Cuban fisherman who has been down on his luck for some time i.e. no catches lately. However on this day he ventures father out to sea than usual in his tiny skiff, and hooks the biggest Marlin he's ever seen. Thus the real story begins; a battle of epic proportions, drawn out over several days, between man and fish, man and the ocean, and man and himself.
What really impressed me about this short novel was Hemingway's ability to conjure a slowly increasing sense of foreboding and fear as his hero is dragged farther and farther off-shore by his immense 'prize'. With only himself to talk to and an ever dwindling supply of water and food there is something primordial about this situation that creeps into ones subconscious. In a great book the reader will usually identify in some way with the protagonist of a story, transferring some of the fears and anxieties of the hero into the reader, making for a more 'personal' and intense experience; this book is no exception.
Conclusion:
A short, spelling-binding tale that is beautifully written.
5 Stars.
Ray Nicholson
P.S.
I originally read this work some time ago because, of all things, a crossword puzzle...The clue was, 'What book with six words in the title and each word having 3 letters, won a Pulitzer prize.' From there it was a mere formality that I had to read this intriguing work.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is about you, not some Old Man., Jun 26 2009
By Drifty "Drifty" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Old Man and the Sea (Hardcover)
When you visit Key West, Florida, be sure to visit the Hemmingway House. In the yard by the pool in plain view, you will see the old-school tub-style urinal that Hemmingway purchased from the Sloppy Joe Bar. Saying that he `wanted a reminder of how much money he had p*ssed away there.' Only such an earthy genius could write this book. Here in a short read we have life, death, youth, age, victory, defeat, fate, hope, and brotherly love. The wonder of life told as allegory: The Old Man and the Sea. This book is about you, not some Old Man. Or, at least as I read it, I felt is was about me.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Style benefits the story, July 13 2009
By Gregory Kennedy - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Old Man and the Sea (Hardcover)
People love to hate on Hemingway's writing style and look down on it as being too simplistic, or too boring, or repetitive. Maybe for his longer novels that's meaningful criticism. But Hemingway really nailed it with The Old Man and the Sea, which is a perfectly tuned story about a man and his plight against nature. The style is a great benefit to the short novel, continually reinforcing the mood with clipped language about the main character's current and pressing problems. It's so bluntly delivered that readers are simply dragged in without a second thought.The story is simple. Santiago, a fisherman in Cuba, has gone 87 days without catching a single fish. He's old and broke and well past his prime... even his younger help has deserted him. On the 88th day, he hooks a huge fish that carries him out to sea. The bulk of the story is his attempt to bring the fish home so he can get food and (more importantly) prove his worth. I can't say much more without spoiling things.
It's so short, if you haven't read it, I'd recommend it. Takes some getting used to but the ending was something else. The book is proof enough that strong characterization and message don't need pages and pages of description heaped over everything. Hemingway saw to the core of his characters and showed us only what really mattered.
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