The Old Man and the Sea

[Gnisy]

Has anyone read this book by Hemingway? do you recommend it? Please comment.

[shaneystar]

i have only ever read For whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway..however Wikepedia has lots of info about The Old Man and the Sea which may be of help to you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea

[Drusilla]

I read it this year and it is an amazing book. Hemingway's macho image has always put me off, but I thought it's about time I gave his novels a bash and read The Old Man & The Sea and A Farewell To Arms.
I really didn't believe a book about an old man fishing would interest me. I associated it with Melville's, Moby Dick and obsession, but his sense of honour and his respect for his prey are quite moving and I found myself drawn into the man's movements as he strained at his work; my shoulders rising and falling with his. His use of language is also beautiful and simple, but there is one section I found jarring. He either doesn't know what a dolphin is, or I missed the point completely, which wouldn't surprise me.

[Gnisy]

ya i've been to wikipedia's version of TOMATS, which was what brought up the thought of reading the book. All I can see from the synopsis is it's between an old man and the fish he almost caught or caught in the end. And I went like "what? that's it? That's hemingway's breakthrough book? kinda simple aint it?" and so that prompted a question here.

drusilla, what's with the dolphin? i read it was a marlin ( no idea what a marlin is either ) and there was mention of sharks, that's it. I enjoyed Jack London's - to build a fire. perhaps a fishing story has more action in it.

[Drusilla]

I'll tell you, but it might spoil the story. He is hunting for a particular marlin and has to wait a long time for it to appear. He kills a dolphin to feed himself and when gutting it, mentions its gills????? When he finally catches the marlin and tethers it to the side of the boat, the sharks appear and eat half of it before he gets home. It is so simple and yet very moving. I highly recommend it.

[Drusilla]

A marlin is a great big fish with a spike on its nose and an impressive fan like dorsal fin. Big game fisherman like Hemongway love them.

[Drusilla]

Hemingway, even!

[Gnisy]

Gills on dolphins??

Right.

Well wikipedia spoiled it for me already anyways, so no worries. They didn't mention the dolphin though. Probably a good idea cause WHO EATS DOLPHINS??

err, what's the deal behind Hemingway anyways? One of my friends who had read him went like ".. phhhtt... bah.. hemingway? na ah...." and left it at that. I didnt' pursue the deal further.

I did read that he was a Novel Prize winner for literature though.

[Drusilla]

Hemingway's deceptive style is the key. His sentences are very simple, but they build beautifully one on another. Many authors have tried to copy him, but failed.
The problem a lot of people have with Hemingway is his macho lifestyle. He loved hunting and drinking. He spent a lot of time in Europe and became fascinated with bullfighting.
He wasn't an arty-farty, effete author and his work went out of fashion in the 70's and 80's when macho seemed passe.
I know he developed cancer and had a bet with the actor Gary Cooper about which one of them the disease would kill first. I don't know the answer to that, although they both died in 1961, but I know Hemingway shot himself dead.

[Gnisy]

Oo.. deceptive. Me like deceptive.

A history of suicides run in his family, according to wikipedia. It's maybe interesting to know that that friend of mine who went na-ah abot hemingway was a guy. I'd thought he'd be happy reading works from a macho writer.

Life is full of surprises.

[Aschenbach]

Yes read it. It'll only take a day or so. Afterwards you might enjoy Yann Martel's The Life Of Pi.

[Narolines]

Gnisy, I think people either love Hemingway or hate him (not him personally - his writing!). I taught English for over 20 years and in that time I read and taught an awful ot of fiction, so I like to think I have a fairly informed view of modern literature; personally I don't like his writing style or his subject matter, so I've never read anything of his other than books I've had to teach. Just because he doesn't suit me it doesn't mean he's an intrinsically bad writer; he doesn't reach me, but obviously there is a large audience he does reach. I wouldn't have awarded him any prizes - but then he probably wouldn't have awarded me any either!

[Gnisy]

The life of Pi? Is it the one with the kid stranded on a boat-like thing (I can't remembere) with a tiger? another one of those test your will kind of book?

Thanks for all your answers.

P.S. I enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident with the Dog in the Night but I won't recommend 'buying' it.