Yeah. Papa Ernest. Some people were just born with a writerly name.
One of my former colleagues said she makes room for a reading of "Old Man and the Sea" once a year, to remind herself of beautiful language.
I immidiately retreated to Barnes and Noble and read it in three separate sittings over three cups of coffee. And, I came away with a lot more than I did in 6th grade, when the book put me to sleep.
There's a lot one could dissect. The Big Blue Marlin is a metaphor for his career. But I guess every one has their big blue marlin. There's one big thing we want, and when we get it, it gets eaten by sharks. Life is hard for the fisherman. But the art of fishing, the beauty of the beast, the respect, the gamesmanship is where the thrill lies, not the outcome.
Others draw Biblical allusions to the Santiago character as he falls asleep with palms up and arms spread out.
All these things are fun to ponder. But the story is about a man with passion, a man who notices every trade wind, every fish and bird, a man who knows the environment. And that's what really stood out to me because I think our new generation of writers may not be so perceptive of nature in the way the old schoolers well. How well Hemingway can precisely describe the movements of the sea. And his word choices always feel right. I've never read the word "garbage" like I have today when I found it in the last ten pages of this novella.
I think he said himself that he tried to write about a real situation, a real man, a real boy. And if he did that, made things real, then others could seek meaning in it.
Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for this, and it is a fitting last triumph. It feels like the work of an aged man (I wish I wasn't alone, but growing old is to grow alone, I think is the line where Santiago is reflecting on his age).
One of my former colleagues said she makes room for a reading of "Old Man and the Sea" once a year, to remind herself of beautiful language.
I immidiately retreated to Barnes and Noble and read it in three separate sittings over three cups of coffee. And, I came away with a lot more than I did in 6th grade, when the book put me to sleep.
There's a lot one could dissect. The Big Blue Marlin is a metaphor for his career. But I guess every one has their big blue marlin. There's one big thing we want, and when we get it, it gets eaten by sharks. Life is hard for the fisherman. But the art of fishing, the beauty of the beast, the respect, the gamesmanship is where the thrill lies, not the outcome.
Others draw Biblical allusions to the Santiago character as he falls asleep with palms up and arms spread out.
All these things are fun to ponder. But the story is about a man with passion, a man who notices every trade wind, every fish and bird, a man who knows the environment. And that's what really stood out to me because I think our new generation of writers may not be so perceptive of nature in the way the old schoolers well. How well Hemingway can precisely describe the movements of the sea. And his word choices always feel right. I've never read the word "garbage" like I have today when I found it in the last ten pages of this novella.
I think he said himself that he tried to write about a real situation, a real man, a real boy. And if he did that, made things real, then others could seek meaning in it.
Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for this, and it is a fitting last triumph. It feels like the work of an aged man (I wish I wasn't alone, but growing old is to grow alone, I think is the line where Santiago is reflecting on his age).
Favorite Line (approximately): Dimaggio was once poor like us, I bet the great Dimaggio would fish with us.
Recommended.
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