The Sea and An Old Man

The old man and the sea, Earnest Hemingway, Scribner Paperback, Fiction,1952.

This story is about marlin having a battle with an old man named Santiago, who has not caught a fish in 84 days.Santiago is considered so unlucky that is young friend, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man. The boy however visits Santiago's shack each night. The old man tells his young friend that he will venture to the gulf stream to end his unlucky streak. On the 85th day Santiago sets out alone onto the gulf stream. By noon that day a huge fish takes his bate but is unable to pull in the great marlin. He is determined to catch this fish but because of its dignity no one will be worthy of eating the marlin. On the Third day Santiago is completely worn out but uses all of his strength to pull the huge fish onto its side and stab the marlin with a harpoon. This ended the "battle" between the old man and the fish. He brings the fish home thinking about how many he will feed and the high prices at the market. Santiago continues to the shore, where there are sharks that attracted to blood from the marlin. He ends up killing 5 sharks with his harpoon which breaks after the first kill. The sharks have eaten most of the marlin leaving its skeleton of backbone, tail, and its head. The next day a group of fishermen gather and measure the marlin to be 18 feet long. Manolin is impressed so he brings the old man newspapers and coffee. They promise to fish with each other again.

"The Old Man and the Sea helped to revive Hemingway's reputation as a writer of great acclaim."

     ~James Topham About.com book reviewer 

I chose this quote because I thought it was cool how this book helped his reputation of great approval. In other words it was a good story and well written. I do agree with this quote and that he is a good author. It is a very nice compliment to Earnest Hemingway so that is why i have chosen it.

"The stars were bright now and and he saw the dolphin clearly and he pushed the blade of his knife in his head and drew him out from under the stern." (page 78)  This quote really stood out to me, because the author's writing style has a lot of vivid imagery. Just by reading this line I can picture the scene clearly and easily. Hemingway's writing is very detailed and full of great imagery which allows us to visualize what is going on in the story. That makes the story more interesting and fun for the readers.

I usually don't read books, but a similar book that i have read is called The little fish that got away by Bernadine cook and Crockett Johnson. The Old man and the Sea and The little fish that got away are both about male fishers who struggle to catch a fish and to not give up on their dreams. They both try their hardest to succeed. Both books obtain the same theme. Something different would be their ages. The old man and the sea is about an old experienced fisher and in  The Little fish that got away it's about a little boy who hasn't had much practice before. 

In my opinion the quote  "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." means that you can be put down and beaten up or struggle with a certain problem but you can't be done forever. You can still try to fix the problem and never give up no matter how impossible it may seem. I do agree with this quote because it happens in everyday life. 

 I don't really enjoy fishing, or the outdoors really, but one I've gone fishing a couple of times. I recently went fishing with my boyfriend and caught my first fish ever. I didn't give up and i was so proud of myself. Well, it was my first try that day so it was probably beginners luck. Anyway I am still glad i tried. I didn't mind this book, but I thought it was boring and not my type of book. I don't read anyways so..

My rating on The old man and the sea: 3 paws ~ Pounce on it