The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

ISBN: 0684801221
128 pages
published in 1952.
September 17th – September 20th.
You can buy this book at this link.

This is my first Hemingway book. I was checking out the Clarion Library in town one day while I was bored to see what they had (not much) and noticed this out of the corner of my eye. I’d been intending to read it for a while now. So, I checked it out and started it. I finished almost the entire thing tonight while laying down with a stomachache. It’s very short and an easy read.

I’ve heard a lot of people complain about how boring it is, but honestly once you start to worry about Santiago and his efforts you sort of get into it. The beginning drags on a bit for a novella but once he gets onto sea and goes after his big fish all you want is for him to catch it and bring it back to shore and become rich. You feel the same despair as he does as his plans unravel due to no fault of his own. It’s pretty captivating, I won’t lie.

The writing style was simple, but appropriate for the story. It’s interesting how you don’t notice the story being narrated by someone other than Santiago. Even though it’s written in third person, you get so wrapped up in Santiago’s thoughts that you start to feel like you’re just in his head and not really watching from the outside.

Excellent book, really. Even though I’m not really interested in sea-faring things (though I’ve been reading a lot of them lately for some reason and finding them entirely enjoyable) it was easy to get involved in.

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