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The Old Man and the Sea | 
 enlarge | Author: Ernest Hemingway
Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £5.99
Buy New: £1.71
You Save: £4.28 (71%)
New (33) Used (15) from £1.68
Rating:  29 reviews
Sales Rank: 1550
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.4 x 0.4
ISBN: 0099908409
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780099908401
ASIN: 0099908409
Publication Date: August 18, 1994
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW - ***Delivery usually * 2 - 3 * working days - From Aphrohead of SOUTHPORT, Lancs, uk *** . Priority Airmail used Worldwide on International orders. Thanks from all at Aphrohead.
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From Amazon.co.uk
Here, for a change, is a fish tale that actually does honour to the author. In fact The Old Man and the Sea revived Ernest Hemingway's career, which was foundering under the weight of such post-war 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 favourite 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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...
 Old Man And The Pile Of Crap July 10, 2008
Tom (Midlands)
Perhaps the most over-rated book of all time. A book that boasts absolutly no substance and is sure to kill anyone who has even the slightest slither of personality. For me this book exemplifies everything wrong with the critical world; distinctly average and even poor books and films etc. are hailed as materpieces due to the alledged 'body of thourght' behind them. I can assure you there is no 'thought' here, at least none above the mundane and enfantile.
I am fully aware of the 'messages' such as 'material gain is worthless', however these values are extremly rudimentary and are learnt as a child. Essentially, 'The old man and the sea' tells us nothing that we didn't already know and, perhaps more impotantly, is just a crap story.
This stole nearly 3 months of entertaining, if only mildly, english lessons away from me. During that 3 month period I would describe this book as 'the bain of my existence'. To summerise:
DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, unless your hobbies include watching hours upon hours of riveting box assembly and/or cutting yourself in the face with very long sharp knives, in which case this is the book for you.
By Tom K
The Old Man And The Sea - Dreary, Boring twaddle. March 27, 2008
Ms. J. Phillips (Staffordshire)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I appreciate the deeper meanings of this book, but ultimately get distracted by the very absurdity of the book. There are nearly 100 pages about an old man on a boat by himself who talks to his own hand. The story is well-written and laced with the simplistic prose Hemingway is known for, but so much time is spent rambling, the story gets bogged down with pointless chitchat.
This story does show 'victory in defeat', but is so dreary it becomes unbearable.
Inspiring December 28, 2007
BookWorm (UK)
The Old Man and the Sea is one of the best short stories I have ever read. Despite its short length, it somehow manages to take the reader on the same emotional journey as a full length novel.
The 'old man' of the title is a Cuban fisherman and the story is mostly concerned with his efforts to catch an 18 foot long fish despite the odds being stacked against him. It doesn't sound like a fascinating subject, but it becomes representative of the very human condition. The writing is perfect, no words wasted, and I found myself on the edge of my seat with tension.
The fisherman's determination and refusal to let his spirit be dampened down is inspiring and refreshing, and anyone who has undergone an endurance test of some kind, physical or emotional, will be able to relate to it.
Overall, a beautiful piece of prose and worth reading even if you do not normally enjoy short stories.
Am I missing something??? November 21, 2007
E. Fifield (United Kingdom)
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
I bought this in a bid to expand my knowledge of great literature. I am also reading books such as The Great Gatsby, Les Mis and Don Quixote. I hope with all my might that these are more thrilling to read.
During my school years The Old Man and the Sea was much referred to, and I went away with the impression that it was an incredible piece of literature.
And so now I find myself having read the prize-winning piece, and wondering what I missed. What makes this novella so good? It was a real chore for me to read - the hardest 99 pages I think I have ever read. Not because of the languiage - THAT, I understood. But because nothing happens!
What have others seen in this book that I have missed? I would hate to read the books that lost out on the prize to this one.
 Classic Hemingway November 2, 2007
Mike London (Oxford, UK)
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA successfully reinstated Earnest Hemingway into literature after about a ten year absence, and what books he did have had little critical acclaim. He returns to his classic themes, the Hemingway Code (endure against all odds, conflicts being man against himself and man against nature) brilliantly enacted by an old Cuban Fisherman named Santiago. Actually, it is closer to a novella than a novel, short though still packing a powerful message of not giving up, which is the central theme is almost anything Hemingway wrote. A similar scene, if I remember correctly, also finds its way into ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, a posthumously published work wherein a boy fights for hours bring in a shark in the Gulf Stream, where this book is set.
The story to THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA is simple enough. A fisherman named Santiago goes out in a little boat, attempting to bring in a giant marlin. The fisherman must go out, beyond the circle that is normally accepted, and travel in grounds (in this case waters) to a new place that would challenge his skills. The same theme is touched on in the short story "Snows of Kilimanjaro", about the leopard who was high on the mountain, out of his usual bounds. He must endure the pain, must endure everything to get that giant marlin. The book, as noted in the amazon.com review, the gun element is eliminated from this, for the fisherman Santiago has to much age to deal with that. As Hemingway deftly weaves, in his vintage style of stripped and bare stye of prose writing, a spell that will leave you entranced. Ultimately, however, the story may end in what others view as tragedy, but to me this furthers Hemingway's maturity. Earlier, his life was one of big game hunting ("Short Happy Life of Frances McComber", "Kilimanjaro"), and Hemingway's own need to bring down game and receive glory marvelously does not find itself in here. One thing that is notable is the movie follows this book to the tea, with the changing of only ONE WORD, which in itself probably resulted from a mistake.
The quote about that anyone receiving the Nobel prize didn't write anything worthwhile, in this case, was true.. It is because of this work that got him the Nobel Prize, which is given as a whole for the body of work, just not a particular book. However, because of the 10 year absence, this book brought Hemingway back to the attention of the public - also the attention of the Nobel people.
Originally issued on August 4, 2000 on Amazon.com
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