The Old Man and The Sea

The Old Man and the Sea is a classic authored by Ernest Hemingway. It's a Novella with nearly 100 pages. 

I haven't read any work by Ernest Hemingway earlier. This novella is very impressive. The life of Ernest Hemingway is even more impressive than the novella, from the short biography provided at the beginning of this book. He was a Cub Reporter - Ambulance Driver on the Italian Front - Journalist - Interested in Bullfighting - Deep sea fishing. Wow :) So he doesn't fit into the stereotype that most of us maintain for writers.. 

As the title says, it is a story of an old fisherman Santiago in Havana, Cuba. Two other characters from the story are a boy named Manolin and a big Marlin fish that Santiago catches in the deep sea. The story begins with the locals calling him the most unlucky person (Salao) as he wasn't able to catch a single fish in the last 84 days. The boy who was helping the Old man was also stopped by his parents citing his lack of luck. 

Determined to come up with a catch, Santiago the old fisherman ventures far into the sea. He was able to catch a big Marlin fish. The crux of the story begins here. The fight for life and the extreme determination shown by both the fisherman and the fish are narrated by Hemingway in an incomparable and enjoyable manner.  

I don't want to tell the complete story in this post as it might dilute your reading pleasure. I do want to share a few awesome sparks from the novella. 

"But man is not made for defeat,” he said. “A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”

"Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated"

"He always thought of the sea as la mar which is what people call her in Spanish when they love her"

Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with that there is.

"If the others heard me talking out loud they would think that I am crazy. But since I am not, I do not care."

One take-home message for me from this novella was that it doesn't matter how strong you are physically but what is of prime importance is the determination and willpower to withstand the test of time. 

As Seneca the Stoic philosopher says, 

It is not what you endure that matters, but how you endure it.

No wonder The Old Man and The Sea is placed on the list of 100 must-read books. 

Give it a Try... 

It would be worth your time.