The Old Man and the Sea
I realised a while back that I had never read any Ernest Hemingway, along with a raft of other classics and felt it was time to start filling that gap in my reading.
The Old Man and the Sea always fascinated me as I had a vague recollection of watching the film with Spencer Tracey in it at my Nan’s house when I was quite young and that’s vaguely stuck with me for decades, though I’m not sure I understood it at the time.
Reading the book wasn’t anywhere as easy as I thought such a slim volume was going to be as Hemingway has packed so much meaning into such a short story.
Ostensibly it’s about an old, experienced fisherman, Santiago and his battle against the largest marlin he’s ever experienced.
The struggle between this man at the end of his life, using his experience and wit against the raw strength of nature as embodied in the fish is epic, visceral, and bitter sweet.
A story about man vs nature, but so much more. Looking at how people and nature are valued, what are things ‘worth’, what happens in a society when you lose value.
It’s a bit trite saying I enjoyed this but I really did, I was worrying that I would be reading it for the value of it being a classic but it holds intrinsic value.
