The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Chef d’oeuvre without question and with a powerful message, even when the adaption is rather modest, as in this case

This is one of the best stories ever told.
It is included on the Guardian top 100 list and on others.

And this is a story with so many themes and values that this note could not even get started on them, but still:
-tWe have grit, coping with adversity and trauma, aging, tenacity, love, faith and the loss of it, defeat, superstition, resilience, strength, hardship, gumption…
-tTo this I would even add, maybe as a premiere….the theme of the environment and the depletion of the fish stocks

We all know the wonderful tale of an old man who has to fight for his life with a fish.
A big fish, if not a giant.
Since he has gone for many days without a catch- who says there is no global warming or climate change? - He has to find and get something.
He has a good friend that, in modern reading and with the extensions of significances and symbols that I guess are practiced today could be a lover.
It might be a more complex relationship, but the original intent might have been just a sort of fellowship of fishermen.

The version I heard today did not really satisfy me.
Nevertheless, I will give the story a five stars rating, because of the overwhelming, mesmerizing message of the book.
What I listened earlier is a BBC production with no other than Rod Steiger as The Old Man in a version that does no justice to the original.
In my humble opinion.
The closeness between the fishermen is exaggerated; hence the thought that crossed my mind that today’s scholars would describe this affinity as gayness.
Maybe it is.
That did not really bother me.
What annoyed in this “up to date” rendition was the abuse of the Spanish accent and the presence of a radio broadcast.
Rod Steiger spoke English with a too heavy Spanish accent and I never understand why they do this.
It must be my mistake or the lack of the ability to comprehend, but if it is not a comedy, Monty Python or the like, I don’t see why there would be a personage talking in such a way that you have problems understanding him.
After all, the character spoke Spanish not English with a Spanish accent, if the issue is to get as close as possible to the original.

Something else that impedes on my ability to enjoy the works of Hemingway is the author himself and his abysmal behavior.
Notwithstanding the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed The Intellectuals by Paul Johnson, the book has dramatically changed my perspective on some writers…
Tolstoy- on whom I have read a mention today in The History of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, who argues that Saint Augustine had a superior intellect to the Russian writer’s and there were similarities between the two- Rousseau, Ibsen and Hemingway are mentioned and analyzed with their shenanigans .
Hemingway appears as very obnoxious, violent- which actually we know from so many other sources- and even dirty.

In a book I read- Happy for No Reason- Muriel Hemingway is mentioned and her tendency to depression and the family history of suicides and mental illness.

As a conclusion:
-tThe Old Man and the Sea is a superb book
-tHowever, the adaption leaves much to be desired

Some of the cruelest dialogue written is directed toward Robert Cohn. Going to keep going through EH's work.

Bought this edition when it was on sale as a twofer. I read all four novels in about a week last summer. My favorite was a tie between For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea. The pages are very thin. I tore some pages on accident.

Ernest Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea shows a writer how to make the reader care for the protagonist. Hemmingway gives his protagonist a generous spirit.

Santiago is the old fisherman. He has taught Manolin, “the boy” in the story, how to be a fisherman. The love between these two characters, like grandfather to grandson, permeates the story. But Santiago is also passing down his fisherman trade to the next generation. Manolin appreciates this and loves the Old Man because of it.

We are inside the mind of Santiago on his journey to break his bad luck and catch a big fish. Like many people on a lonely journey, Santiago fills his thoughts with past life events and regrets, with present challenges to catch and hold the giant marlin through sheer strength and intelligence. The old man remembers his love for the sea, the fish, and his friends—especially the boy. Manolin signifies hope in life in this story, even in the life of an old fisherman.

اسلوبها سلس جدا ورائع تشعر فيها بكل مشاعر سانتياجو وعمقها

La primera vez que lo leí fue en el 2008. Habia estado en Key West, habia visitado la casa de Ernest y tenia ganas de leer algo de él. Me acuerdo que bajé un pdf en ingles, lo mandé a imprimir y anillar.
Esta segunda versión la leo en castellano, una edición Vintage. Y la disfruté muchisimo, muchisimo mas, no por la edicion, sino porque en el medio, yo cambié. Ahora aguanto las disgresiones de Hemingway, es mas, las disfruto.
El viejo y el mar es un libro para leer todos los años. Ernest lo publicó en 1952, siendo un escritor ya establecido. Nueve años mas tarde, se pegó un escopetazo.

the only books that can make me cry (sort of)

the only one I didn't read was for whom the bell tolls. i liked the other three. I had to read them for an english class.

I enjoyed this a great deal. The old man's relationship with the young boy, the ocean, the fish, the birds, the sea, age.

Hemingway can bring you down. Gives you a little insight into why he was so depressed.

I only read For Whom the Bell Tolls but this site didn't have it.

I loved this book from the beginning until the end but I didn't like it just for one reason . All the book was treating the same thing , the same situations and it didn't show me something that I would be surprised for !