Book Review: The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemmingway

 

https://www.amazon.in/Old-Man-Sea-Children-Classics/dp/9380005334




   ‘The Old Man and The Sea’ is an adventure novel written by Ernest Miller Hemingway, an American author and Journalist. This novel is the most phenomenal work of Hemingway, which brought him winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1952 and a Nobel Prize in 1954. This novel also became the last novel that Hemingway wrote. In his career as an author, Hemingway has published seven novels, six collections of short stories, and two nonfictions. Another works of him such as, “The Sun Also Rises”, “A Farewell to Arms”, “From Whom The Bell Tolls”, and others.  

    This novel tells a story about an old Cuba fisherman, Santiago, who spends eighty-five days on his boat for sailing. He is being called as ‘salao’ which means the worst version of unluckiness. Santiago has a young apprentice, Manolin. Manolin uses to go sailing with Santiago, but since his parents forbid him to stay with Santiago any longer, so Santiago decides to go by himself. During his trip, Santiago has to face a lot of pain and struggles.

     The first thing that I notice from this novel is the cover. I think the cover is a little bit flat. There is only a picture of the sea and some buildings around it. I like how simple it is, but it does not represent the novel so well. Even though it is a picture of the sea, I cannot see the old man and the sea inside it.

    As I read the novel, what caught my attention was the relationship between Santiago and Manolin. As the novel tells us, Manolin is actually just a kid who likes to help Santiago. However, Santiago loves him as he loves his own son. And so Manolin, he loves Santiago as he is a part of his family. Although Santiago is considered as a ‘salao’, but Manolin still remains with him. I think their relationship will touch the readers, especially when they nostalgic their first moment, “Can you really remember that or did I just tell it to you?” asked Santiago, “I remember everything from when we first went together”.(1.22-1.26)

    In this novel, Hemingway tells the detail of how Santiago struggle during his trip. How Santiago survives and how he battles to conquer the giant marlin. Talking about the characters, even though Santiago is a strong old man, he is a little bit careless. He doesn’t pay attention to the state of nature because he is more concerned about money. Another character, Manolin, is a kind-hearted boy. He sincerely helps Santiago every time. The only reason he leaves Santiago is because his parents prohibition.

    The strength of this novel is it contains heroic stories that can inspire the readers. There is a bunch of moral value that the readers can take from this novel. For the weaknesses, I notice that the story line of this novel is too simple, and the plot runs quite slowly. It can be boring and decrease the reader excitement towards the novel. But overall, I personally think that this novel is interesting and worth to be read. I recommend this novel for children above 12 and adults. 


Title : The Old Man and The Sea

Author : Ernest Hemingway

Genre : Adventure

Publisher : Charles Scribner’s Sons

Year : 1952

ISBN : 0-684-80122-1

Page : 163


Ridha Wahyuni T.

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