Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea BOOK REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 22 сер 2024
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"No matter how old you are, adventure is still to be had"
Sergeant, I hope you never stop doing what you do. You’ve given me loads of great books to look into. Not only that but I’ve gained this idea that what I’m reading isn’t enough. I have to understand everything about what I’m reading. You’re the English lit teach I never had. Thanks again, sir.
It is obligatory book report in Croatia. I read it in one sitting. The book redefined my life philosophy.
This happened to me with this book in high school and again in college with Siddharta
Yea it is, but you read it when youre 14. I also read it in one sitting and enjoyed it but didnt get anything out of it. After rereading it 6 years later when i already read the sun also rises, a farewell to arms and for whom the bells tools i realized that i just dont get anything out of Hemingway. The prose was just too simple for me back when i was 14 and it is so now. All in all, the ideas in Hemingways novels could for me always be defined in a few sentenced, just like they where back when i was 14. But who knows, maybe i just havnt grown.
Nisan ocekiva Hrvata u top komentarima. Nice. I didn't read it in high school like he has, but this did more than to motivate me to read it in one sitting right now.
A great book!🤩
такође у Србији је обавезно
I like how the old man said “ it’s better to be exact than lucky. Because when you are exact and luck strikes you are ready” or something like it. That little sentence is kinda motivating.
I finished this book today and already intend to revisit it again and again over years to come!
Pi
I read it last month. Stunning book. And left me with the message : “everyone can be a fisherman in May.” What a message, double meaning.
Yes, that quote was just too good!
I read this about... 4 years ago? And I remember finishing it being like “eh, it’s alright” but BOY this story has stuck with me and I don’t think I appreciated its vividness at the time.
Same for me. I saw it the other week in the bookstore and I just stayed staring at. I loaned it to a friend and never got it back. So I was thinking of getting it again and giving it another shot. Cliff's review felt like a sign for me.
@@christianzuniga288 DO IT
The old man and his determination has stuck with me
Same, it is a story you would say meh, but than you will realize that this story has a important place in your life or even identity
I just read it and thought it was a bit meh. Maybe it is me because everyone seems to rave about this book.
A story of how to live with more resilience.
It reminds me of words from H.G. Wells's Noah in All Abroad for Ararat: "No man is beaten until he knows and admits he is beaten, and that I will never know nor admit."
"The Old Man and the Sea" was required reading when I was a high school student in Canada (not sure if it is now). It didn't hit me immediately, but this is the book that I can point to as making me conscious of the power of an image. The storytelling is so simplified: it's like a painting. It was the book that made me conscious of the latent, expansive meaning and power of a single image. You've drawn out that sensation of reading it so well here. It's the simplest of tales, but it could be retold a million different ways. Well done, Cliff!
I am 69 years old and I was also a Canadian high school student in the early 1970's when this book was required reading--and the excellent 1958 film with Spencer Tracy was on TV now and then---I loved both the 1953 book and the movie. I got the impression that the book was about the importance of determination, resilience and continuing the struggle despite the odds against you---and the importance of carrying on and never ever giving up on your tasks while you are battling in the big arena we call Life. Good Human Character , Integrity, Honor, Valor, Respect are important traits to remember in the end....traits that Hemingway admired in his time and traits that we do not see modelled very often, if at all, in today's crazy upside down world .
One of my fav books of all time. The complexity exposed through its simplicity is aspirational as a writer.
The stranger by Albert Camus had a similar effect on me too.
@@Beny123 didn't understand the book, maybe I'll read it again when I'm 30 or something. About the old man and the sea.... I'm not sure I think it'll bore me. I might have to force myself to read it.
I read this in one sitting in a family trip which i was forced to go. I was in a very bad spot in life, depression rotting me slowly but steadily from inside.
And when i read that line i just broke down into tears.
Really a legendary book.
Which line? And how are you now?
Im almost done with this book.
@@jan-gerhardoosthuysen5208 thank you for asking, it was many years ago and i'm much much better rigth now. Therapy, art and the people that are close to me helped me to get out of that pit.
The line is in the last quarter of the book, after the death of the first shark.
“But man is not made for defeat," he said. "A man can be destroyed but not defeated.”
@@Parainsomne I am glad you are better. Never give up.
Sitting in a family trip? I would give anything to have that man no hate but be more appreciative
@@rusman4463 i didn't think that this was a misery contest
Excellent review. I don't read a lot of Hemmingway but I always appreciate how concise this book is. Short, compact, and a great title too.
Try his short stories, like The Killers.
My favorite book of all time.
I only want to say that Santiago fishing that damned marlin and taking his spine to L'havana demonstrates to the rest of the community that he is still good at fishing and none believed it before. I've always thought this was important for the book as what you said.
Great great video
Read it for the first time in the beginning of 2021. It was such a emotional experience I couldn’t fully understand what I was reading. At some point, I had to stop analyzing and just feel. It was beautiful. Definitely going to re-read it.
Raising the bar of literary epicness one review at time
Great review, beatiful book. I like to think the fish is a metaphor of the artistic master piece, a glimpse of the unachievable work for Hemingway, and the sharks are the new generation of writers that also seek this great work of art, and of course Hemingway would never yield to another man in his own field.
I read this book long a ago when I was like 12 years old in one sitting, one of the best I had ever read. I'm already set to read it again after this review.
Read it a couple months back. Unreal book! Always amazed me how Hemingway managed to be musical and mechanical with his prose
I also just finished another sculpture that has not been cast yet of Santiago staggering forward with his harpoon across his shoulders and the head of the fish as a skeleton drags behind in a crucifix position enter amongst the skeleton itself is the story of his life
I dont have a single problem at all with u reading more "popular" classics. Really funny when u (someone who reads extensively) shows us their view on these essential works. Feels like people in general overlooks these amazing works more and more. Keep doing what u do!
Just bought my friend A Farewell to Arms for his birthday, awesome to see more Hemingway on your channel. Love ur videos!
My father doesn't read... just a stance he has taken in life. I forced him to read this book. He's reading it now. In front of the fire. I have to go into the lounge to add wood to the fire place because he doesn't see when it's going to die. The only problem I have is finding another book for him to read of similar calibre.
This review is better than food. Would love to see you do more Hemingway videos.
Thank you!! Your book reviews have become such a wonderful part of my day.
I love Hemingway’s ability to use such simple phrases to draw such complicated situations. I loved the book. Thank you for your review
For the movie fans: the movie Cliff mentioned, Soy Cuba, by Mikhail Kalatozov, can be seen on Mubi
I work as optical assistant in Banja Luka (Republic of Srpska/Bosnia and Herzegovina) . Small store, nothing special, few customers per day, but good thing about this job is: there is a lot of free time that I spend reading books online. Just before few days ago I read "Old men and the sea" by Ernest Hemingway for second or third time-first time I read it in high school where "Old man and the sea" was required reading- and I must say that this book is as good as a short novel can be...
"I work as optical assistant in Banja Luka .... Small store, nothing special, few customers per day ... a lot of free time that I spend reading books .... " To you, all very mundane, no doubt: to me, the tiniest glimpse into another world .... "I had just resumed my reading of The Old Man and the Sea, when I heard the door open. Reluctantly raising my eyes, I was startled to see .... (?)"
Just finished this book last week. Really enjoyed hearing you talk about it! Fascinating book.
Hello Cliff, I've been watching your reviews ever since i was a teenager and now I'm studying Visual arts at Uni but i've never seem to have commented. I want to express my gratitude and my inspiration, for there isn't a single person on the internet who can fully convey their passion for reading as much as you, and in such a casual (even making it seem effortless) manner, i've always interpreted them as talking to a good friend for hours on end, even thought the videos last minutes. Futhermore, i've discovered great authors like Machado de Assis, Houellebecq, Mishima, Carpenter, Kerouac and Bataille, all whom now have a special place in my heart. All the best, Cliff, i cannot stress enough my gratitude for what you do, keep being you.
PD: Have you read "La muerte de Artemio Cruz" by Carlos Fuentes or "The Faculty of Useless Things" by Yuri Dombrovsky? They seem like your kind of books. Greetings from Mexico!
Im really appreciating the reviews of popular books and classics. I get to hear Cliff's thoughts on books I've already read and also frees me up to put a dent in my backlog.
The new Ken Burns documentary "Hemingway" is a great watch for anyone interested in the man himself, the myth around him, his books and everything in between.
Hey, thanks! I did not know. Now I know. Now I will watch!
Great review! Definitely agree with you. The power and simplicity is amazing especially on nature.
All we need is less hope and more action - great, thank you!!!!!!
I just reread this book as an adult today. This book is so much what I needed. I’m so glad I did. Thanks for doing this amazing review. Sooooo eloquently stated 👌🏽
When tuna fishing, it's sometimes necessary to pour water on the reel to prevent the heat from snapping the line and/or igniting it. Imagine holding the line on a marlin.
I love the repetitions in the middle of the book. It feels hypnotic almost...all we read is how he does the act, the old man's simple and repetitive thoughts while battling the Marlin while he is hungry. One of the best uses of simple language I've ever read. The repetitions makes me feel exhausted and delirious just like Santiago and almost holding my breath as
he slaves away out in the middle of the ocean in total darkness.
This book has been on a "list" of mine for way too long. Denzel was reading it "The Equalizer" and I thought, "There it is!" I could have easily read the book a thousand times since it was added to my list - and should have. On the way to my gate in the EWR airport, I turned a corner and was facing a bookstore. I bought myself a hardcover copy. Best book purchase ever! Thanks for sharing this review. I'm not a big reader but I "know fishing" because I am an avid angler. However, this book was not about fishing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll probably read it on my way home too; and regularly!
I loved it, even though nothing really happens in the novel I just found it to be hypnotic, it really draws you in and you experience it rather than read the book.
Completely agree with your dissection of the book. Helped me broaden my horizon and look a little further. Love the book too!
Thanks for putting this up. I read numerous works of Hemingway and Old Man and the Sea is a personal favorite
Amazing review. I happened to read a summary of this book in our native language. Started wondering what’s so special about this simple story for the author to get Nobel prize. Thanks for heart out explanation.
After reading it for the first time, I just sat thinking about it for a while. I could not stop crying. Not an audible crying, but big slow tears. I think the crying is caused by my knowledge that people are not this tough anymore. Humanity is about survival, physical and mental toughness, overcoming the odds and making it through even if you ultimately fail. I feel like there is a beauty in struggle that we are losing.
This book for me was about the point of persistence is being the persistence itself. There's glory in the fight even when you aren't rewarded with the gift you thought it's worth. Santiago proved the man he was by being the only way he knew how. He was alone because of everyone's doubt, and when the day came, Santiago did what nobody else could, not because they weren't capable, but because they'd never choose it. Being alone on a skiff, battling a fish beyond his imagination, and fighting sharks all the way back home. The mighty fish was never killed. That beast survived by Santiago's spirit.
This book has the best, most satisfying ending I'll ever read. The first time I read it, the words echoed in my mind for hours, and it'll still echo in my mind until the day I die. "The old man was dreaming about the lions"
I have heard of Ernest Hemingway but never read any book from him. However after this review, I will start reading his books. Thanks for the review Cliff!❤👍🏼
Excellent review!
I was reading stoner after seeing your video. Great taste I'm enjoying it rn
stoner is my favorite book of all time, it’s truly excellent. hope you’re enjoying it :)
@@toothscrape just finished it 2 minutes ago. I have Only one word Pain.
Well reviewed
Love the shark scene as a metaphor for artists' exploitation by the ravenous capitalist drones of an amoral commercial apparatus.
Good one... I agree with you and Hem about living life to have something write about, but one should remember that Borges basically lived in a library his entire life, and his writing is wonderful.
Fantastic book. I personally prefer some of his short stories and the qualities of ‘Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises’ (probably my favourite ever novel) and ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ from his works, but this is also a striking, memorable and enduring piece. One you cannot forget for ever after putting it down.
I was 19 (26 now) when I read this, and felt meh about it despite understanding the theme. I want to give it another go sometime again..in 5 more years maybe, I don't know. But I like to revisit books to guage how I have changed as a reader or might I dare say, a person.
@@smitha8734 well, if only I can remind myself to get back to you once I reread this one and tell you if I feel differently about this one. Haha
I disagree with you when you said you have to have an interesting life to write about interesting things. You can have talent and write something beautiful about a mundane thing, and still have a lesson in the story. Sometimes you meet someone in life that completely changes your life and that in itself is gold content. You don’t have to do grandiose things to write transcendental stories.
My favourite quote "man can be destroyed but not defeated"
I will never stop loving how authentic and deep hemingway’s characters are.
I was as listening to a Russian book author (Dmitry Bykov) from Echo of Moscow radio and he described Hemingway books, including Old man and the sea, as books about winning but not getting rewards of any kind in the end and how Hemingway and characters of his books are unable to experience winning in the common superficial sense. That to them it’s the process of trying to win is almost more than the end result.
"What we need is less hope and more action." Some people need to hear that line yesterday.
i don't ever watch book reviews but i stumbled across this one and i was engrossed the whole time! haven't read this book since i was 14/15 and this video made me want to re read it.
Best review you've done...and you've done some good ones. Seriously.
Didn’t think much of the first Hemingway i read, the sun also rises. Properly because i was well fed on books with the classic 1930s sixpence and overalls style of characters. Gonna give “death in the afternoon” a go. I suspect that i might enjoy that one.
You're not alone on that. When Cliff said he never read anything bad by Hemingway, I was about to suggest 'The Sun Also Rises' to him. Then I saw your post, so cheers to that. TSAR is such a tedious and pointless book with boring characters. Like, I get that it's about these post-WW1 characters that still carry the war scars inside them and don't know how to give meaning to the void lives they live, but that doesn't make the story any less of a drag to read.
@@laurensvandenbroek I suppose "you had to be there" ... TSAR had such an enormous influence on 20th century prose that it's impossible to read it with fresh eyes now.
A farewell to Arms is a great book too. Great video and greetings from Brazil!
Out of context, "... the sharks he has to fight," could accidentally draw in some of those Marvel fans.
Really enjoy your channel have opened me to so many books never would have tried way you describe every book is awesome you have a gift was wondering if you ever read John Irving
I find Hemingway's writing to be a bit tedious. With Old Man and the Sea, the heavy handed biblical allusions and very distinctly "macho" style turned me off a bit as well. In terms of that spare, decisive style, I much prefer the telescopic prose of Joan Didion (who, ironically, was heavily inspired by Hemingway and recalled copying his sentences as a child to learn how to write).
And yet, as much as I disagree with your assessment of this book, I love your conviction and enthusiasm in this review, and am inspired to pick up the novella again to see if my thoughts have changed at all. Great video, cheers on 123k subscribers!
I read this book not too long ago, and also found it a bit tedious. I really appreciated the simplistic writing, but I guess it's just not my taste.
I gave a presentation of this book when I was about 12, in English class. I'm from Vienna.
"To write interesting stuff you need to have an interesting life" word!
Same goes for music, entrepreneurship, or just any artistic endevour really...
Not really
@@lisev415 then what's your substitute for a lifetime of passionate adventure?
@@MMMM-sv1lk imagination...
@@lisev415 if you live life soon you find out truth is stranger than fiction.
Not only that but also your emotional repertoire can only be extended by real situations. Like the moment when you laugh and cry at the same time, or feeling of real loss, regret, falling in love etc these require a good amount of living to truly internalize and analyze. Only after mastering these experiences, you can utilize your imagination to paint a story with the fitting situations to envoke the right emotions.
All that being said this is art, so everyone might have their approaches, so whatever you say is equally valid, for your subjective workflow/case etc...
But Hemingway is known for his concise stories and short paragraphs, that implant emotions inside the readers brain with the precision of a brain surgeon tickling your nerves with an electrode. That ability was fostered by Hemingway's actions not his imagination.
Such a coincidence, I just came to this channel to see what you've read and reviewed recently and I just so happened to be re-reading the old man and the sea!
I read it nearly 30 years ago. The only Hemingway I have, and I did because it was short. Started around then For whom the bell tolls, but didn´t get far. I really liked this one, and it left a mark, as sombody mentions here. Always wondered why both Truman Capote and Bukowski thought it was shit. I´m sure they were both influenced by Hemingway. Maybe they thought it was too sentimental? I had read very little up to that point, so I couldn´t tell if my overall impression was right.
I recommend dreamtigers by borges. It is definitely better then food.
Hey cliff, can you do music reviews? Would love to see your review of an album, like you do for books
I think to give up Santiago's catch to the sharks would have been a patronizing act, if he was indeed respecting the sharks. Giving the sharks a fair fight is the way to show respect.
I loved a Farewell to Arms, and there were some just gorgeous passages, but the Old Man takes the cake. Nothing pumps you up like Santiago simultaneously battling and embracing Nature. Also, I've gotta add:
What happened to the McCarthys and the Hemingways of literature? Love to get some suggestions of a great physical adventure story, instead of the masturbatory culture and identity obsessed stuff that every publisher puts out these days
I mean, it's great if you're an upper middle class twenty something bisexual woman, but for the rest of us... give us the sharks ;)
Less Hope. More Action. Priceless!
I have the same book, but from Algeria
You know the review is a good one when it gives a whole other perspective on a book you read some time ago
I can't get the word "perseverance" out of my head for some time after reading this book
I wish I had the boy
have you ever read islands in the stream? There is a scene that a boy fights with a great marlin. it is beautiful. The book was supposed to be the first part of the old man and the sea. the First part of islands is incredible.
As a fourty year old man working in a downward economy, the quote “destroyed but never defeated” brings a tear to my eye
You couldn’t have done a better job at explaining this book great job
I read this story in one sitting for a writing seminar class based entirely on Hemingway and his work. I ended up loving the story so much that I referenced it heavily in my final paper for the class. There's a lot of religious imagery in this book that I find so interesting. You can analyze baseball in the story as its own religion, Santiago's religion, and DiMaggio as his Christ figure OR there is a lot of evidence to compare Santiago and Jesus Christ himself. Great review for a great story!
Regarding Hemingway. I feel like Hunter S. Thompson had the best understanding of him. His farewell to him, collected in the Great Shark Hunt collection, seriously humanizes him and provides some nice insight into of one of the last true men of our era.
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
Thanks for this review man! 💪
Love your channel! Excellent review. Donald Sutherland does an excellent reading of this for your next go-round. (Also thanks for the Serotonin recommendation!)
A book much better on its second read.
Looooooved your review ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
My public library in Portland has been selling all their surplus stock for really cheap and I took that opportunity to buy about 20 of the classics which I've been putting off reading for a long time. Luckily, I got a few Hemingway books.
I read this in just a few hours at work and what a great fucking story.
I've also been reading through Conrad's Nostromo and I would be overjoyed if you did a review of it at some point because it's great so far.
It's when you're lost, that's when the adventure begins.
I love this book, and I love the South Park take on it, quite fun
Enjoyable but not truly great. Best quote. " A man can be destroyed but not defeated". Still I'm not sure that is really true. Plenty of men were destroyed in their defeat.
Of course, the quote can be read as, "A man is able to ['can'] be destroyed but not defeated" - there is ambiguity in the word 'can'; the statement does necessarily imply a universal, but, rather, a possibility. In other words, 'Plenty of men were destroyed in their defeat', but it is still possible for a man to be 'destroyed but not defeated' (depending on how he deals with it).
You've outdone yourself this time, dude. Insightful review.
I read this earlier this year (March I think?) I'm now reading his 49 short stories collection. So far so good! I think I'm gonna get a nicer short story collection of his to put on my shelf at some point.
glad to see arthur ahelby of peaky blinders reviewing books ❤️❤️
I recommend you to watch this tamil film "kadisi vivasayi", which has a similar theme to this book.
I don’t usually comment but I am tired of misinterpretations of this book. Hemingway wrote this book as an allegory on the evils of Capitalism. The old man dreams of catching a big fish believing that his problems will end. Just as most people dream of getting rich. When he hooks the fish the fish drags him out to sea and he has to spend all his energy to secure it. Just as most people spend all their energy trying to get rich. When he finally secures the fish his problems don’t end as he has to spend all his energy protecting it from the sharks. Just as the rich spend their lives protecting their wealth. At the end of his efforts, all he is left with is a skeleton. Hemingway is pointing out the pointlessness of materialism.
At least someone has a fucking clue 🤣🫡
Great video! I actually think that it is a hopeful story in some sense. He did lose the physical reward of getting the fish back, but he proved to everyone in the village, that he could catch a fish like that. For me, the dreams of the lions are representative of his pride, and if he won nothing else, he won his pride. (PS, I mean more that the lions are symbolic of pride, not that it’s like a pun. Lol.)
The pbs docs on Papa Hemingway have been outstanding....✊🏿🖤🤘🏾🤎
I just finished this about 30 minutes ago. I read it in high school, but I didn't remember anything about it. What an absolutely brilliant little book. All of that in 130 pages. Fucking brilliant!
Im sunburn and pail.. Sounds like a beginning of a good book. Joe damaggios father is guisueppe in 1942.