IN DEPTH BOOK REVIEW The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

hello all my bookish friends out there in booktube land welcome to another episode of tristan and the classics in this episode i'm going to be taking you through review of the old man and the sea by ernest hemingway brilliant novella if ever there was one so without further ado let's get stuck in the old man and the sea by ernest hemingway is peculiar novella but so poignant so moving when one dips into it mentioned this in one of my book lists 52 books by 52 authors in 52 weeks for anyone who wanted to do the book week challenge which will link up here for those that have already been through that video number of comments that came back to me were how many had read various things but that they didn't like the old man and the sea and that's fine we all have personal tastes some people will refer to the novella the auburn and the sea as boring but hope as you watch this video can change your mind on that oftentimes it's taught at school and the problem with this book being taught at school find more than many others is it takes certain wisdom that only comes from experience to really appreciate now that's not to say that no younger ones or school age students can appreciate this book in fact if you are one of them or if you really want to advance your wisdom suggest watching this video then reading the old man and the sea because if you can enjoy and grasp the meaning behind this book then you are well on your way to being more insightful and discerning person in the world word of warning as always this review will go through the book to certain depth and therefore it does contain spoilers so if you don't want those then you better turn away but before you do can just say this is one book which potentially would say won't be spoiled by having the spoilers by having an understanding of where the book is headed it can actually heighten the appreciation of the story because on its own the story could be somewhat confusingly dry although the prose in this is magnificent it is beautiful hemingway is very to the point in the way he describes things he doesn't have huge flights of fancy in in fact this is about as fanciful as he gets compared to many of his other books this is positively floral the old man and the sea is almost an allegorical story it's it's grand metaphor of life the story itself concerns man called santiago he's an old man certainly beyond the prime of life you almost get the sensation that it won't be too long before he dies and he has been fisherman all of his life and he has this young boy who assists him at times called manolin in fact manolin used to help the old man when when he was just five years old the old man used to let him carry some of the fishing lines and bring him coffee but the family of mandolin say that you must have nothing to do with santiago anymore because he is unlucky the reason he's classed as unlucky is because he's gone 84 days without catching fish when everyone around him was still picking up fish and so this superstition takes over that there's something wrong with him it's better just to leave him out of the way now manolin doesn't like this but he has to comply interestingly only manolin shows any affections for santiago he is the only one though very young and affected by the superstitious ideas that have been ingrained in the people around him santiago sets to sea on day 85 the worst streak that he had ever been on with fishing before we are told was 87 days without catching fish now on the 85th day we take up the story and we follow him as he goes out to sea to catch fish and it's just exceptional how hemingway just explains calmly and patiently implodingly all the little details of the man putting sardines on his line on his hooks and so many hooks on the line and dropping them to so many fathoms he he lets us feel that this man knows the ways of fishing and he prepares his bait and little bit of food to keep him strong and it just moves slowly through and you feel the sargasso heat of the sun coming down and you you feel the sort of cuban and laid back almost lazy atmosphere of the island behind and santiago just mulls over things he's quiet he doesn't talk out loud there's no one to talk to occasionally he speaks to himself and he just thinks upon things and eventually something bites the light and he realizes immediately it's deep and it's big and he he he guesses what he's got is marlin now he wants to tire the fish out couldn't just pull it in because it will snap the line and so he lets the marlin pull but the marlin he thinks is extraordinarily strong he starts thinking this must be very very big fish because of the speed with which he's going through the the sea and it goes on for four hours and still no sign of flagging by the fish overall he then spends two days wrestling with this fish in an attempt to catch it and then we see him come home after the fish has been eaten by sharks the story is masterful it really is and in the telling of it there's not lot to it and in the reading of it there's no ups and downs in fact you would say there's not really much of character arc but what it describes is beautiful and if you found it boring once recommend you go back and have look at this let's just dissect the story and see what its meanings can be can just take this minute to say that if you're enjoying this review please hit the like and the subscribe button but also if you like hearing talks beyond books on just interesting things from the most mundane and weird areas of the world around us then please go and check out my other channel which is called tris talks where literally cover multitude of different subjects every single week which are both fascinating funny and phenomenal so that's tris talks i'll put link up on the screen anyway back to the book there is single sentence spoken in this book by manolin at the beginning to santiago when they're bringing some stuff back from the boat without catching any fish it's the last time that manolin is with santiago in the boat santiago apologizes to the boy for not catching anything that day and the little boy manolin says keva it is what man must do this is the epitome of the whole story the boy though young gets this already but when we follow santiago as he reminisces alone on the boat while he toils to catch this fish of lifetime we get to appreciate the full value of that sentence it is what man must do hemingway here is describing what it takes to be man what it takes to be real person now why do we say that well to start with remember we said santiago is viewed as sort of unlucky because he's gone 84 days without catching fish and obviously in fishing town where you rely on fish to make your bread and butter as it were that's strange combination using your fish to make your bread and butter to get living that's the phrase i'm looking for obviously not catching fish this is bad news symbolically though it seems to be more of metaphor santiago is old and what happens in society to the old they used to once be popular in their community but now they haven't got so much to offer they're just curious quirky character that should just be tucked away in the corner we don't need to waste our time with them what have the old got that can contribute and you know this is so appropriate in this day and age where youth is at the top of everything and the old are really cast to one side and viewed as not knowing anything and actually that's been the case through lot of history because most university students get into social justice movements because they want to change the world because the older ones have failed it but those students will grow old and the next youthful generation will think that they've failed and want to change what they've done and so what we're going to see in the old man in the sea is from the perspective of someone who has experienced life knows life what really matters at the end of it all i'd like to read you just short paragraph it's about santiago and he is talking about his dreams what he dreams of as an old man and it's very very telling think this man has lived towards the end of his life now think of all the things he's gone through he will have gone through every emotion and fear and desire that everyone else has gone through because humans don't change this is the brilliance of reading story over non-fiction it helps us to explore the human experience just listen to this he was asleep in short time and he dreamed of africa when he was boy and the long golden beaches and the white beaches so white they hurt your eyes and the high capes and the great brown mountains he lived along that coast now every night and in his dreams he heard the surf roar and saw the native boats come riding through it he smelled the tar and oakum of the deck as he slept and he smelled the smell of africa that the land breeze brought at mourning then it carries on he no longer dreamed of storms nor of women nor of great occurrences nor of great fish nor fights nor contests of strength nor of his wife he only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach they played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy he never dreamed about the boy what hemingway is doing here masterfully and evocatively is revealing to us all that matters to the old man santiago now which is his past as youth he dreams of where he used to be as youth the vivid adventure of the african coast that he had been on and he'll frequently reference these lions that he used to see on the beach from his boat they seem to symbolize that courage and daringness of being young that vibrance of spirit and of inner strength and every time he sleeps he dreams of these do you notice he said he didn't dream of great storms or great events or women or other things the things in life which can scare us the great storms that slow us down he doesn't worry about that now he sees that those fears in life were nothing in the scheme of things the women the girls who used to chase after which seemed so much at the time actually in the scheme of life don't let them slow you down great events or dreams great occurrences dreams of grand things for oneself while you let your everyday life slip past you while you're chasing after something far-fetched that doesn't matter anymore to santiago and it's not that he doesn't love his wife or the boy he does but he doesn't dream of them in other words he hasn't just pinned everything to one solitary spot life is bigger than that and this is something santiago understands now because he is older he has lived it now can we imbibe that lesson for ourselves that's sort of the starting point for this whole story the sea itself is the central part of the book he's always lived along the coast he's always been fisherman he's always gone out to sea the sea has mysterious ethereal calling for absolutely everybody and when he actually sets out on day 85 to end his bad luck streak as it were he's not worried about the bad luck he just knows if keep going will achieve the patience of old age that's also something he brings out but as he goes through the sea he describes creatures which might be out there you know he talks of various different kinds of fish the flying fish he tells us about the seagulls moving they must have spotted something i'll make my way towards them he sees portuguese man of war which almost looks like an inflated carrier back on on the surface of the sea sort of purpley color and he hates them they're devils that he calls them these painted distractions and he loves to see them consumed by the turtles he talks of the tunas he talks of the marlins and the sharks he stands to urinate over the side of the boat and all the algae in the sea at night is luminescent and is leaving streak behind his boat what's he getting at the sea is life he is tiny in it later on when people think he's gone missing manolin tells him we sent out coast guard search rescue parties and santiago just says the sea is large and one skiff is small life is grand and our life is tiny little skiff bobbing along its unremarkable way as it were but it's what you do in the skiff that counts life is full of distractions full of wonder full of fear full of everything but what will you do in this gif will you set your mind on something are you prepared to toil your way through life you see remember he's cursed according to some he is unremarkable an old man but what we're going to see is as he fishes for that marlin the way he keeps going to it to reign that marlin in to finally tie it out the battle between him and something he wants to get out of the sea reveals what it takes to be man remember what manolin said keva is what man must do now when santiago actually hooks the fish the fish must be down so many fathoms he says how many but can't remember and it's really really deep now normally he explains that as fisherman what you would do is you would get the wire and you would attach it to more wire and give it lots and lots more lines so you can let the fish really go out and not over strain the line so it snaps because he can sense big fish but he has to make the line safe so that it doesn't like shoot off over over the side however the fish grabs it and is going and what what santiago has to do is he because he hasn't got the boy with him he has to wrap the wire around his back and lean against it because it's not as strong as he used to and feeds this wire he doesn't use gloves he feeds this fishing wire through his hands now the fish keeps pulling and after four hours santiago thinks what wondrous creature are you no fish should be going four hours pulling my skiff at full speed and not tiring knight falls he's pulled further away from the land he lies back with the the wire still cutting around his back and he looks at the stars and he thinks upon them and the myriad things they've looked down upon and him just small in the midst of it all it goes on two days trying to catch this fish havana is sort of over in the distance it's the faint glow the bustle and busyness of life is going on over there but the man santiago out with the fish has such definitive purpose and he speaks so highly of the fish he says love you but must kill you because he has to feed himself he wants to make money it's battle of wills but this is the indefatigable chasing through life finding purpose resilience carrying on never giving up he could easily have given up he was old he had little food to eat he was way out at sea but he wasn't going to give in he could keep going he had lesson learned and one of the characters that he talks about lot is joe dimaggio which is the famous baseball player joe dimaggio seems to picture his icon is it god figure maybe that's going too extreme but he always when he's feeling low and he's about to give in santiago always says but joe dimaggio would carry on what would joe dimaggio do as he's being hurt the wire starts to cut his hands after some time and it's cutting through his back as well when this happens he talks about joe dimaggio having an ailment which is bone spur in the heel and he says well he managed to be great even though he had this deformity in his heel can cope with the cuts across my back with the cuts on my hands will keep going it is what man must do how many people would give up how many people would say it's of no use but santiago knows the value of what's beneath him don't mean monetarily but it is the greatest fish he has ever caught he knows from its strength that it must be enormous this struggle at sea and some of the injuries it inflicts on santiago is also quite enthralling in its imagery i've already mentioned the fishing line across his back think of famous figure who had strikes or cuts across their back also famous figure whose hands were blooded jesus christ there is deliberate reference here to jesus now i'm not sure hemingway was actually that religious however jesus sort of is the pinnacle ideal of the man who goes through his life with purpose and is able to take on extraordinary sufferings to achieve the ultimate end joe dimaggio has bone spur why is this brought up well jesus was impaled through the feet through the heel in genesis 3 15 it talks about the one that god would send would be struck in the heel and at the end of the story you find santiago when he's come back to shore gets the mast out of his skiff puts it on his back and carries it through the streets like jesus carrying his torture steak do you see the imagery what does it take to be man the focus on doing something never giving in resilience appreciating the beauty around you appreciating the real meaning and value of things not being overly concerned with the fears of life nor the distractions of dreaming not being overly affected by how others perceive you but knowing quietly in oneself will get through will push on know where i'm going even if they don't isn't this remarkable it's such grand metaphor and when you read the book in this way and really hasten to add read it slowly mutter it as you read it do this book out loud mean in an undertone but don't just scan read or even if you can read really fast slow down and really let the words be spoken and just delight in the simplicity and the mundaneness of the things he's talking about right at the end of the book when he's come back and we'll get to what's actually happened to the fish as well he sits on his doorstep worn out fatigued ready to just go to permanent sleep you you sort of feel and he says he sees cat across the road going about his business life that cat exists that cat is there the cat's remarkable creature nothing else is said about that cat it's just there life is around us and santiago takes in just the small detail and appreciates it why because he's lived long enough to know that life is short life itself is vast ocean but the individual skiff is just short journey and it may as well be enjoyed and hard work should be put into it to really get payoff mean it's remarkable book but that's not all it's few final thoughts we mentioned joe dimaggio you know it shows that we all find inspiration in other people can we be an inspiration when you focus in on this man although he is clearly not hero he's never going to be he's never anyone great he starts nowhere and he ends the story as no one except for those that have actually took the time to observe his life and they think what an inspiration because he is remarkable in his own ordinary life in his attitude and his spirit there are some excellent parts when he actually catches the fish you know there it is pulling him along he's going for hours and santiago says it was noon when hooked him he said and have never seen him the mysteries and realities of life catching hold of current or something that is worth pursuing in life you know it's important but you can't fully make it out yet but you keep trialing on to get it those things that matter though you haven't completely saw it you have the faith that there is greater meaning somewhere and you pursue it others would give up others would be in too much of rush and snap the line not santiago patience he's learned this finally the fish surfaces this bulge of water comes up in front of the boat and for the first time santiago sees the marlin and he begins to describe it and the appreciation that he has for his quarry is just splendid and that's one of the things as well it demonstrates value of something now of course this marlin is actually enormous it would be prize for anybody but it's prize for this man because he's been out for years and years and years and years and honed his craft and never given up and now towards the end of his life he seizes that opportunity it's almost like he appreciates life now better than he ever has before what happens though is he hasn't got the boy to help him get the fish in the boat although to be quite honest don't think he could anyway the fish is 18 feet long it's bigger than his skiff so he lashes it to the boat but because he stabbed it to kill it the blood is now in the water and because he's far out to sea although he can navigate with the stars the sharks get sent and he reddish himself that night with his harpoon and the sharks make their first attack and he puts the harpoon through one of the sharks heads and it's gone for while but now of course the shark's blood is also in the water and his harpoon breaks but he doesn't give in the sharks of all different kinds come and he takes them on beating them with the rudder until he breaks that he just doesn't stop all night but he can hear them ripping the marlin apart and by the time he gets back to shore nothing is left of the marlin but long white spine and the head and the tail and you feel desperately sorry for him you feel what shame he works so hard to get it but at the same time you can't help but be with manolin who comes to see him afterwards and santiago says they beat me you know he's talking about people he was never able to bring back this this fish on the 87th day as it would happen he did manage to bring fish back on the 87th day and end his unlucky streak but at the same time he was unlucky because it was gone but santiago but manolin says to him but he the fish never be you the goal life didn't beat you you understood it you went at it you got it santiaga these people don't get it and the sharks seem to be those negative influences that just bite and consume what others do they're these horrid creatures which amongst the creatures of the sea they're not exactly the most pleasant they are scavengers they're not like the magnificent marlin with all its grace they're not like santiago who with the marlin both showed this determination spirit to fight but the sharks just consume and ravage and there are people like that some actually say that hemingway was describing literary critics and saying they never make any great work they just criticize all of the time maybe he was don't know but the most interesting part to me is right at the end of the book and here if you haven't read it and you really don't want to know how it ends then turn away however it's not really that much of giveaway it's actually poignancy the message of hemingway comes in this very very last page santiago is at home about to fall asleep and the boy manolin goes down to the dock that little wharf and he sees there group of tourists from america and as they're walking along the road they look down amongst the barracudas and the beer cans that are around on the beach and woman spots this long white spine attached to boat and she says what's that well of course it's santiago's marlin the man near her whom she's asking is waiter because it's tea party that's actually looking on he tries to explain to her what it is he says tiberon the waiter said ishaq he was meaning to explain what had happened and what said in return didn't know sharks had such handsome beautifully formed tails what does that say they took things just quickly and at face value he says shark he's trying to this waste is trying to describe big fish but the woman just says wow sharks have beautiful tails didn't know that and moves on with life doesn't appreciate this was marlin which would have been exceptionally difficult to catch by one man on one skiff which is smaller than the the fish that's being caught that it's even been brought home after the sharks have managed to attack it she doesn't get that it simply looked upon the trophy the triumph of man's determined will of all of his knowledge his expertise his resilience his spirit what it is to be man or person and she went didn't know they could be beautiful like that how many people are tourists in life they look at maybe the social media influencers who often don't have much about them they they look at the stars who are good at acting and things like that and they're fascinated with them they love the rich and the famous because they would like all of that but the ordinary people the unlucky old ones the santiagos of the world who actually have remarkable life but wrapped in an unexceptional covering they just go great people can have the remarkable attitude and character of santiago if they get what life is about but most people are tourists and here's the question that the old man in the sea will ask you don't be bored with me says the novella learn from me are you tourist or are you santiago well hope that that has been pleasurable experience for you going through review of the old man and the sea if you love classic books and classic literature be sure to subscribe and hit the like button for me it really does help it encourages me and it also helps youtube to promote these ideas about the classics to larger audience leave your comments about what you got from the old man and the sea if you found it boring 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