His choice had been to stay in the deep dark water far out beyond all snares and traps and treacheries. My choice was to go there to find him beyond all people. Beyond all people in the world. Now we are joined together and have been since noon. And no one to help either one of us.
Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.
Perhaps I should not have been a fisherman, he thought. But that was the thing that I was born for.
Well, I finished reading The Old Man and the Sea three days ago. It was a great read. I was very impressed with Hemingway's narration of the story; how, in a very short read, he gives us so much insight into the protagonist, Santiago; how Santiago lives his life according to what he believes he was "born for," which is to be a fisherman.
One of the things I really do appreciate in Hemingway's writing, in the few novels I have read by him, is that he finds a way to make his stories so profoundly sad. The Old Man and the Sea is not as bleak as some other Hemingway I've read, but there is still a profoundly sad undercurrent as we get to know Santiago.
Why I appreciate the sadness: I believe that life is equally made up happy, and painful experiences. So art, doing what art does, as it reflects the human condition in all of its happiness and pain, must not ignore the pain and sadness. To focus entirely on the sadness would be far more bleak than necessary, for sure; but, to ignore human pain and focus completely on happiness would be dishonest. We are a fallen human race, living in a fallen world fraught with imperfections.
So that's why I like Hemingway's knack for sadness. I think even as an unbeliever, he felt, and was honest about what it meant to be human. All this to say, I recommend the book.
One of the things I really do appreciate in Hemingway's writing, in the few novels I have read by him, is that he finds a way to make his stories so profoundly sad. The Old Man and the Sea is not as bleak as some other Hemingway I've read, but there is still a profoundly sad undercurrent as we get to know Santiago.
Why I appreciate the sadness: I believe that life is equally made up happy, and painful experiences. So art, doing what art does, as it reflects the human condition in all of its happiness and pain, must not ignore the pain and sadness. To focus entirely on the sadness would be far more bleak than necessary, for sure; but, to ignore human pain and focus completely on happiness would be dishonest. We are a fallen human race, living in a fallen world fraught with imperfections.
So that's why I like Hemingway's knack for sadness. I think even as an unbeliever, he felt, and was honest about what it meant to be human. All this to say, I recommend the book.
