I found this book while scrolling around on book recommendations sites. It was  rated very highly on a few of them—and they were not wrong. I didn’t know what to think about when I started to read it because I had never really read anything by Ernest Hemingway before but I was soon assured that the book was definitely worth the read and I’m glad I picked it up. 

I haven’t read much of Hemingway’s outside of The Old Man and The Sea, I think that the book is a great example of his literary ability. Don’t take my word for it, as The Old Man and The Sea won the Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1953, shortly after it was published. Ernest Hemingway also won a Nobel peace prize in 1954 for literature. He won the prize for the narrative shown in all his work and also The Old Man and The Sea.

The Old Man and The Sea, written by Ernest Hemingway in 1951, was the late author's last major work of fiction published in his lifetime—and one of his greatest. The novel takes place on the coasts of Cuba in a small fishing village. In just a hundred and twenty-seven pages, it tells the story of an old fisherman named Santiago, who has not caught a single fish for 84 days before going out on a three day fishing expedition where he gets an adventure and the catch of a lifetime. 

The Old Man and The Sea is a great book that you can finish in one afternoon or long car ride. But if you are looking for something a little longer, the book will keep you interested and rereading parts to understand what Hemingway meant by the symbolism he used. The book is perfect for anyone who is interested in a new novel to read.

Although the book is shorter compared to most other novels, it is still an amazing read being full of obvious and more hidden symbolism and just overall great storytelling.  The book is full of symbolism like Santiago's fight with a large fish that could be interpreted as a battle of life and death or as an act of redemption after 84 days without a fish. The book also has a lot of religious symbolism like Santiago being out to sea for three days and him carrying a mast up a hill in the shape of a cross. 

Ernest Hemingway used his own life experiences as inspiration for his novel. The book itself was written while Hemingway lived in Cuba. Hemingway was known to be a prominent fisherman and big game hunter. The book describes the fish, sea, and the people who lived in Cuba in great detail and spoke highly of the people that Santiago interacted with. Some allusions are made to the bible in the book which, although Hemingway never considered himself religious, did convert to Catholicism to marry his wife.

Sometimes the symbolism can be a bit too hard to understand, but that's okay because it is still an  entertaining read. I liked reading about the adventures of Santiago and his voyage at sea because of how the story pulls you in and wants you to root for Santiago to overcome his challenges. In the book Santiago is never willing to give up the fight. Santiago also shows great respect towards the animals and the ocean, complimenting them both, and sees the fish as a worthy opponent.

Overall the book is a fun and entertaining read that I don’t have anything bad to say about; it is full of a lot of symbolism that is interesting and meaningful but you don’t even need to understand most of it to find it entertaining. The story of Santiago and his battle with a large fish is more than enough to keep you reading.The book is an amazing piece of literature that everyone should read at some point. The word choice, story, and ending were all amazing and I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a shorter but still intriguing novel to read and provides a lot of material to think about and keep reading to understand its true meaning.