The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

I recently finished reading this book and absolutely loved it. It was a short read, but I feel that I was immersed into the story, I was invested in the character of Santiago and tried to understand his relationship with the the boy, Manolin, and the fish. I thoroughly enjoyed the language and imagery that Hemingway articulated throughout the book. I love the ocean and all that it offers. I love the idea of people who understand the ocean so much that they can read it like a daily newspaper. Also, the endurance of the old man was inspirational to me to press forward and to always give life my full effort. I read somewhere that one concept of Santiago symbolizing Christ. I found this very interesting; The old man would carry his mast across his shoulders, his hands getting cut, the boy's attitude of worship towards him, it was a three day ordeal, and other subtleties. Some of my favorite quotes are:

"Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated."

"He left the smell of the land behind and rowed out into the clean early morning smell of the ocean"

"It is better to be lucky, but I would rather be exact. Then when luck comes you are ready"

"Fish, I love you and respect you very much, but I will kill you before this day ends."

"He looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water,
then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea."

"Let him think I am more man than I am and I will be so"

"You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or calmer, or more noble thing than you, brother...I do not care who kills who."

"He took all his pain and what was left of his strength and his long gone pride and put it against the fish's agony."

"But man is not made for defeat...a man can be destroyed but not defeated."


I also plan on writing a song about this book, but I am very picky and since I love the book so much it will probably be a long time coming cause I want the quality of the music and lyrics to do the book justice and also reflect my personal experience with this book.