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The Old Man and the Sea
Cover of The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea
Borrow Borrow
2007 Audie Award Finalist for Solo Narration—Male
*Winner of the Pulitzer Prize*
"A beautiful tale, awash in the seasalt and sweat, bait and beer of the Havana coast. It tells a fundamental human truth: in a volatile world, from our first breath to our last wish, through triumphs and pitfalls both trivial and profound, what sustains us, ultimately, is hope." —The Guardian
The last of his novels Ernest Hemingway saw published, The Old Man and the Sea has proved itself to be one of the most enduring works of American fiction. The story of a down-on-his-luck Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream—has been cherished by generations of readers.

Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of adversity and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic. First published in 1952, this hugely popular tale confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
2007 Audie Award Finalist for Solo Narration—Male
*Winner of the Pulitzer Prize*
"A beautiful tale, awash in the seasalt and sweat, bait and beer of the Havana coast. It tells a fundamental human truth: in a volatile world, from our first breath to our last wish, through triumphs and pitfalls both trivial and profound, what sustains us, ultimately, is hope." —The Guardian
The last of his novels Ernest Hemingway saw published, The Old Man and the Sea has proved itself to be one of the most enduring works of American fiction. The story of a down-on-his-luck Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream—has been cherished by generations of readers.

Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of adversity and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic. First published in 1952, this hugely popular tale confirmed his power and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
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  • Available:
    1
  • Library copies:
    1
Levels-
  • ATOS:
  • Lexile:
    940
  • Interest Level:
  • Text Difficulty:
    4 - 6


 
Awards-
Excerpts-
  • From the book

    from The Old Man and the Sea

    He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy's parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.

    The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert.

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

    "Santiago," the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. "I could go with you again. We've made some money."

    The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

    "No," the old man said. "You're with a lucky boat. Stay with them."

    "But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks."

    "I remember," the old man said. "I know you did not leave me because you doubted."

    "It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him."

    "I know," the old man said. "It is quite normal."

    "He hasn't much faith."

    "No," the old man said. "But we have. Haven't we?"

    "Yes," the boy said. "Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace and then we'll take the stuff home."

    "Why not?" the old man said. "Between fishermen."

    They sat on the Terrace and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man and he was not angry. Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen. The successful fishermen of that day were already in and had butchered their marlin out and carried them laid full length across two planks, with two men staggering at the end of each plank, to the fish house where they waited for the ice truck to carry them to the market in Havana....

About the Author-
  • Ernest Hemingway did more to change the style of English prose than any other writer of his time. Publication of The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms immediately established Hemingway as one of the greatest literary lights of the twentieth century. His classic novel The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. His life and accomplishments are explored in-depth in the PBS documentary film from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, Hemingway. Known for his larger-than-life personality and his passions for bullfighting, fishing, and big-game hunting, he died in Ketchum, Idaho on July 2, 1961.
Reviews-
  • AudioFile Magazine Donald Sutherland's gentle and thoughtful reading of the 1952 classic is spot-on perfect. The tale concerns an old fisherman in a Cuban village who, after an especially bad fishing season, sets out in his skiff, determined to bring in a big fish. By noon, the old man hooks a great marlin, but the powerful fish drags the skiff out to sea for two days. Challenged by starvation, injury, a school of sharks, and this great, noble fish, the old man struggles to survive. Without even trying to put on an accent, Sutherland catches the cadence and intonation of Cuba as well as the weary determination of the old man. Longing, desperation, and hope flow from Sutherland's velvet lips like an ocean current. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2007 Audies Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
  • AudioFile Magazine With his resonant voice, Heston reveals the pride and nobility of Santiago--weathered but not beaten by years at sea. He tells the tale of how Santiago catches the fish of his life with tempo and tone which mirror the text. Initially his voice is unhurried and placid as the stage is set for the hunt. Heston increases the pace and emotion as the adventure unfolds. At the story's close, the narrator speaks with all the sorrow, pain and exhaustion the protagonist feels upon his return home. Hemingway's words as spoken by Heston reveal why The Old Man and the Sea is worthy of its Pulitzer. M.P.T. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
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    Simon & Schuster Audio
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    All copies of this title, including those transferred to portable devices and other media, must be deleted/destroyed at the end of the lending period.

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Ernest Hemingway
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