Best Classic Books

“The Old Man and the Sea” is a work of literary genius and artistic perfection by one of the greatest writers of all time. Every word, every sentence, every paragraph is perfectly crafted, as if it flows and reads like an orchestral classical musical piece. Stunningly beautiful descriptions are used with short but impactful sentences, and the language is riddled with mysterious, cryptic metaphors and messages throughout. All the while, it is perfectly contrasted by what is just a simple, brief story of an old fisherman. The book is called “The Old Man and the Sea” by the legendary Ernest Hemingway.

Now let me break down all of that and why this book and piece of work is so special. So, “The Old Man and the Sea” is one of Hemingway’s major works, and it’s a very short novel. It’s simple; it’s basically about an old Cuban fisherman who goes out to catch an enormous Marlin fish. Now, Hemingway revolutionized writing in the way that he uses very short and impactful sentences and particularly uses the word “and” a lot at the start of sentences, which people never did before him. But in particular, in the middle of his sentences continuously to connect them to each other, which gives the piece and the writing this beautiful, almost hypnotic sense of flow to where it almost sounds like it’s a musical orchestral piece.

And where I got this concept from was a documentary by Ken Burns on Hemingway – phenomenal documentary, you should check it out. And with the use of the word “and” and just his style of writing, it almost reads as if it’s like some cello playing notes. That is how the flow of the words reaped because Hemingway was very big into classical music. He used to listen to it a lot, and in the documentary, they present that it was no coincidence why his music had this sense of flow. So let me read this piece to you to show you what I mean:

“He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him to steer.”

Just listen to the flow of those words, as if imagine it’s just like a cello playing these like playing notes. Is how the words read: “He knew he was beaten now finally and without remedy and he went back to the stern and found the jagged end of the tiller would fit in the slot of the rudder well enough for him to steer.” Like the flow of that is just ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. As a writer myself, it not only frustrates the fact that I’ll never be able to reach that level of genius, but at the same time, I can utterly profoundly appreciate that someone’s able to write like that. It’s just truly awe-inspiring. So if you’ve never read the book before, keep this concept in mind of it being like a musical piece. And if you have read the book and you, you reread it, keep it in mind that concept and see if the book has a different impact on you.

So the metaphors and the messages throughout this book again beautifully contrasted with this simple, brief, basic story of some old fisherman going out to catch a fish. He has these incredibly profound metaphors and messages throughout which are cryptic and mysterious in a way where you don’t know whether he’s talking about specific personal individual life experiences that he’s had or if he’s speaking to everybody and our typical collective shared experiences. And I’ll use an example of one which really struck me in the book, and I’ll read it. The context is basically his fight and battle with this giant fish and basically his ability to be able to pull off such a feat.

“It is easy when you are beaten,” he thought. “I never knew how easy it was.” And what beat you? He thought nothing. He said aloud, “I went out too far.”

Just, just so impactful. And you just have so many questions like, what, what is he talking about there? What is he talking about nothing? I went out too far. Now, when you read the book, not to give spoilers, but when you read the book, you probably superficially interpret it like literally as if it’s just a metaphor for life where what we once could do in our youth, we can’t do in older age, and we’re recognizing the limitations of our abilities and physical, mental, spiritual strength.

I think it’s more than that. And in this documentary, I learned that Hemingway wrote this story in 1950, a year or so before that he met a young, seductive beauty, this Italian lady named Adriana. She was 18 years old, and he was almost 50. Now, he was married at the time to his wife. So he started an affair with this young lady, Adriana. And a year or so later, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that he wrote this book. And that’s what I think this metaphor, “I went out too far,” is referring to. I think it’s about this woman. I think he had this passionate love affair with this woman who, by the way, found him through his writing. So he still had the fame and clout, but I felt that in this metaphor, he’s stating that he’s out of his depth. He’s gone out too far. He’s not able to potentially tame or handle this fish. So that’s the way I interpreted that phrase, but I’m interested in the comments to see how you guys interpreted that if there’s any other things that struck you.

And the last thing I’ll say about this which makes this work even more profound, impressive, and genius is this: he wrote one of his major works, critically acclaimed, all within two months. Now it makes you think: was this guy just so obsessive that he was able to just sit at his typewriter for two months straight doing nothing but typing and editing? Meticulously edited every word, every sentence, every paragraph perfectly arranged, perfectly crafted? Or was he so genius that he was able to just tap into something deep inside of him into the Muse where this thing just flowed out of him? This piece of work which would not only become one of the greatest pieces of literature of all time but also one of the greatest works of art that a human being has ever created: “The Old Man and the Sea” by the legend himself, Ernest Hemingway. Do yourself a favor and read this thing.