I first read this novella in 8th grade. I remember that I was allowed to pick several books to read in that class, and that made me really happy. I also remember really liking this book at the time. I have been listening to a lot of classic audiobooks lately, thanks in part to the Sync YA summer audiobook program. When I was browsing titles at my local library, this one caught my eye. It's been about 15 years since I first read this book, and thought it would be a good chance to refresh my mind.

I have to say that I still really enjoyed this book this time around. It is a simple, short tale of exactly what you'd expect from the title: an old man and the sea. But it really is a lot more than just that, of course. It's a tale of perseverance, faith, pride and success, and even various aspects of loss. The sentences are written simply, but still do an amazing job of creating pictures in your mind. He describes what is happening in an almost stream of consciousness way. Most of the narrative is Santiago's thoughts, as well as what he says aloud to himself and to the fish.

I'm not too concerned about delving too deeply into the literary criticism/analysis to be honest. This even applies to the story elements in the books. If I was in a literature class I guess it would be important, but I'm not, so it's not. I simply enjoyed the story of an old man trying to catch a fish. I did think about the themes and symbolism and whatnot, but they certainly weren't my priority as I read and now, as I think about my review.

I was slightly confused by one thing: he kept talking about dolphins as fish. I quickly realized that he was not talking about a true dolphin, because they are not green/golden, nor do they have gills. I looked it up and he was likely talking about mahi-mahi. I also read online that it's common for people in southern Florida to call those fish "dolphin." Seems odd to me, but whatever. At least it cleared up my confusion.

I don't really have anything bad to say about the novella. I did, however, have trouble with the narration. I like Donald Sutherland, really, I do. (Though, I have to admit, sometimes I found myself envisioning the evil President Snow when he was reading...) But I didn't really like his narration of this story. His voice felt flat and it got rather monotonous at times. I wanted some acting! Inflection! Emotion! There wasn't nearly enough of that. There was some during the exchanges between Santiago and Manolin, but when it was just the old man and the sea...there wasn't enough.

The Old Man and the Sea - Likewise Book Reviews

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