As part of my Pulitzer winners project that I neglected for too long, I read Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea today. I finally read this famous novel that won the prize in 1953.

This is the story of the old man Santiago, an old and very poor fisherman who lives by himself in a ramshackle hut and has only one friend, the young Manolo, who Santiago has taught how to fish. Since the old man seems to have run out of luck and catches practically no fish anymore, Manolo’s parents have forbidden him to accompany the old man at sea again.

Then one day when Santiago is alone at sea he catches the biggest swordfish he ever saw and what follows is his battle with the fish and his terrible struggle to get back home.

The big swordfish is a character in itself, as is the sea in a way. I liked it and can see why it is widely seen as a masterpiece. And where I shy away from Hemingway in his writings about killing animals by hunting or “entertainment” like bullfighting, here I could stomach it because fishing is this old man’s only livelyhood.

Written in Hemingway’s sparse style which succeeds in conveying emotions all the same, a sign of great penmanship. And all the big themes like endurance, the battle between (wo)manhood and nature, loyalty, suffering made for a compelling read.