Name: Ernest Hemingway
Year Won: 1954
Read: "The Old Man and the Sea"
Original Language: English
Reason: "for his mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style"
About: "The Old Man and the Sea" follows an old man who is trying to catch fish. He hasn't caught one in a long time, but remains optimistic that he'll catch one soon. (As does his young apprentice, even if his young apprentice has been told to go on other boats as he's so unlucky.) The old man fishes, ends up in a brief battle with a fish (and shark), then returns and has his hands patched up by the boy. That's...pretty much it.
What I liked: For a book with such a dull plot, it somehow manages to be riveting. I'm not sure how. But it is. It's a meditation on old age, legacy, and life's meaning somehow told through...an old guy fishing. Kudos to Hemmingway. I could not make a dude sitting in a boat in the middle of the ocean thinking about baseball fascinating, but he does it somehow. That's skill.
What I Disliked: Not really anything, which is odd. The plot is kind of dull, but it works somehow. Again, I'm not sure how, but it *does*. (At least for me.)
Should it have won a Nobel: He made an old man floating about the ocean and thinking about baseball fascinating. I don't know how he did that, but he did. The man has talent.
Next Up: The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness
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