literarydiscussions.myfreeforum.org

Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

In_Pakistan: what do you think of Hemingway?

In_Pakistan: I read his old man and the sea

In_Pakistan: cant really connect

Sitaram: I loved it

Sitaram: I read it when I was 15

Sitaram: and I saw the movie

Sitaram: with that old actor... not the remake

In_Pakistan: why did you love it

Sitaram: Spencer Tracey starred in the movie

Sitaram: read this wikipedia article about it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Man_and_the_Sea

Sitaram: Fuentes, suffering from cancer, died in 2002; he was 104 years old. Prior to his death, he donated Hemingway's Pilar to the Cuban government. He never read The Old Man and the Sea.

Sitaram: that is the old cuban man who worked for Hemingway, and was in part a model for the character in the novel

In_Pakistan: WOW

In_Pakistan: intresting

In_Pakistan: what is the old man and sea about

Sitaram: an old man is at the end of his rope, cannot catch any more fish

In_Pakistan: ?

Sitaram: but, he goes out alone.... sort of like Christ... and suffers

In_Pakistan: k

Sitaram: it is about the tragedy of human endeavor

In_Pakistan: ok

Sitaram: even in face of great obstacles

In_Pakistan: ????

Sitaram: it is about manhood

Sitaram: a manhood which knows how to suffer and die for a principle

In_Pakistan: k

In_Pakistan: what principle?

Sitaram: but, his great drama, is all alone, there are no witnesses

Sitaram: he DOES catch the biggest fish ever, but the sharks eat it up

Sitaram: and he battles the sharks

Sitaram: but, his battle is futile

Sitaram: so, when he comes back to shore.... all that is left is skeleton of fish, and big fin

Sitaram: some tourists pass by and look curiously at the fin, and make some casual remark

Sitaram: they do not realize the drama, the heroic struggle and defeat that took place

Sitaram: so, that is the greatest part of the tragedy...

Sitaram: he was alone, and no one to witness his valor, and greatness

Sitaram: at the end, he drops off to sleep, and dreams of the young lions near kilimanjaro mountain, which he saw in his youth

In_Pakistan: ???

Sitaram: so, all that are left to him are dream images of a lost youth,... images which symbolize the vigor of youth

In_Pakistan: ...

Sitaram: for Hemingway the man, the writer, his early victories, successes, were ghosts which haunted him

In_Pakistan: ???

Sitaram: rather than rejoice that he had some success,.... he was depressed that he could not constantly out do himself

Sitaram: just like, Harper Lee was a one book wonder... won the nobel (or wasit pulitzer)

In_Pakistan: meaning?

Sitaram: but, never wrote again

In_Pakistan: pulitzer

Sitaram: so, for years, people criticize her, for never writing again

Sitaram: whatever

In_Pakistan: ok

In_Pakistan: and

Sitaram: she made it big with her first and only

In_Pakistan: n?

Sitaram: but, we life in a world which constantly asks us "what have you done LATELY"

Sitaram: so, the artist who lives for art, but defines themselves by public praise,.... is in a cruel bind

Sitaram: their successes become albatrosses around their neck, ghosts to haunt them, as they always try to outdo themselves

In_Pakistan: Hemingway= saddened because?

In_Pakistan: what do you mean outdo themselves

Sitaram: and usually.... they sink deeper into alcoholism... like Hemingway,.... and Fitzgerald, and others

Sitaram: read the wikipedia article, read the novella, watch the Spencer Tracy movie... and you will begin to understand

Get your own free IRC Chat room