The Old Man and the Sea

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952.

Hemingway's depiction of the dignity of an old man's trials at the end of life

(Item #6830) The Old Man and the Sea. Ernest Hemingway.

The Old Man and the Sea

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1952. First edition. A Fine copy in like dust jacket, becoming increasingly scarce in this condition. Book with the silver spine gilt fresh and unrubbed. Previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down and a penciled name written on the front free end paper. Unclipped dust jacket with slight rubbing at the base of the spine and a small scuff on the lower panel, otherwise fresh and whole, without chips or tears. An excellent copy overall.

The final work of fiction published in the author's lifetime, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and cited by the Nobel Prize Committee, The Old Man and the Sea cemented Hemingway's legacy as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. The story follows the tribulations of an aging and suddenly unlucky fisherman, Santiago, as he tries to catch a gigantic marlin in the Straits of Florida. Ultimately, Santiago's story is an existential metaphor through which Hemingway explored in a seemingly simple way the dignity and biblical nature of an old man's trials at the end of life. It was a massive success. The book was originally published in full in an issue of Life Magazine, which subsequently sold 5 million copies in less than a week. “No outbursts of spite or false theatricalism impede the smooth rush of its narrative. Within the sharp restrictions imposed by the very nature of his story Mr. Hemingway has written with sure skill. Here is the master technician once more at the top of his form, doing superbly what he can do better than anyone else” (contemporary New York Times Review).
Fine in Fine dust jacket. (Item #6830)

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"Everything about him was old except his eyes, and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated."