Thursday, December 28, 2006

Lunchtime read: The Old Man and the Sea - post II

This tale gets better and better and quickly expands beyond a simple battle between man and fish to a battle for the old man against the world.

Highlights from just shy of the second third of the book
* The old man catches a tuna but is still on the look out for a big catch and then his line gets pulled by what can only be a large Marlin who having got hooked drags the boat out to sea and keeps swimming through the night

* The old man is suffering from cramp, back pain and a bleeding hand and misses the boy who could have helped not just wrestle with the fish but help fight the loneliness but he is determined to catch him

* Having pulled the boat along the Marlin finally jumps through the water and is longer than the boat but gets the admiration of the old man who cannot help but admire his adversary

The real question is will he catch him or die in the attempt? The final chunk tomorrow...