This book is a marvel of pacing. From the first line, which sets up the central character and his conflict: “He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.” to the introduction of his shadow/Greek chorus, a young boy who admires him and wants to be like him in the second sentence, to the patience Hemingway shows in describing the minute details of life as a Gulf Stream fisherman, this book uses description, narration and dialogue in a beautifully balanced recipe to move the story along and keep the reader fascinated.
Hemingway honors the old man as a workman, doing what he must, accepting his doom without boast or complaint, and capturing him in such humility is a big part of what keeps us involved in this story, caring, rooting even for him to catch that one big fish to break his bad luck and regain the acceptance of his village compatriots, who fear and avoid luck, to the extent of the boys’ parents pulling the boy off his boat to avoid the bad luck. Hemingway’s respect rubs off on the reader, and gives us more reason to want to read on.
To make a story like this work, I believe the writer must know his world intimately. Take this passage from about a third of the way through: “(The bird) dove suddenly and the old man saw flying fish spurt out of the water and sail desperately over the surface. / ‘Dolphin,’ the old man said aloud.” The old man reacts to this clue to the whereabouts of the big fish he hunts in detailed ways obviously drawn from Hemingway’s own knowledge. Write what you know, indeed, but this is also a call for the aspiring writer to do the research necessary to call a world to life, and to pay attention to people, how they do their jobs, what the tricks are of their trades.
The same dignity Hemingway shows to his fisher the fisher in turn shows for the fish. As he fights to catch his fish, he shows sympathy: “…he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought. But are they worthy to eat him?” The simple lines support the steady pacing, the constant moves from action to reflection and back.
It’s such attention to the tiny details that make this a great book.
Happy Reading, Happy Writing,
P M F Johnson
Check out Disk of Dragons and Trollen Rose, the first two novels in my mystical fantasy series. My hero, Rev Caern, intends to establish a kingdom of peace and justice, despite disasters that threaten his people. You can find these books on Amazon, at the above links.
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The Grapes of Wrath – Steinbeck
Fiction Commentary 