Book Review: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


But a man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed 
but not defeated.

This quote sums up the book perfectly.

For a few hours, I was there on the skiff sitting right beside the old man, egging him on as the great fish kept moving.

I was there when he put the harpoon into the great fish and light was snuffed out of it's eyes. I despised the sharks that came in afterwards and I hoped against hope that old man would somehow repel all the sharks and return triumphantly to the land with his great fish. But alas, it wasn't to be. His greatest catch was reduced to nothing more than a skeleton.

I was sad but at the same time I couldn't help but admire the old man for the perseverance, the skill and the courage he showed. He refused to be defeated. But...

And what beat you, he thought. 'Nothing,' he said aloud. 
'I went out too far.'

This truly is one of the simplest and the deepest books ever written.



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Another attempt at a Haiku

A cup of hot tea
Wet footprints on the floor
In the April heat.

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Light

Its dark within me.
Moonbeams dance in my room.
But I cannot see.

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With Time

The feeling will pass they say
Time heals, its the only way.
But what if I don't want to heal?
Layers upon layers to peel.
To think what was done and said
Lying at night alone in my bed.

Life passes me by every day
But I don't care and I won't say
Anything to anyone who might ask
I'll hide behind this perfect mask.
A tender smile will be my shield
While slowly still to sorrow, I yield.

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INVITES - VI

The Invite:

Hello!
The heavens signaled that it was time to stop goofing around and who was I to ignore that? So I decided to finally make some lucky guy’s life luckier still. Well, it turns out that this thing called marriage works both ways and I feel lucky that I found my Lucky Singh..err…I mean Ankur ! , With our parents blessings, we have chosen 30th Nov 2010 as the lucky day and we would like to invite you to join us in the ensuing celebrations.

Come to wish us luck!

The Background:
The opening lines were copied from somewhere (was it Rashmi's invite? Not sure). This was for an informal wedding invite for a friend.

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Invites - V

The Invite:

Hi Folks,

After being deferred again and again

- once due to the Navratras,

- once due to a guest that did not come J

- then due to the festival of lights

- and the latest reason being Pai’s blocked sinuses :D

there seems to be a lot of fun that is waiting for us at the end of this long dark tunnel.

Now no sinuses can stop us nor can some festivals. Nothing stands in our way, it simply cannot!! (partly because the advance has already been paid :P)

So get ready to rock and party your heart out!

Venue: THE ONE, Survey No. 81/1, North Main Road, Koregaon Park (Near Riverview)

Date & Time: 6^th Nov, 2009 8:00 PM

The Background:

This was for a party that happened just for the reason that there was a lack of parties!

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Invites - IV

The Invite:

Finally! The moment has come for which you all have been waiting!

No! No! Don’t go off to your Boss’s cabin to give him a piece of your mind! It’s not Armageddon yet! That, my dear friends, will come later :P

This moment is a moment to celebrate, a moment to enjoy. And here I am inviting you to celebrate it with me :)

Remember that If you do choose to come and celebrate, there are some guidelines that each of you has to follow:

1) You cannot eat even a morsel of food a full 24 hours before the party. You are expected to come to the party STARVED and devour anything eatable that comes within five meters of you!

2) You will have to dance till you cannot feel you legs beneath you!

3) You will have to be intoxicated with the party spirit and look as if you are high on something!

4) And for my friends who prefer a different kind of intoxication ;-), you will have to drink till you start believing that you are Johnny Depp! (boy! wouldn't that be a lot?).

I hope that’s clear enough!

COME LET’S CELEBRATE! AND CELEBRATE IN STYLE!

Date: 17^th April, 2009

Venue: R-Lounge (Leather lounge), MG Road

Start time: 7:30 PM

End Time: Till you drop!

PS: I do hope that you are aware of the occasion :P

The Background:

This is probably the best invite that I have written. It was written when my Team Lead got Promoted to the post of Project Manager.

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