The Old Man and the Sea: fish tales

I really enjoyed my reread of The Old Man and the Sea. Usually, when I read a potential book for an upcoming book box, I read it quickly and with an eye to whether or not it will land with the majority of us. (Who am I kidding? I harbor a silent wish that every single novel will reel us in.)

The second time through, I get to slow down and savor the experience alongside our Monthly Book Box members, so if I snag a book for us to read, I know I am likely going to fall for it - hook, line, and sinker - on the reread. And I am definitely finding myself hooked on Hemingway in my reread of his Pulitzer Prize winner The Old Man and the Sea. I hope you are, too.

On my reread, I noticed something that I completely missed the boat on my initial read.

"...he dropped his oars and felt the weight of the small tuna's shivering pull as he held the line firm and commenced to haul it in." p. 38

This totally reminded me of one of my fondest memories of parenting my minions. When my oldest daughter was in high school, I took her on a college road trip to Alabama and Florida, visiting a few potential schools. Since we home-schooled (and my husband was in Costa Rica on business at the time), my youngest two came along for the ride.

Since we'd never traveled to Florida with the kids before this trip, I made time for my youngest son to be able to do the thing that he loved most - fishing. 

He fished on several beaches, catching quite an array of different species.

He fished at a local hot spot under an overpass. (And caught a puffer fish!)

He fished off a wooden pier at a local park.

Unknown to us, that last one was an underwater nursery for...you guessed it...tuna. He caught one little guy after the other (catch and release) and it was the most phenomenal sight because those small tuna actually DO give a weighted shivering pull to the line like nothing I had ever seen before - or since! Imagine holding a chunk of something meaty just under the surface of the Amazon River and piranha going to town on it. THAT was how it felt when those baby tuna fish went for the bait on my son's line. (He was thoughtful and let each of us experience holding the line, too.)

Such good memories.

Don't you just love how easily you can be transported by just a few words in a novel back to your own experiences, your own memories?

I hope hearing my fish tale will lure you into remembering one of your own fish tales.

(And in case you missed it, there are at least 34 fishing references on this page. Did you catch all of them?)