Hemingway outdoes himself with charming descriptions of Venice in this book. Yet he fails in making his protagonist soldier sympathetic, a sign that he was self-conscious of his boisterous behavior. This book marked a turning point in Hemingway's life, it stood for his passage into middle age, something he had not been willing to accept easily. In 1950, after having been dubbed as a burnout, Hemingway put himself to work on his greatest story ever. The Old Man and the Sea was published in 1952. It was a very touching tale about an old man who finds grandness of life and death while battling the great marlin. He is ready to heal down before the fish, when it finally gives in. While towing the animal back to shore, it's beauty is destroyed by sharks. The humility of the old man, his handshake with grandeur, all make this tale truly beautiful. The Old Man and the Sea was Hemingway's second entry in his triad about land, seas, and air. It got him the Pulitzer Prize, and in 1954, the greatest literary award of all, the Nobel Prize. Hemingway had three true phobias in his life: telephone conversations, the taxman, and public speaking. Yet he wrote a very touching speech that was read. It was at that moment that the end had begun for Papa Hemingway. Before the Nobel Prize in 1954, Ernest and Mary had sought out his fifth African safari. This time he was much less boisterous. He maintained a clear mind. He shot very well, and demonstrated great ability. Yet the safari ended badly with two plane crashes. The first had not been too serious. The second, although, had distraught Hemingway quit badly. His injuries included concussion, paralysis of the sphincter, first degree burns on his face, arm and head, a sprained right arm and shoulder, a crushed vertebra, and a ruptured liver, spleen and kidney. He was in continuos pain for quite a while. It was in Pamplona that Hemingway celebrated his sixtieth birthday. Mary had spent two months preparing fo...
