Which book won Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize in 1953?
AThe Sun Also Rises
BFor Whom the Bell Tolls
CThe Old Man and the Sea
Dnone of the above
Answer:
C. The Old Man and the Sea
Read Explanation:
The Old Man and the Sea and the Pulitzer Prize
- The Old Man and the Sea, a novella by Ernest Hemingway, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953.
- The book was first published in 1952, appearing in its entirety in the September 1, 1952 issue of Life magazine, which sold 5.3 million copies in two days.
- It tells the story of Santiago, an aging Cuban fisherman, and his epic struggle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream.
- The novella explores themes of perseverance, courage, dignity in defeat, and the cyclical nature of life.
- Its success revitalized Hemingway's literary reputation, which had been in decline after his previous novel, Across the River and Into the Trees (1950), received mixed reviews.
- The critical acclaim for The Old Man and the Sea was a significant factor in Hemingway being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. The Nobel committee specifically cited his "mastery of the art of narrative, most recently demonstrated in The Old Man and the Sea, and for the influence that he has exerted on contemporary style."
Key Facts about Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
- Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist.
- He was known for his iceberg theory (or theory of omission), where the deeper meaning of a story is not explicitly stated but rather implied.
- Other notable works by Hemingway include:
- The Sun Also Rises (1926): A portrayal of the Lost Generation.
- A Farewell to Arms (1929): A novel set during World War I, exploring love and war.
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940): Set during the Spanish Civil War.
- Hemingway was part of the 'Lost Generation' of writers, a term coined by Gertrude Stein.
- His distinctive writing style, characterized by its minimalism and understatement, had a significant impact on 20th-century fiction.