The old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway

"The old man and the sea" by Ernest Hemingway. This book won Pulitzer prize for fiction in 1953.

This is the story of an old fisherman, referred to as old man, who goes to sea in his skiff every day. He has gone without a catch for eighty four days. Today is eighty fifth day and he is confident of catching a big one.

He goes out to the sea and hooks a big Marlin. (Marlin is a fish with spear like snout. It can reach 5m in length and 600 to 800kg in weight.) This one is longer than his skiff and and tows his skiff, with the bait and line in mouth, for more than two days. The fish is too big to pull and if he tries to hard the line will break. The old man has to wait till the fish tires.

The old man lives the journey with nothing to eat except raw fish, with a hand and shoulder tied to line and without sleep. He manages to kill the Marlin using only the line and harpoon and ties it to the skiff. Sharks get the scent of blood and attack.

Can the old man save the Marlin? Can he save his skiff? Can he save himself? Can he make it to the shore?

This is the story of fight between the old man and marlin at sea. It's the story of determination and desperation, of hope and despair, of courage, of killer instincts and respect for enemy.

It's a small book of 128 pages. But Hemingway has demonstrated in this book what other may take volumes. This book keeps you on tenterhook (no pun intended). The old man, Marlin, a bird, the sea, sharks, skiff, old man's hand, the line all play characters in the story. You to become a character and sometimes cheer for the Marlin and sometimes for the old man.

A good book. Recommend reading.