"The Old Man And The Sea" By Ernest Hemingway

When you are looking for a book to read during this time of year, one of the things you will want to look for is a book that is not only great to read, but that is great to read during the summer - and while this can mean any number of things to any number of people, one thing this generally means to most people is a book that is "surrounded by" water, and a book that is light and breezy to read. "The Old Man And The Sea," which is not actually a novel, but is a "novella" (which means a short novel) is Hemingway's masterpiece that fits both these criteria; this book was the last work of fiction Hemingway put out during his lifetime.

The name "Hemingway" has a tendency to strike fear in the hearts of many readers, because they immediately think "classic literature," which makes them think of books that are dense and stuffy and difficult to read - but while Hemingway is certainly one of the kings of classic literature, he is also among the most accessible of all writers, regardless of era.

Hemingway originally wrote "The Old Man And The Sea" as one of four parts to his novel "Islands In The Stream" (which ended up being published after his death), but he ended up deciding that this section did not fit well with the others, and so he published it on its own. "The Old Man And The Sea," quite simply, is the story of an old Cuban fisherman who is down on his luck, but who catches a magnificent marlin while deep out to sea by himself; this powerful tale of one old man's struggle reinvigorated Hemingway's literary career, and was the catalyst to him receiving the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature two years later.

While the works of Hemingway, no doubt, are not for all readers, "The Old Man And The Sea" is a very short and very breezy read, and it is certainly a book that is well worth checking out during the months of summer.