A Scribner Classics Edition Told in his famed powerful and minimalist prose this story of courage and personal triumph remains one of Ernest Hemingway s most enduring works. The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway s most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power the story of an old Cuban fisherman down on his luck and his supreme ordeal--a relentless agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream on the water for months without a catch but refusing to stop trying. Here Hemingway recasts in strikingly contemporary style the timeless theme of courage and commitment in the face of defeat of personal triumph won from loss. Written in 1952 this hugely successful novella confirmed his talent and presence in the literary world and played a large part in his winning the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature.