My letter “O” pick for the A to Z Reading Challenge was Hemingway’s THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA.

I always try to include a classic or two on this list, and despite being an iconic piece of literary fiction, I’ve never read this one. It’s not a terribly long book, but there is not one sentence wasted. Hemingway infuses his prose and descriptions with such a sense of atmosphere that you are immediately immersed in this world, in this struggle, in this quest to catch that one big, elusive fish that will keep us fed for a month and buy us the other things we so desperately need. As it moves to become an obsession once we find the fish we are as driven as the old man in this quest, and just as invested in the outcome. This story stays with you, painting a universal struggle of man against the elements, against socio-economic challenges, and against the creeping of old age as it depletes and diminishes you. In short, it’s a masterpiece (and a masterclass, if you’re a writer). This was an easy five stars.