The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Many schools in the Pacific have class sets of this classic, and it's certainly a story well worth reading. First published in 1952, the edition pictured here is published by Random House.
   Hemingway has a simple style that uses a minimum of words to describe both action and emotion. In this story Hemingway writes about an old man who lives in a fishing village in Cuba. The old man loves fishing but has had no luck in catching anything for over two months. One day he goes out too far in his little boat and hooks a huge marlin. He is all alone with no one to help him pull in the enormous fish. Proud, determined and weakened by age and lack of sleep, he battles the predators of the sea to land his catch.
   This is a terrific study of character and although the plot is simple it is written with such clarity and warmth that the reader is captivated till the end. A bit like that hooked marlin, really.