The Old Man and the Sea
American novelist, 1899–1961. Won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953.
The Old Man and the Sea is a 1952 novella by Ernest Hemingway. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953.
On 5 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
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At a glance
- Author
- Ernest Hemingway
- First published
- 1952
- Length
- 112 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, 1953
- National Book Award for Fiction shortlist, 1953
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Adventure
Is The Old Man and the Sea worth reading?
5 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it, among them the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.co.uk).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.co.uk, 2014) | Listed | See the list |
| Bokklubben World Library (Norwegian Book Clubs, 2002) | Listed | See the list |
| National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists) (National Book Foundation, 1953) | Shortlist | See the list |
| Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists) (Columbia University, 1953) | Winner | See the list |
| Readers' top 100 novels (The Guardian, 2026) | No. 75 | See the list |
Best edition of The Old Man and the Sea
The edition we link to is the Arrow paperback (1994), 112 pages.
- Publisher
- Arrow (paperback, 1994)
- Pages
- 112
- ISBN
- 9780099908401
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Old Man and the Sea
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 83% of the points available on prize lists, against 31% on readers' and booksellers' lists and 10% on critics' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Old Man and the Sea
If you liked The Old Man and the Sea, try The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls or A Farewell to Arms.
