The Old Man and the Sea

I've been quite busy here, what, with my french courses during the day, working the week-end and at the same time having to read all my papers online. Yet, last week, before this all started in a way, I did manage to fit in a couple more books, which I now have to catch up on.
One of these was Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea, I hadn't read this before, just knew that it was considered a classic and part of the (in?)famous literal canon. I really like Hemingway, he is not on the same level as people like Faulkner or Twain but he always provides a good read and did not disappoint this time around either. The story in itself is quite surprising as neither women nor booze play any kind of relevant role. An old fisher-man has not caught anything for more than 80 days, yet does not give up trying and is ultimately - in a way - rewarded or punished, however might one view the end. I am not going into anything else here as I don't want to destroy it for anyone wanting to read the novel. Let it suffice to say that it is a really recommendable book. I really enjoyed it. A word of warning though, due to its length - barely more than 100 pages in my version - and Hemingway's contracted writing stlye it took my not even half a day to finish it.