In 1952 Ernest Hemingway published the book that is widely acknowledged as his masterpiece,
The Old Man and the Sea, redeeming his literary reputation after the critical attacks which had greeted his first post-war novel,
Across the River and Into the Trees(1950). The positive reaction that followed included praise not only from reviewers but from a broad spectrum of the public, from ordinary readers to fellow novelists such as William Faulkner, who proclaimed the book perhaps the best single work of their literary generation.
The Old Man and the Seawas awarded the Pulitzer Prize and was also instrumental in Hemingway's finally winning the Nobel Prize for his life's work.
Originally Hemingway had planned to use his story of an old Cuban fisherman as the final book of a large four-part
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Citation: Fleming, Robert E.. "The Old Man and the Sea". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16, accessed 24 November 2024.]