The Old Man and the Sea

A legendary but aging fisherman has been unable to make a catch for the past 84 days. This led the other fishermen to believe that this particular fisherman is cursed and soon to be a goner. He wants to prove them wrong. So off he goes to the sea, trying to catch the biggest fish he could get. But this journey was not at all what he expected.

That's the synopsis. At first, I wasn't really intrigued by the premise. Even immediately after finishing this novella, I still couldn't figure out why it's so significant for many people. But after thinking more about what I just read (actually, I listened to it through audiobook) and reading about its background and response on Wikipedia, I began to realize that this story can elicit a lot of implied meanings and metaphors, and that is why this story brought Hemingway to his Nobel prize.