《老人与海》故事的背景发生在在二十世纪中叶的古巴。主人公是一位名叫圣地亚哥的老渔夫，配角是一个叫马诺林的小男孩。风烛残年的老渔夫一连八十四天都没有钓到一条鱼，但他仍不肯认输，而是充满着奋斗的精神，终于在第八十五天钓到一条身长十八尺，体重一千五百磅的大马林鱼。大鱼拖着船往海里走，老人依然死拉着不放，即使没有水，没有食物，没有武器，没有助手，左手抽筋，他也丝毫不灰心。经过两天两夜之后，他终于杀死大鱼，把它拴在船边。但许多鲨鱼立刻前来抢夺他的战利品。他一一地杀死它们，到最后只剩下一支折断的舵柄作为武器。结果，大鱼仍难逃被吃光的命运，最终，老人筋疲力尽地拖回一副鱼骨头。他回到家躺在床上，在梦中忆起那往日的美好岁月。

主要成就
◆ 影响历史的百部经典之一
◆ 美国历史上里程碑式的32本书之一
◆ 1953年获普利策奖
◆ 1954年获诺贝尔文学奖
◆ 1986年法国《读书》杂志推荐的理想藏书
◆ 48小时内卖出530万本，销量排名领先

著名评论
◆ 由于他精湛的小说艺术——这在其近著《老人与海》中有充分表现——同时还由于他对当代文体的影响。——获得诺贝尔文学奖评语
◆ 《老人与海》是一部异常有力、无比简洁的作品，具有一种无可抗拒的美。——瑞典文学院院士霍尔斯陶穆
◆ 《老人与海》讲了一个老渔夫的故事，但是在这个故事里却揭示了人类共同的命运。我佩服老人的勇气，佩服他不屈不挠的斗争精神，也佩服海明威。——当代著名作家王小波

　　The Old Man and the Sea
　　He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone
　　eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been
　　with him. But after forty days without a fish the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now definitely and finally salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone at their orders in another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his skiff empty and he always went down to help him carry either the coiled lines or the gaff and harpoon and the sail that was furled around the mast. The sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.
　　The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. The blotches ran well down the sides of his face and his hands had the deep-creased scars from handling heavy fish on the cords. But none of these scars were fresh. They were as old as erosions in a fishless desert. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.
　　“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from where the skiff was hauled up. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.”
　　The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.
　　“No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”
　　“But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big
　　ones every day for three weeks.”
　　“I remember,” the old man said. “I know you did not leave me because you doubted.”
　　“It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him.”
　　“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”
　　“He hasn’t much faith.”
　　“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”
　　“Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace and then we’ll take the
　　stuff home.”
　　“Why not?” the old man said. “Between fishermen.”
　　……