This novel weaves together the story of an old man, reflective and humble, and a giant Marlin, the largest ever seen, who engage in a struggle to the death. The novel is a wonderful mixture of all the distress and praise of life revisited and, in a way, it weighs out the experiences at face value as the old man recognizes his age and deteriorating old body. This book could be an extended metaphor of almost anything. I choose to believe it is a metaphor of life's unpredictable wonder and valuable experiences. This man, Santiago, characterizes ....