Books like…

Books Like The Old Man and the Sea

by Ernest Hemingway · about this book

Loved The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway? If its classics, novella and ocean and ships hooked you, these 20 books hit the same notes — starting with The Dog Stars, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer and Of Mice and Men. Every pick is matched by what’s actually inside the book, not just its genre, and we skip other books by the same author so you find someone new.

What’s inside The Old Man and the Sea: Classics · Novella · Ocean and Ships · Male Lead · Elderly Protagonist

1. 

   The Dog Stars

   Peter Heller

   Sparse Prose · Survival Story · Bittersweet · Literary Fiction · Male Lead

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2. 

   And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

   Fredrik Backman

   Aging · Novella · Elderly Protagonist · Bittersweet · Literary Fiction

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3. 

   Of Mice and Men

   John Steinbeck

   Novella · Sparse Prose · Classics · Literary Fiction · Male Lead

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4. 

   Roadside Picnic

   Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky

   Sparse Prose · Classics · Survival Story · Novella · Male Lead

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5. 

   The Stranger

   Albert Camus

   Sparse Prose · Classics · Novella · Character-Driven · Literary Fiction

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6. 

   The Road

   Cormac McCarthy

   Sparse Prose · Survival Story · Literary Fiction · Male Lead · Slow-Paced

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7. 

   Of Human Bondage

   W. Somerset Maugham

   Classics · Bittersweet · Literary Fiction · Male Lead · Slow-Paced

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8. 

   Robinson Crusoe

   Daniel Defoe

   Survival Story · Classics · Ocean and Ships · Male Lead · Slow-Paced

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9. 

   The Outsiders

   S.E. Hinton

   Classics · Sparse Prose · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Male Lead

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10. 

    The Bright Sword: A Novel of King Arthur

    Lev Grossman

    Underdog · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Literary Fiction · Male Lead

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11. 

    The Left Hand of Darkness

    Ursula K. Le Guin

    Classics · Survival Story · Literary Fiction · Character-Driven · Slow-Paced

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12. 

    I Who Have Never Known Men

    Jacqueline Harpman

    Sparse Prose · Survival Story · Novella · Literary Fiction · Elderly Protagonist

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13. 

    Assassin's Apprentice

    Robin Hobb

    Classics · Male Lead · Slow-Paced · Bittersweet · Character-Driven

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14. 

    The Giving Tree

    Shel Silverstein

    Sparse Prose · Aging · Classics · Bittersweet · Emotional

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15. 

    The Other Side of the Bridge

    Mary Lawson

    Bittersweet · Literary Fiction · Slow-Paced · Sparse Prose · Character-Driven

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16. 

    The Little Prince

    Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    Novella · Classics · Bittersweet · Sparse Prose · Emotional

    ➕ Add Buy Libby Hoopla
17. 

    Lord of the Flies

    William Golding

    Survival Story · Classics · Literary Fiction · Male Lead · Adventure

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18. 

    The Last Devil to Die

    Richard Osman

    Elderly Protagonist · Aging · Bittersweet · Character-Driven · Emotional

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19. 

    Animal Farm

    George Orwell

    Novella · Classics · Sparse Prose · Literary Fiction · Tragic

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20. 

    The Mermaid of Black Conch

    Monique Roffey

    Caribbean · Ocean and Ships · Bittersweet · Literary Fiction · Emotional

    ➕ Add Buy Libby Hoopla