Books like The Old Man and the Sea

01

A Moveable Feast

Ernest Hemingway · Memoir

A Moveable Feast is Hemingway's posthumously published account of his years in Paris during the 1920s, when he and his first wife Hadley lived cheaply in Montparnasse while he apprenticed himself to the work of becoming a writer.

A kindred literary fiction read.

02

All Quiet on the Western Front

Erich Maria Remarque · History

All Quiet on the Western Front follows Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier who enlists with his classmates during the First World War after being swept up in patriotic speeches.

A kindred literary fiction read.

03

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl · Psychology

Man's Search for Meaning is Viktor Frankl's account of his years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and the psychological theory he developed from that experience.

A kindred literary fiction read.

04

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby · Memoir

Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle when he suffered a massive stroke in December 1995 that left him with complete paralysis of his body except for his left eyelid.

A kindred literary fiction read.

05

The Sun Also Rises

Ernest Hemingway · Literary fiction

The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway's first novel, published in 1926, and it remains the sharpest portrait of the "Lost Generation" — the young Americans and British expatriates who drifted through Paris and Spain in the years after World War I, drinking heavily and searching for something they couldn't name.

A kindred literary fiction read.

06

1776

David McCullough · History

David McCullough's 1776, published in 2005, covers a single year of the American Revolution — from the winter siege of Boston through Washington's crossing of the Delaware and the surprise victory at Trenton.

Both dig into perseverance.

07

Gift from the Sea

Anne Morrow Lindbergh · Philosophy

Gift from the Sea is a short meditation written during a solo vacation on the Florida Gulf Coast in 1955.

Both dig into solitude.

08

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Angela Duckworth · Psychology

Duckworth's central claim is that talent is overrated.

Both dig into perseverance.

09

Letters to a Young Poet

Rainer Maria Rilke · Philosophy

Letters to a Young Poet is a collection of ten letters Rilke wrote between 1903 and 1908 to Franz Xaver Kappus, a young military cadet and aspiring poet who had sent Rilke samples of his verse and asked for criticism.

Both dig into solitude.

10

New Seeds of Contemplation

Thomas Merton · Religion & Spirituality

New Seeds of Contemplation is Thomas Merton's revised and expanded version of Seeds of Contemplation, which he published in 1949 when he was still new to monastic life.

Both dig into solitude.

11

Seabiscuit: An American Legend

Laura Hillenbrand · History

Seabiscuit is the story of the undersized, knobby-kneed racehorse who became the most celebrated American athlete of the late 1930s — drawing larger newspaper audiences than Franklin Roosevelt or Joe DiMaggio at his peak.

Both dig into perseverance.

12

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Phil Knight · Memoir

Shoe Dog is Phil Knight's account of the first two decades of Nike, from the $50 loan he borrowed from his father in 1964 to fund his first shipment of Japanese running shoes to the company's IPO in 1980.

Both dig into perseverance.