I thought this was an excellent novel by Hemingway as good as some of his best including "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Old Man and the Sea". It was a gritty story of Harry Morgan, a deep sea fishing guide, trafficker in rum and illegal immigrants, who struggles to make ends meet during the tough times of the Depression. Hemingway's descriptions of deep-sea fishing in the first part of the novel were great and this is about the only part of the story that ended up in the movie with Humphrey Bogart (who plays Harry Morgan) and Lauren Bacall. I happened to have a DVD of the movie (which I have always liked) and rewatched it in between reading the book. The movie takes place on Martinique and includes a political cloak and dagger story about the corrupt government there. The novel takes place in Cuba and the Florida keys and is much more hard-hitting than the movie with Morgan running contraband between Florida and Cuba. Morgan is also happily married in the novel and the Bacall character is nowhere to be seen. Morgan is obviously one of the "have-nots" in the book which also has a chapter or two devoted to the "haves" -- the rich yacht owners who come to Florida who don't seem to be any better off or happier than the poor have-nots. Overall, I would give this a high recommendation.
