"Old man" is a short but beautiful and poignant story. I cried at one point. It is not a sentimental love story. In fact, it's not a love story at all, so don't be misled. It's a simple and moving story about life set in the Amazon. It felt much like Hemingway's "Old Man and the Sea" and had the same feeling of directness and simplicity combined with profound truth. Sepulveda is much more in tune with contemporary sensitivities than most people would find Hemingway (although I love Hemingway's stories). A major theme of Old Man who Read Love Stories has to do with the destruction of the Amazon. This is not to say the story is any sort of politically correct pablum. It is much more profound than that. I think Hemingway would have approved with gusto.