Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling

This was one of the richest stories I've read. Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled rich kid, spends a season on the ocean with a group of humble fishermen, and he learns that life is much more than pomp and possessions. The characterizations and descriptions made me feel at home on a ship in the North Atlantic. Kipling highlights the joys and sorrows of this adventurous life.

I am amazed and somewhat baffled that so many men spent so much time and effort to put fish on another man's table. That was how they put bread on their own tables, and I guess that was worth the risk to them -- many of them perished on the open sea.

The tale takes an interesting twist at the end, but I'll leave that for your enjoyment.