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Ernest Hemingway

Ashlea

Ashlea

New Member
Love him? Hate him? Still trying to figure out "Hills Like White Elephants?"

I have to say I love the strength and originality of his narrative style. I also love that distinctive twist in his short stories, where the character is getting just the tiniest bit smug over a crisis overcome, and Hemingway punches him in the gut.

I love a Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises, but can't get into his other novels. And The Old Man and The Sea I - just - don't - get.

I love A Moveable Feast, too. He makes being poor in expatriate Paris seem like the best adventure in the world. He also makes Gertrude Stein seem like a horse's ass, which is fun.

He is a bit of a downer, you have to be on an even keel before you start in or you'll be horribly depressed by then end.

In the end, his personality was so strong that you can't separate the man from his work. I doubt he could either, which is why he committed suicide.

On a related note, when I worked at Borders, we always wanted to do a "Suicide" display, where we would bring together all the authors who had done it. But the store director always assured us that it was in horrible taste.
 
Originally posted by Ashlea

On a related note, when I worked at Borders, we always wanted to do a "Suicide" display, where we would bring together all the authors who had done it. But the store director always assured us that it was in horrible taste. [/B]
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And how about separate displays for the clinically depressed, and the recluses :D

As for Hemingway, I'm halfway through my first - The Sun Also Rises. His short sentences are battering my brain somewhat; it's quite a pleasure when he pops in a long one. :eek:

Third Man Girl
 
Ha! The suicide collection is a great idea! LoL that's HALERIOUS.

I love Hemingway for the most part. I really dug The Old Man and the Sea, reminded me a lot of Steinbeck. The only thing I didn't care for too much was The Sun Also Rises. For Whom the Bell Tolls is definitely my favorite. What can ya say, suicidal artists are the best.
 
I absolutly love Hemingway! He had great passion and love for life and every word drips with it. His works are beautiful and breathless.

Although would not say he killed himself for the reason given. He was injured and could no longer write. Writing was his life and that's why he killed himself.

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
I discovered Hemingway after reading a lot of Conrad, so the contrast in styles really struck me. Which isn't to say that I didn't like Hem. I haven't read enough of his books to really say a whole lot more.
I was under the impression, though, that Hem's suicide was largely the result of the head injuries he received after crashing his plane in Africa. I mean, to the extent that suicide can ever be the result of external forces.
 
Yes, the head injury affected his memory and writing skills. He could no longer write. Writing was his passion so, sadly, he could no longer live anymore.

Regards
SillyWabbit
 
Ashlea said:
I love a Farewell to Arms and The Sun Also Rises, but can't get into his other novels. And The Old Man and The Sea I - just - don't - get.

I love A Moveable Feast, too. He makes being poor in expatriate Paris seem like the best adventure in the world. He also makes Gertrude Stein seem like a horse's ass, which is fun.
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Try The Green Hills of Africa Ashlea. If you're a Hemmingway fan, you'll enjoy it. It's beautiful descriptive writing of a narrative that basically came out of his journals while on a Safari in Africa.

About Hemmingway, he is my favorite American author by far, and battles with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky as my favorite.

The Sun Also Rises is I think by far his best book if you can catch all of the layers and subtlties in it, which there are many. For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms are amazing accounts of baiscally his own experience with War. A Moveable Feast is a book for Hemmingway lovers only, if you dont like Hemmingway as a person you won't be amused. However, if you do it's a great account of his expatriot days in Europe, and shows off a good deal of the type of person he was and how he lived. (By the seat of his pants mostly. :) )

I could hardly cherish books more than I do his, and I have read them all. For a beautiful description of whatever the eye can see from food to a landscape I believe Hemmingway to be the best, and he accomplishes it through simplicity and layers of context. His characters do not seem to be as important as what is seen through the eyes of his characters, and what you see through them is amazing when shown by Hemmingway.

By the way my signature, which I use for everything is I believe one of his best quotes and the opening to his last book released by his son from his late fathers memoirs. Anyone that ever wants to talk Hemmingway feel free to message me or add my aol name. :)
 
Ashlea said:
Love him? Hate him? Still trying to figure out "Hills Like White Elephants?"
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I got VERY moved and excited, though for a very short period of time, after reading his Old Man and the Sea, which gave me the impression that he was a very 'manly' person/authour.

These two books are my fav, Farewell to Arms, and For Whom The Bell Tolls. I remembered very clearly that I seemed have lived with those figures in their stories, very real! !

Haven't read the Sun Also Rises. Don't know whether I should give it a try or not.
 
watercrystal said:
Haven't read the Sun Also Rises. Don't know whether I should give it a try or not.
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It's worth trying. But you have to read it when in perfect mental health, as it can bring you down a bit and if you're depressed already you'll be in sad shape.
 
i really enjoyed 'the old man and the sea', but when i read 'the snows of kilimanjaro' i noticed (and don't everyone kill me here) an almost mysogynistic feel to the way hemingway wrote about the female character in the story. it was a long time ago that i read the book, and i think the character i'm remembering was the main character's wife. but i distinctly recall being somewhat surprised to notice this, to get the feeling of mysogyny from this author i expected to be blown away by. i can't say it's the reason i haven't read more of his books, but it's definitely affected my choice on one occasion. i do plan to read more of his books in the future (especially 'the sun also rises'). has anyone else ever noticed this, or is it just me? i'm not a paranoid women's libber, don't get me wrong here.
 
I have noticed that Hemingway's women do not suit the landscape he provides for them. He seems to see them mostly as a prop or a distraction.

I have still managed to enjoy his work, but perhaps he should be followed by some Austen or something, for balance.
 
You aren't paranoid, it's definatley a common theme throughout his books, yet he writes so beautifully about the love he has for them. At first I thought maybe he just liked the young romances....but in To Have or Have Not, you see the middle to upper aged couple just as in love as his younger characters, and clearly see his love of that. He definately combats a lot of feelings in his books, and I can see why many women feel slighted by him.....but I just love his writing so much I can't help it, it is so thick. Especially the one I believe to be his best, or at least my favorite...the Sun Also Rises. :) yay.....*insert sexist comment here that gets me beat up*

Good day everyone! :)
 
i cant speak about him in general since the only book of his i have read is "Old man and the sea". i read it when i was 15 and i had to have my mom explain the intricacies of the book to me. however, even then i was getting the feeling that this isnt a commonplace book
 
A Moveable Feast

Hi Ashlee,

I read A Moveable Feast and just finished it. What a beautiful book is is. I felt as if I where in Paris in the 1920's. I too noticed that sometimes Hemingway was depressed. Although he has just as many moments of elation and it shows in the book. If you or anyone else would like to talk further about A Moveable feast let me know.

Emelian :)
 
Anytime a peer with children starts droning on and on about the joys of parenthood I think of Hills Like White Elephants, smile and nod through what to me is nonsense.
 
I red The old man and the sea and the sun also rise at school..so I haven't prized them whole hug..unfortunately.
I red The first fortynine stories, too. I love it..Stories are so different between them...I like hills like white elephants, albeit i haven't knew his sense..before my teacher elucidates it. ^_^

(i think that everything i have wroten it's completely wrong and i think you aren't knowing anything and I'm so sorry!)
 
You are doing fine! Don't worry :)

Glad you like the 49 steps! Shame you had to read the other two books at school! Reading novels in school often ruins them for you! I suggest you go back and try them again in a few years time!
 
i just hate him and his books.
I've read the 49 stories, fiesta and the old man and the see... They are very boring even because i had to read his books because of my teacher...
There's always the same structure, the young boy and the old man who teach him something or the sweet lady undefended and the brave man...

Sorry for my english.. i'm italian... :)
 
That's totally wrong! His stories are very varied and different! His short stories collection 49 stories has many different stories.

There is a story of a bullfighter, story of gambler, story of a guy going camping, story of man at war, story of travailing in the alps... those a just a few stories. Also, his novels are also very different.

Hemingway writes in a simple pared down style but his stories are very complex and sublet. There is always a lot that he is saying that is beneath the surface. Hemingway himself said that his writing was like an iceberg in that only a small amount of it was visible and the vast rest of it was under the water.

"all the same - about a boy and an old man" is totally incorrect!

btw... welcome to the forum!
 
i know what he said about his writing...
i'm sorry but i can't chage my idea, the characters change but the structure is always the same!
maybe in the future i read again something and i will like him.. i think it's hard but..
 
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