A week ago we were on Key West and saw Ernest Hemingway's home. Pretty nice. I'd never picked up one of his books so I grabbed "A Farewell to Arms" and proceeded to read it over the last week.

Now I've read 500 books over the last 8 years since retirement and I have to say that this was one of the most boring reads ever. Silly dialog and coupled with just a lot of words. Sorry Ernest but more Gabriel Allon in my future.

I started (and ended) my Hemingway experience with The Old Man And The Sea. Boring and grossly over-written.

Huh. I like Hemingway, a lot.

"a lot of words" and "over-written" are the complete opposite of what most think of Hemingway.

There you go - Hemingway is crap. Dismissed as a writer in less than thirty words.

You don't have to like Hemingway, but . . .

Overwritten? I could not possibly disagree more. Hemingway was a master of trimming the fat from his stories. Some of his stories, it is clear that parts have been edited out of the original manuscript, as you will see below.

Here is the beginning of A Moveable Feast. In the very first sentence, it is clear that Hemingway has trimmed his story. He actually opens in mid-thought.

To wit:

Then there was the bad weather. It would come in one day when the fall
was over. We would have to shut the windows in the night against the
rain and the cold wind would strip the leaves from the trees in the Place
Contrescarpe. The leaves lay sodden in the rain and the wind drove the
rain against the big green autobus at the terminal and the Café des
Amateurs was crowded and the windows misted over from the heat and
the smoke inside. It was a sad, evilly run café where the drunkards of the
quarter crowded together and I kept away from it because of the smell of
dirty bodies and the sour smell of drunkenness. The men and women who
frequented the Amateurs stayed drunk all of the time, or all of the time
they could afford it, mostly on wine which they bought by the half-liter
or liter. Many strangely named apéritifs were advertised, but few people
could afford them except as a foundation to build their wine drunks on.
The women drunkards were called poivrottes which meant female
rummies.

Forgive me, gentlemen, but in ths case, I have to say "Pearls before swine" though it is not my intention to project porcine personalities upon your persons.

The Big Two Hearted is my favorite Hemingway tale.
It takes place in the Yoop. Some controversy exists as to Papa actually fishing the Two Hearted. Some believe he actually spent his time fishing the Driggs River or the Fox River and misdirected readers to protect his fishing hole. I have fished all three. When in Key West I made it a point to visit his house and commune with his polydactyl cats.

I’ve never been able to get into A Farewell to Arms but Hemingway is my favorite author. I read The Sun Also Rises every few years and various collections of his short stories from time to time.

quote:

The Sun Also Rises

One of my favorite reads in high school.

For Whom The Bell Tolls is perhaps my favorite book. You haven't read anything unless you've read Hemingway's description of the smell of revolution in a small town.

The smell of revolution and the smell of a horses hide cooking under the hot barrel El Sordo's machine gun! Awesome book with fantastic action sequences.
I suggest the OP try The Sun Also Rises, as previously recommended, The Old Man and the Sea, or any of the awesome Americana Nick Adams short stories.

And then there is the Hemingway short story consisting of only 6 words:

For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn.

His authorship can't be guaranteed, but many attribute it to him.

quote:

Sorry Ernest but more Gabriel Allon in my future.

I was going to post about his subtle yet strong use of metaphor, and how some readers can’t quite grasp his talent for delivery, but then I read this.

I didn’t recognize the author, but I googled and found out it’s a character in some sleek assassin/spy series…..

Never mind. You’re right, Hemingway isn’t for you.

I don't remember any novels I may have read by Hemmingway. I was going to say Grapes of Wrath but thet was John Steinbeck. Good thing I googled first.

When I went on a cross country trip, we stopped by the school of Edgar Allan Poe where they have his room open on display.

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Originally posted by Rey HRH:

When I went on a cross country trip, we stopped by the school of Edgar Allan Poe where they have his room open on display.

Just like Steinbeck, he didn't write any Hemingway novels either.

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Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

When I went on a cross country trip, we stopped by the school of Edgar Allan Poe where they have his room open on display.

Just like Steinbeck, he didn't write any Hemingway novels either.

He started to but, in the end, frustrated, he vowed, "nevermore."

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

When I went on a cross country trip, we stopped by the school of Edgar Allan Poe where they have his room open on display.

Just like Steinbeck, he didn't write any Hemingway novels either.

He started to but, in the end, frustrated, he vowed, "nevermore."

The raven flew into my window. He was black and paid me no attention. He stood for a while on a Greek bust and just perched there doing nothing. I couldn't resist the bird's firm manner and I tried to flatter him into telling me his name. "Nevermore."

I'm a fan. Hills Like White Elephants was the first Hemingway I read, way back in high school, and I was hooked from that point.

And that's what makes horse races, as my father used to say; different opinions drawn from the same set of facts. On this one, I couldn't agree more with his admirers, who couldn't disagree more with his detractors. But no matter what, wordy and overwritten are simply not terms that could be applied to Hemingway; he was the Godfather of modern lean, tight, prose, and has had legions of admirers, followers, and imitators spanning close to a hundred years. A Farewell To Arms has never been my favorite work, but don't judge his entire oeuvre by that novel. Those who think he is boring might try, as already suggested a few times, The Sun Also Rises, set in Paris and Spain in the 1920's, or, if you're not up for a novel, perhaps the short story, The Short Happy Life Of Francis Macomber, which takes place on safari in Africa. Or any number of other stories and several other novels.

Hemingway was my first favorite writer, and remains so to this day. As with horse races, opinions will vary, but no one can deny he was a master of his craft. If you deny that, I think perhaps you don't understand the craft.

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Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

When I went on a cross country trip, we stopped by the school of Edgar Allan Poe where they have his room open on display.

Just like Steinbeck, he didn't write any Hemingway novels either.

He started to but, in the end, frustrated, he vowed, "nevermore."

The raven flew into my window. He was black and paid me no attention. He stood for a while on a Greek bust and just perched there doing nothing. I couldn't resist the bird's firm manner and I tried to flatter him into telling me his name. "Nevermore."

Heh,heh. Pretty good, you two.