quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Hemingway was one of the best writers of the 20th Century. It seems he was always looking for more efficient ways to use the written word to convey his ideas. He was a craftsman and a genuine artist.

Couldn't agree more. Unlike many others, I didn't have to read him in school; I didn't start reading him until right after college, and I liked everything I read. Not just liked, in fact, but studied, since I was beginning to think I wanted to be a writer myself. His work was the first that I read because I wanted to, not because it was something I had to read for school. It was the start of a long journey with a lot of good and great writers, and I liked many of them with their varied and diverse styles. But Hemingway was the first, and he was, and remains, my favorite writer.

And, yes, I even liked The Old Man and the Sea, and Across the River and Into the Trees.