Jump to content

Hemingway


nathan.young586

Recommended Posts

I've only read Old Man and the Sea back in school, and I enjoyed it. Hemingway seems like an intriguing character, not to mention he was a cat lover :D so I've been meaning to start reading his stuff. I have A Farewell to Arms on my TBR list... Hopefully I'll get to it some time soon.

Edited by Brida
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The Old Man and The Sea was my first,and (at school,way back

in prehistoric times!) it was a revelation. We had been force fed

stodgy classics from the Victorian era, and the brevity of the prose

knocked me out. Later read all the rest, but the first one is still my

favourite!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Just came across this one which I found amusing! It is the late Alan Coren's take

on Winnie the Pooh as writen by Hemmingway:

 

 

It snowed hard that winter. It was the winter they all went up to the Front. You could get up early in the morning, if you were not wounded and forced to lie in your bed and look at the ceiling and wonder about the thing with the women, and you could see them going up to the Front, in the snow. When they walked in the snow, they left tracks, and after they had gone the snow would come down again and pretty soon the tracks would not be there any more. That is the way it is with snow. Pooh did not go up to the Front that winter. Nor did he lie in bed and look at the ceiling, although last winter he had lain in bed and looked up at the ceiling, because that was the winter he had gone up to the Front and got his wound. It had snowed that winter, too.
This winter he could walk around. It was one of those wounds that left you able to walk around. It was one of those wounds that did not leave you much more.
Pooh got up and he went out into the snow and he went to see Piglet. Piglet had been one of the great ones, once. Piglet had been one of the poujadas, one of the endarillos, one of the nogales. He had been one of the greatest nogales there had ever been, but he was not one of the greatest nogales any more. He did not go up to the Front, either.
Piglet was sitting at his usual table, looking at an empty glass of enjarda.
‘I thought you were out,' said Pooh.
‘No,' said Piglet. ‘I was not out.'
‘You were thinking about the wound?' said Pooh.
‘No,' said Piglet. ‘I was not thinking about the wound. I do not think about the wound very much, any more.'
They watched them going up to the Front, in the snow.
‘We could go and see Eeyore,' said Pooh.
‘Yes,' said Piglet. ‘We could go and see Eeyore.'
They went out into the snow.
‘Do you hear the guns?' said Pooh.
‘Yes,' said Piglet. ‘I hear the guns.'
When they got to Eeyore's house, he was looking at an empty glass of ortega. They used to make ortega by taking the new orreros out of the ground very early in the morning, before the dew had dried, and crushing them between the mantemagni, but they did not make it that way any more. Not since the fighting up at the Front.
‘Do you hear the guns?' said Eeyore.
‘Yes,' said Pooh. ‘I hear the guns.'
‘It is still snowing,' said Piglet.
‘Yes,' said Eeyore. ‘That is the way it is.'
‘That is the way it is,' said Pooh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

What is it that people enjoyed about The Old Man and the Sea?

 

I am curious as I just cannot get into Hemingway, yet he clearly resonates with a lot of people.

 

As with any Hemingway novel, for me it was the writing. His writing in general is excellent even if you don't get into the story or care about symbolism. 

 

When most people read The Old Man and the Sea they usually find symbols (in the sea, the old man, the fish) and this usually being a a universal theme ticks all the right boxes for people. 

 

I'd say that if it does not catch you, don't feel discouraged and try something else. The Sun Also rises is great too. Try and enjoy the writing, regardless of story. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I have only read For Whom the bell Tolls, which was set in the Spanish Civil War. I was slightly disappointed with it. One of the irritating things about it was that all the swearing was censored in rather a silly way. The book reminded me of a lot of 50s/60s/70s war films and I wondered whether it influenced them. In those films there is typically a a group of fighters on a select mission. The first half of the film is all scene setting, preparation, training, people getting on each others nerves. Things do not get going until the second half. Not everyone comes back, but the fighters sell their lives heavily.

 

I remember my father talking about The Old Man and the Sea, which he really liked. It is a short book, so I may give that a go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 years later...

The Old Man and The Sea

 

Maybe I missed something here but this won the Pulitzer prize and was cited as an influence in Hemmingway receiving the Nobel Prize? Why?

 

I mean, it's a perfectly nice short story about a man battling with a fish then watching as his prize is devoured by sharks, but it's really not much more than that. I enjoyed it but at no point was I thinking... this is epic literature. Truth be told, it's essentially a short version of Moby Dick, a story that looks at a man's obsession taking over him and resulting in no reward. It had all the classic Hemmingway characteristics of being cold and detached and to the point which I disliked in his first person narratives (The Sun Also Rises) but don't mind too much here. 

 

Ultimately, it's all rather forgettable stuff though.  

 

For Whom The Bell Tolls

 

I really struggle with Hemmingway. His writing is so dry and matter of fact. Sometimes, it's unbearable, but other times, it's strangely compelling. Can't quite put my finger on it. I enjoyed this up to the half way point, then found it to be a bit of a slog.

 

The basic plot revolves around American, Robert Jordan, being an explosives expert in the Spanish civil war fighting against Franco's fascists. The vast majority of the book takes place in and around a cave where they're camping out in preparation for blowing up a bridge. And that's about it. There's also a romance, but that's the gist of it.

 

I didn't hate it, but like I said, Hemmingway is hard to like. So far, only 'The Sun Also Rises' impressed me. And that was a long time ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...